1At that time Jehovah said unto me , Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first , and come up unto me into the mount , and make thee an ark of wood . 2And I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tables which thou brakest , and thou shalt put them in the ark. 3So I made an ark of acacia wood , and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first , and went up into the mount , having the two tables in my hand . 4And he wrote on the tables , according to the first writing , the ten commandments , which Jehovah spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly : and Jehovah gave them unto me . 5And I turned and came down from the mount , and put the tables in the ark which I had made ; and there they are as Jehovah commanded me .
The Call to Fear the Lord
6( And the children of Israel journeyed from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah . There Aaron died , and there he was buried ; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest ’s office in his stead . 7From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah ; and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah , a land of brooks of water . 8At that time Jehovah set apart the tribe of Levi , to bear the ark of the covenant of Jehovah , to stand before Jehovah to minister unto him , and to bless in his name , unto this day . 9Wherefore Levi hath no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; Jehovah is his inheritance , according as Jehovah thy God spake unto him .) 10And I stayed in the mount , as at the first time , forty days and forty nights : and Jehovah hearkened unto me that time also ; Jehovah would not destroy thee . 11And Jehovah said unto me , Arise , take thy journey before the people ; and they shall go in and possess the land , which I sware unto their fathers to give unto them .
God's Sovereignty and Justice
12And now , Israel , what doth Jehovah thy God require of thee , but to fear Jehovah thy God , to walk in all his ways , and to love him , and to serve Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul , 13to keep the commandments of Jehovah , and his statutes , which I command thee this day for thy good ? 14Behold , unto Jehovah thy God belongeth heaven and the heaven of heavens , the earth , with all that is therein. 15Only Jehovah had a delight in thy fathers to love them , and he chose their seed after them , even you above all peoples , as at this day . 16Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart , and be no more stiffnecked .
The Call to Love and Serve Others
17For Jehovah your God , he is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great God , the mighty , and the terrible , who regardeth not persons , nor taketh reward . 18He doth execute justice for the fatherless and widow, and loveth the sojourner , in giving him food and raiment . 19Love ye therefore the sojourner ; for ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt . 20Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God ; him shalt thou serve ; and to him shalt thou cleave , and by his name shalt thou swear . 21He is thy praise , and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things , which thine eyes have seen . 22Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons ; and now Jehovah thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude .