And be careful when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon, and the stars—all the many things in the sky. Be careful that you are not tempted to worship and serve them. The Lord your God lets the other people in the world do this.

because the Lord your God hates for his people to worship other gods. And he can be like a fire that destroys!

‘You must not worship any other gods except me.

Don’t worship or serve idols of any kind, because I am the Lord your God. I hate for my people to worship other gods. People who sin against me become my enemies. And I will punish them, and their children, their grandchildren, and even their great-grandchildren.

The Lord your God is always with you, and he hates for his people to worship other gods! So if you follow those other gods, the Lord will become very angry with you. He will destroy you from the face of the earth.

You must destroy all the people the Lord your God helps you defeat. Don’t feel sorry for them, and don’t worship their gods! They will trap you—they will ruin your life.

“Don’t ever forget the Lord your God. Don’t ever follow other gods or worship and serve them. If you do that, I warn you today: You will surely be destroyed!

“You must respect the Lord your God and worship only him. Never leave him. When you make promises, you must use his name only.

The Place for Worshiping God

“These are the laws and rules that you must obey in your new land. You must carefully obey them as long as you live in this land. The Lord is the God of your ancestors, and he is giving this land to you.

You will take that land from the nations that live there now. You must completely destroy all the places where the people of these nations worship their gods. These places are on high mountains, on hills, and under green trees.

“You must not worship the Lord your God in the same way these people worship their gods.

The Lord your God will choose a special place among your tribes. That will be the home for his name. You must go to that place to worship him.

“You must not continue to worship the way we have been worshiping. Until now each of us has been worshiping God any way we wanted.

But be careful that you don’t fall into the same trap they did! Don’t go to their false gods for help. Don’t say to yourself, ‘They worshiped these gods, so I will worship them too.’

“Someone close to you might secretly persuade you to worship other gods. It might be your own brother, your son, your daughter, the wife you love, or your closest friend. They might say, ‘Let’s go and serve other gods.’ (These are gods that you and your ancestors never knew.

You must not set up special stones for worshiping false gods. The Lord your God hates them.

Punishment for Worshiping Idols

“You might hear about an evil thing that happens in one of the cities that the Lord your God is giving you. You might hear that a man or woman in your group has sinned against the Lord your God. You might hear that they have broken his agreement or

that they have worshiped other gods or maybe the sun, the moon or the stars. I never told you to do that!

So then they will not be able to teach you to sin against the Lord your God or to do any of the terrible things they do when they worship their gods.

People Who Cannot Join in Worship

“A man with a crushed testicle or part of his sex organ cut off may not join with the men of Israel to worship the Lord.

If a man’s parents were not legally married, that man may not join with the men of Israel to worship the Lord. And none of his descendants to the tenth generation—may join in that group.

“An Ammonite or Moabite may not join with the men of Israel when they gather to worship the Lord. And none of their descendants, to the tenth generation, may join in the worship of the Lord.

The children of the third generation born to the Edomites and Egyptians may join with the people of Israel to worship the Lord.

Now, Lord, I bring you the first harvest from the land that you gave me.’ “Then you must put the harvest down before the Lord your God and bow down to worship him.

The Lord will scatter you among all the people in the world. He will scatter you from one end of the earth to the other. There you will serve false gods made of wood and stone. They are false gods that you or your ancestors never worshiped.