11. You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire into the heavens and enveloped in a dense, black cloud.
12. Then the Lord spoke to you from the fire. You kept hearing the sound of the words, but didn’t see a form; there was only a voice.
13. He declared His covenant to you. He commanded you to follow the Ten Commandments, which He wrote on two stone tablets.
14. At that time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to follow in the land you are about to cross into and possess.
15. “For your own good, be extremely careful — because you did not see any form on the day the Lord spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb —
16. not to act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of any figure: a male or female form,
17. or the form of any beast on the earth, any winged creature that flies in the sky,
18. any creature that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the waters under the earth.
19. When you look to the heavens and see the sun, moon, and stars — all the array of heaven — do not be led astray to bow down and worship them. The Lord your God has provided them for all people everywhere under heaven.
20. But the Lord selected you and brought you out of Egypt’s iron furnace to be a people for His inheritance, as you are today.
21. “The Lord was angry with me on your account. He swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
22. I won’t be crossing the Jordan because I am going to die in this land. But you are about to cross over and take possession of this good land.
23. Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that He made with you, and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of anything He has forbidden you.
24. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
25. “When you have children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, and if you act corruptly, make an idol in the form of anything, and do what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, provoking Him to anger,
26. I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that you will quickly perish from the land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not live long there, but you will certainly be destroyed.
27. The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be reduced to a few survivors among the nations where the Lord your God will drive you.
28. There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see, hear, eat, or smell.
29. But from there, you will search for the Lord your God, and you will find Him when you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul.
30. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, you will return to the Lord your God in later days and obey Him.
31. He will not leave you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your fathers that He swore to them by oath, because the Lord your God is a compassionate God.