1. Israel, listen to the laws and rules I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you will live and be able to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord God of your ancestors is giving you.
2. Never add anything to what I command you, or take anything away from it. Then you will be able to obey the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.
3. With your own eyes you saw what the Lord did at Baal Peor. The Lord your God destroyed everyone among you who worshiped the god Baal while you were at Peor.
4. But you were loyal to the Lord your God and are still alive today.
5. I have taught you laws and rules as the Lord my God commanded me. You must obey them when you’ve entered the land and taken possession of it.
6. Faithfully obey these laws. This will show the people of the world your wisdom and insight. When they hear about all these laws, they will say, “What wise and insightful people there are in this great nation!”
7. What great nation ever had their gods as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we pray to him?
8. Or what other great nation has such fair laws and rules as all these teachings I am giving you today?
9. However, be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you don’t forget the things which you have seen with your own eyes. Don’t let them fade from your memory as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.
10. Never forget the day you stood in front of the Lord your God at Mount Horeb. The Lord had said to me, “Assemble the people in front of me, and I will let them hear my words. Then they will learn to fear me as long as they live on earth, and they will teach their children the same thing.”
11. So you came and stood at the foot of the mountain, which was on fire with flames shooting into the sky. It was dark, cloudy, and gloomy.
12. The Lord spoke to you from the fire. You heard a voice speaking but saw no one. There was only a voice.
13. The Lord told you about the terms of his promise, the ten commandments, which he commanded you to do. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets.
14. The Lord also commanded me to teach you the laws and rules you must obey after you cross ⌊the Jordan River⌋ and take possession of the land.
15. You didn’t see the Lord the day he spoke to you from the fire at Mount Horeb. So be very careful
16. that you don’t become corrupt and make your own carved idols. Don’t make statues that represent men or women,
17. any animal on earth, any creature with wings that flies,
18. any creature that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the water.
19. Don’t let yourselves be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky—the sun, the moon, the stars, or anything else. The Lord your God has given them to all people everywhere.
20. But you are the people the Lord brought out of Egypt, the iron smelter, in order to make you his own people as you still are today.
21. The Lord was angry with me because of you. So the Lord your God took an oath that I wouldn’t cross the Jordan River and enter the good land he is giving you as your property.