The Covenant Renewed

1“The Lord said to me at that time, ‘Cut two stone tablets like the first ones and come to me on the mountain and make a wooden ark. 2I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets you broke, and you are to place them in the ark.’ 3So I made an ark of acacia wood,a cut two stone tablets like the first ones, and climbed the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. 4Then on the day of the assembly, the Lord wrote on the tablets what had been written previously, the Ten Commandments that he had spoken to you on the mountain from the fire. The Lord gave them to me, 5and I went back down the mountain and placed the tablets in the ark I had made. And they have remained there, as the Lord commanded me.”a

6The Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene-jaakanA to Moserah. Aaron died and was buried there, and Eleazar his son became priest in his place.a 7They traveled from there to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land with flowing streams.a

8“At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levia to carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, to stand before the Lord to serve him, and to pronounce blessings in his name, as it is today. 9For this reason, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance like his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God told him.a

10“I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights like the first time. The Lord also listened to me on this occasion;a he agreed not to annihilate you. 11Then the Lord said to me, ‘Get up. Continue your journey ahead of the people, so that they may enter and possess the land I swore to give their ancestors.’a

What God Requires

12“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you except to feara the Lord your God by walking in all his ways, to love him, and to worship the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul?b 13Keep the Lord’s commands and statutes I am giving you today, for your own good.a 14The heavens, indeed the highest heavens, belong to the Lord your God, as does the earth and everything in it.a 15Yet the Lord had his heart set on your ancestors and loved them.a He chose their descendants after them — he chose you out of all the peoples, as it is today.b 16Therefore, circumcise your heartsa and don’t be stiff-necked any longer. 17For the Lord your God is the God of godsa and Lord of lords,b the great, mighty, and awe-inspiring God, showing no partiality and taking no bribe.c 18He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the resident alien, giving him food and clothing.a 19You are also to love the resident alien, since you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.a 20You are to fear the Lord your God and worship him. Remain faithfulA to him and take oaths in his name.a 21He is your praise and he is your God, who has done for you these great and awe-inspiring works your eyes have seen. 22Your ancestors went down to Egypt, seventy people in all,a and now the Lord your God has made you numerous, like the stars of the sky.b