1 Now, therefore, hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rights which I teach you, for in doing them ye shall live and go in and inherit the land which the LORD God of your fathers gives you. 2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish anything from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. 3 Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor; for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God has destroyed them from among you. 4 But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive, every one of you this day. 5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and rights, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do thus in the midst of the land where ye are about to enter in to possess it. 6 Keep them, therefore, and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who shall hear all these statutes and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7 For what nation is there so great who has God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? 8 And what nation is there so great that has statutes and rights so just as all this law, which I set before you this day?
9 Therefore, take heed to thyself and keep thy soul diligently lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life, but teach them to thy sons and thy sons’ sons. 10 The day that thou didst stand before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather the people together unto me, and I will make them hear my words that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth and that they may teach their sons. 11 And ye came near and stood under the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of the heavens, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. 12 And the LORD spoke unto you out of the midst of the fire; ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no likeness; only ye heard a voice. 13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, the ten words; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. 14 And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you the statutes and rights that ye might do them in the land which ye are about to enter to possess.