Holy Bible: Easy-To-Read Version

Deuteronomy 4:23-35 Holy Bible: Easy-To-Read Version (ETR)

23. You must be careful not to forget the agreement that the Lord your God made with you. You must obey the Lord’S command. Don’t make any idols in any form,

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

25. “You will live in the country a long time. You will have children and grandchildren there. After all that time, be sure that you do not then ruin your lives by making any kind of idol! That is something the Lord your God considers evil, and it would make him very angry!

26. So I am warning you now. Heaven and earth are my witnesses! If you do such an evil thing, you will quickly be destroyed! You are crossing the Jordan River now to take that land. But if you make any idols, you will not live there very long. No, you will be destroyed completely!

27. The Lord will scatter you among the nations. And only a few of you will be left alive to go to the countries where the Lord will send you.

28. There you will serve gods made by men—things made of wood and stone that cannot see or hear or eat or smell!

29. But there in these other lands you will look for the Lord your God. And if you look for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.

30. When you are in trouble—when all these things happen to you—then you will come back to the Lord your God and obey him.

31. The Lord your God is a merciful God! He will not leave you there or destroy you completely. He will not forget the agreement that he made with your ancestors.

32. “Has anything this great ever happened before? Never! Look at the past. Think about everything that happened before you were born. Go all the way back to the time when God made people on the earth. Look at everything that has happened anywhere in the world. Has anyone ever heard about anything as great as this? No!

33. You people heard God speaking to you from a fire, and you are still alive. Has that ever happened to anyone else? No!

34. Has any other god ever tried to go and take a people for himself from inside another nation? No! But you yourselves have seen everything that the Lord your God did for you. He showed you his power and strength. You saw the troubles that tested the people. You saw miracles and wonders. You saw war and the terrible things that happened.

35. The Lord showed you all this so that you would know that he is God. There is no other god like him.