Deuteronomy 10

The Second Tablets and the Ark

1“At that time the LORD said to me, ‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first ones, and come up to me on the mountain. Make for yourself an ark of wood. 2I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you shattered, and you shall put them in the ark.’ 3So I made an ark of acacia wood and cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. 4He wrote on the tablets, like the first writing, the Ten Words that the LORD had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. Then the LORD gave them to me. 5I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark that I had made, and there they are, as the LORD commanded me.

Aaron Dies and Levi Is Set Apart

6“The children of Israel journeyed from Beeroth-Bene-Jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died and was buried, and Eleazar his son served as priest in his place. 7From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of streams of water. 8At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day. 9Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God spoke concerning him.

Moses Stays Another Forty Days

10“And I stayed on the mountain as at the first, forty days and forty nights. The LORD listened to me that time also; the LORD was not willing to destroy you. 11Then the LORD said to me, ‘Rise, go on the journey before the people, so that they may enter and possess the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them.’

What Does the LORD Require of You?

12“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask from you except to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your life, 13to keep the commandments of the LORD and his statutes that I command you today for your good? 14Look, to the LORD your God belong the heavens and the heavens of heavens, the earth and all that is in it. 15Yet the LORD set his affection upon your ancestors to love them, and he chose their offspring after them—you—from all the peoples, as it is this day.

Circumcise the Foreskin of Your Heart

16“So circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and do not stiffen your neck any longer. 17For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and fearsome God, who does not show partiality and does not take a bribe. 18He executes justice for the orphan and the widow and loves the resident alien, giving him food and clothing. 19So you shall love the resident alien, for you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt. 20The LORD your God you shall fear; him you shall serve; to him you shall cling; and by his name you shall swear. 21He is your praise, and he is your God, who did for you these great and fearsome things that your eyes have seen. 22Your ancestors went down to Egypt with seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the heavens.