12. and the Lord spoke to you from the fire. You could hear him and understand what he was saying, but you couldn't see him.
13. The Lord said he was making an agreement with you, and he told you that your part of the agreement is to obey the Ten Commandments. Then the Lord wrote these Commandments on two flat stones.
14. That's when the Lord commanded me to give you the laws and teachings you must obey in the land that you will conquer west of the River Jordan.
15. When God spoke to you from the fire, he was invisible. So be careful
16. not to commit the sin of worshipping idols. Don't make idols to be worshipped, whether they are shaped like men, women,
17. animals, birds,
18. reptiles, or fish.
19. And when you see the sun or moon or stars, don't be tempted to bow down and worship them. The Lord put them there for all the other nations to worship.
20. But you are the Lord's people, because he led you through fiery trials and rescued you from Egypt.
21. The Lord was angry with me because of what you said, and he told me that he would not let me cross the River Jordan into the good land that he is giving you.
22. So I must stay here and die on this side of the Jordan, but you will cross the river and take the land.
23. Always remember the agreement that the Lord your God made with you, and don't make an idol in any shape or form.
24. The Lord will be angry if you worship other gods, and he can be like a fire destroying everything in its path.
25-26. Soon you will cross the River Jordan and settle down in the land. Then in the years to come, you will have children, and they will give you grandchildren. After many years, you might lose your sense of right and wrong and make idols, even though the Lord your God hates them. So I am giving you fair warning today, and I call the earth and the sky as witnesses. If you ever make idols, the Lord will be angry, and you won't have long to live, because the Lord will let you be wiped out.
27. Only a few of you will survive, and the Lord will force you to leave the land and will scatter you among the nations.
28. There you will have to worship gods made of wood and stone, and these are nothing but idols that can't see or hear or eat or smell.
29-30. In all your troubles, you may finally decide that you want to worship only the Lord. And if you turn back to him and obey him completely, he will again be your God.
31. The Lord your God will have mercy—he won't destroy you or desert you. The Lord will remember his promise, and he will keep the agreement he made with your ancestors.
32-34. When the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt, you saw how he fought for you and showed his great power by performing terrifying miracles. You became his people, and at Mount Sinai you heard him talking to you out of fiery flames. And yet you are still alive! Has anything like this ever happened since the time God created humans? No matter where you go or who you ask, you will get the same answer. No one has ever heard of another god even trying to do such things as the Lord your God has done for you.
35-36. The Lord wants you to know he is the only true God, and he wants you to obey him. That's why he let you see his mighty miracles and his fierce fire on earth, and why you heard his voice from that fire and from the sky.