Daily Bread

Idolatry Forbidden

¹⁵ You saw no form^(A) of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb^(B) out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,^{(C) 16} so that you do not become corrupt^(D) and make for yourselves an idol,^(E) an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, ¹⁷ or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,^{(F) 18} or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. ¹⁹ And when you look up to the sky and see the sun,^(G) the moon and the stars^(H)—all the heavenly array^(I)—do not be enticed^(J) into bowing down to them and worshiping^(K) things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. ²⁰ But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace,^(L) out of Egypt,^(M) to be the people of his inheritance,^(N) as you now are.

²¹ The Lord was angry with me^(O) because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance. ²² I will die in this land;^(P) I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land.^{(Q) 23} Be careful not to forget the covenant^(R) of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol^(S) in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. ²⁴ For the Lord your God is a consuming fire,^(T) a jealous God.^(U)

²⁵ After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt^(V) and make any kind of idol,^(W) doing evil^(X) in the eyes of the Lord your God and arousing his anger, ²⁶ I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses^(Y) against you^(Z) this day that you will quickly perish^(AA) from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed. ²⁷ The Lord will scatter^(AB) you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive^(AC) among the nations to which the Lord will drive you. ²⁸ There you will worship man-made gods^(AD) of wood and stone,^(AE) which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.^{(AF) 29} But if from there you seek^(AG) the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart^(AH) and with all your soul.^{(AI) 30} When you are in distress^(AJ) and all these things have happened to you, then in later days^(AK) you will return^(AL) to the Lord your God and obey him. ³¹ For the Lord your God is a merciful^(AM) God; he will not abandon^(AN) or destroy^(AO) you or forget^(AP) the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.

The Lord Is God

³² Ask^(AQ) now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth;^(AR) ask from one end of the heavens to the other.^(AS) Has anything so great^(AT) as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? ³³ Has any other people heard the voice of God^[a] speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived?^{(AU) 34} Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation,^(AV) by testings,^(AW) by signs^(AX) and wonders,^(AY) by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm,^(AZ) or by great and awesome deeds,^(BA) like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

³⁵ You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other.^{(BB) 36} From heaven he made you hear his voice^(BC) to discipline^(BD) you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire. ³⁷ Because he loved^(BE) your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength,^{(BF) 38} to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance,^(BG) as it is today.

³⁹ Acknowledge^(BH) and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.^{(BI) 40} Keep^(BJ) his decrees and commands,^(BK) which I am giving you today, so that it may go well^(BL) with you and your children after you and that you may live long^(BM) in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.

Cities of Refuge^(BN)

⁴¹ Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan, ⁴² to which anyone who had killed a person could flee if they had unintentionally^(BO) killed a neighbor without malice aforethought. They could flee into one of these cities and save their life. ⁴³ The cities were these: Bezer in the wilderness plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth^(BP) in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.

Introduction to the Law

⁴⁴ This is the law Moses set before the Israelites. ⁴⁵ These are the stipulations, decrees and laws Moses gave them when they came out of Egypt ⁴⁶ and were in the valley near Beth Peor east of the Jordan, in the land of Sihon^(BQ) king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites as they came out of Egypt. ⁴⁷ They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. ⁴⁸ This land extended from Aroer^(BR) on the rim of the Arnon Gorge to Mount Sirion^[b](BS) (that is, Hermon^(BT)), ⁴⁹ and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Dead Sea,^[c] below the slopes of Pisgah.