BSB
Deuteronomy 10-12
Deuteronomy 10
1At that time the LORD said to me, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the originals, come up to Me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood.
2And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you are to place them in the ark.”
3So I made an ark of acacia wood, chiseled out two stone tablets like the originals, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hands.
4And the LORD wrote on the tablets what had been written previously, the Ten Commandments that He had spoken to you on the mountain out of the fire on the day of the assembly. The LORD gave them to me,
5and I went back down the mountain and placed the tablets in the ark I had made, as the LORD had commanded me; and there they have remained.
6The Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah, where Aaron died and was buried, and Eleazar his son succeeded him as priest.
7From there they traveled to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land with 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 serve Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name, as they do to this day.
9That is why Levi has no portion or inheritance among his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God promised him.
10I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, like the first time, and that time the LORD again listened to me and agreed not to destroy you.
11Then the LORD said to me, “Get up. Continue your journey ahead of the people, that they may enter and possess the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.”
12And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
13and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD that I am giving you this day for your own good?
14Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, and the earth and everything in it.
15Yet the LORD has set His affection on your fathers and loved them. And He has chosen you, their descendants after them, above all the peoples, even to this day.
16Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.
17For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, showing no partiality and accepting no bribe.
18He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.
19So you also must love the foreigner, since you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
20You are to fear the LORD your God and serve Him. Hold fast to Him and take your oaths in His name.
21He is your praise and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome wonders that your eyes have seen.
22Your fathers went down to Egypt, seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.
Deuteronomy 11
1You shall therefore love the LORD your God and always keep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments.
2Know this day that it is not your children who have known and seen the discipline of the LORD your God: His greatness, His mighty hand, and His outstretched arm;
3the signs and works He did in Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land;
4what He did to the Egyptian army and horses and chariots when He made the waters of the Red Sea engulf them as they pursued you, and how He destroyed them completely, even to this day;
5what He did for you in the wilderness until you reached this place;
6and what He did in the midst of all the Israelites to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing that belonged to them.
7For it is your own eyes that have seen every great work that the LORD has done.
8You shall therefore keep every commandment I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and possess the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,
9and so that you may live long in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.
10For the land that you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated on foot, like a vegetable garden.
11But the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks in the rain from heaven.
12It is a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning to the end of the year.
13So if you carefully obey the commandments I am giving you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,
14then I will provide rain for your land in season, the autumn and spring rains, that you may gather your grain, new wine, and oil.
15And I will provide grass in the fields for your livestock, and you will eat and be satisfied.
16But be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside to worship and bow down to other gods,
17or the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you. He will shut the heavens so that there will be no rain, nor will the land yield its produce, and you will soon perish from the good land that the LORD is giving you.
18Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
19Teach them to your children, speaking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
20Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates,
21so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to give your fathers.
22For if you carefully keep all these commandments I am giving you to follow—to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him—
23then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and stronger than you.
24Every place where the sole of your foot treads will be yours. Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Western Sea.
25No man will be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the fear and dread of you upon all the land, wherever you set foot, as He has promised you.
26See, today I am setting before you a blessing and a curse—
27a blessing if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you today,
28but a curse if you disobey the commandments of the LORD your God and turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.
29When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.
30Are not these mountains across the Jordan, west of the road toward the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah opposite Gilgal near the Oak of Moreh?
31For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and possess the land that the LORD your God is giving you. When you take possession of it and settle in it,
32be careful to follow all the statutes and ordinances that I am setting before you today.
Deuteronomy 12
1These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to follow all the days you live in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess.
2Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.
3Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.
4You shall not worship the LORD your God in this way.
5Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
6To that place you are to bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and heave offerings, your vow offerings and freewill offerings, as well as the firstborn of your herds and flocks.
7There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your households shall eat and rejoice in all you do, because the LORD your God has blessed you.
8You are not to do as we are doing here today, where everyone does what seems right in his own eyes.
9For you have not yet come to the resting place and the inheritance that the LORD your God is giving you.
10When you cross the Jordan and live in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and He gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you dwell securely,
11then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice offerings you vow to the LORD.
12And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.
13Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in just any place you see;
14you must offer them only in the place the LORD will choose in one of your tribal territories, and there you shall do all that I command you.
15But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, according to the blessing the LORD your God has given you. Both the ceremonially clean and unclean may eat it as they would a gazelle or deer,
16but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.
17Within your gates you must not eat the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, the firstborn of your herds or flocks, any of the offerings that you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts.
18Instead, you must eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place the LORD your God will choose—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates. Rejoice before the LORD your God in all you do,
19and be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land.
20When the LORD your God expands your territory as He has promised, and you crave meat and say, “I want to eat meat,” you may eat it whenever you want.
21If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His Name is too far from you, then you may slaughter any of the herd or flock He has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat it within your gates whenever you want.
22Indeed, you may eat it as you would eat a gazelle or deer; both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it.
23Only be sure not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.
24You must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.
25Do not eat it, so that it may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD.
26But you are to take your holy things and your vow offerings and go to the place the LORD will choose.
27Present the meat and blood of your burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD your God. The blood of your other sacrifices must be poured out beside the altar of the LORD your God, but you may eat the meat.
28Be careful to obey all these things I command you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the LORD your God.
29When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations you are entering to dispossess, and you drive them out and live in their land,
30be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”
31You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.
32See that you do everything I command you; do not add to it or subtract from it.
Study This Passage
Key Words and Topics
These study connections are drawn from the internal BSB concordance and topical index imported into Daily Bread Intake.
Key Words in This Passage
Select a word to open the full concordance search.
Related Topics
10 Commandments Deuteronomy 10:4
And the LORD wrote on the tablets what had been written previously, the Ten Commandments that He had spoken to you on the mountain out of the fire on the day of the assembly. The LORD gave them to me,
Aaron: Death and Burial of Deuteronomy 10:6
The Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah, where Aaron died and was buried, and Eleazar his son succeeded him as priest.
Abiram: An Israelite Who Conspired with Dathan Against Moses and Aaron Deuteronomy 11:6
and what He did in the midst of all the Israelites to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing that belonged to them.
Adding to the Bible Deuteronomy 12:32
See that you do everything I command you; do not add to it or subtract from it.
Agriculture or Farming was Promoted Amongst the Jews by The Promises of God's Blessings On Deuteronomy 11:14, 15
then I will provide rain for your land in season, the autumn and spring rains, that you may gather your grain, new wine, and oil. / And I will provide grass in the fields for your livestock, and you will eat and be satisfied.
Agriculture or Farming: Climate of Canaan Favourable To Deuteronomy 11:10, 11
For the land that you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated on foot, like a vegetable garden. / But the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks in the rain from heaven.
Agriculture or Farming: Operations in Watering Deuteronomy 11:10
For the land that you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated on foot, like a vegetable garden.
Akan: Also Called Jaakan Deuteronomy 10:6
The Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah, where Aaron died and was buried, and Eleazar his son succeeded him as priest.
Aliens: To be Treated with Justice Deuteronomy 10:19
So you also must love the foreigner, since you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
Alliance and Society with the Enemies of God are Ensnaring Deuteronomy 12:30
be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”
Ark of the Covenant was Carried by Priests of Levites Alone Deuteronomy 10:8
At 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 serve Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name, as they do to this day.
Ark: in the Tabernacle--Called the Ark of the Covenant: Carried by Kohathites Deuteronomy 10:8
At 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 serve Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name, as they do to this day.
Ark: in the Tabernacle--Called the Ark of the Covenant: Construction of Deuteronomy 10:3
So I made an ark of acacia wood, chiseled out two stone tablets like the originals, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hands.
Ark: in the Tabernacle--Called the Ark of the Covenant: The Law Deuteronomy 10:5
and I went back down the mountain and placed the tablets in the ark I had made, as the LORD had commanded me; and there they have remained.
Arm: Figurative Use of Deuteronomy 11:2
Know this day that it is not your children who have known and seen the discipline of the LORD your God: His greatness, His mighty hand, and His outstretched arm;
Autumn Deuteronomy 11:14
then I will provide rain for your land in season, the autumn and spring rains, that you may gather your grain, new wine, and oil.
Awesome God Deuteronomy 10:17
For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, showing no partiality and accepting no bribe.
Beasts: Clean used for Food Deuteronomy 12:15
But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, according to the blessing the LORD your God has given you. Both the ceremonially clean and unclean may eat it as they would a gazelle or deer,
Beasts: Not to be Eaten Alive or with Blood Deuteronomy 12:16, 23
but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water. / Only be sure not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.
Beeroth: A Station of the Israelites--Aaron Died At Deuteronomy 10:6
The Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah, where Aaron died and was buried, and Eleazar his son succeeded him as priest.
Bene-Jaakan: Called Beeroth Deuteronomy 10:6
The Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah, where Aaron died and was buried, and Eleazar his son succeeded him as priest.
Benedictions by Half the Tribes, Who Stood on Mount Gerizim Deuteronomy 11:29, 30
When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. / Are not these mountains across the Jordan, west of the road toward the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah opposite Gilgal near the Oak of Moreh?
Benedictions: Divinely Appointed Deuteronomy 10:8
At 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 serve Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name, as they do to this day.
Blessing: Contingent Upon Obedience Deuteronomy 11:26–28
See, today I am setting before you a blessing and a curse— / a blessing if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you today, / but a curse if you disobey the commandments of the LORD your God and turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.
Select a topic to open the full topical search.
Bible Dictionary
Related Dictionary Terms
Explore people, places, themes, and biblical terms connected to this passage.
Commentary Insights
Study and Reflection
Explore devotional and study commentary connected to this passage.
Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
Pastoral and devotional reflections focused on spiritual formation and application.
Deuteronomy 10:1-11 Verses 1-11
Moses reminded the Israelites of God's great mercy to them, notwithstanding their provocations. There were four things in and by which the Lord showed himself reconciled to Israel. God gave them his law. Thus God has intrusted us with Bibles, sabbaths, and sacraments, as tokens of his presence and favour. God led them forward toward Canaan. He appointed a standing ministry among them for holy things. And now, under the gospel, when the pouring forth of the Spirit is more plentiful and powerful, the succession is kept up by the Spirit's work on men's hearts, qualifying and making some willing for that work in every age. God accepted Moses as an advocate or intercessor for them, and therefore appointed him to be their prince and leader. Moses was a type of Christ, who ever lives, pleading for us, and has all power in heaven and in earth.
Deuteronomy 10:12-22 Verses 12-22
We are here taught our duty to God in our principles and our practices. We must fear the Lord our God. We must love him, and delight in communion with him. We must walk in the ways in which he has appointed us to walk. We must serve him with all our heart and soul. What we do in his service we must do cheerfully, and with good will. We must keep his commandments. There is true honour and pleasure in obedience. We must give honour to God; and to him we must cleave, as one we love and delight in, trust in, and from whom we have great expectations. We are here taught our duty to our neighbour. God's common gifts to mankind oblige us to honour all men. And those who have themselves been in distress, and have found mercy with God, should be ready to show kindness to those who are in the like distress. We are here taught our duty to ourselves. Circumcise your hearts. Cast away all corrupt affections and inclinations, which hinder you from fearing and loving God. By nature we do not love God. This is original sin, the source whence our wickedness proceeds; and the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be; so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God, Ro 8:5-9. Let us, without delay or reserve, come and cleave to our reconciled God in Jesus Christ, that we may love, serve, and obey him acceptably, and be daily changed into his image, from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord. Consider the greatness and glory of God; and his goodness and grace; these persuade us to our duty. Blessed Spirit! Oh for thy purifying, persevering, and renewing influences, that being called out of the state of strangers, such as our fathers were, we may be found among the number of the children of God, and that our lot may be among the saints.
Deuteronomy 11:1-7 Verses 1-7
Observe the connexion of these two; Thou shalt love the Lord, and keep his charge. Love will work in obedience, and that only is acceptable obedience which flows from a principle of love, 1Jo 5:3. Moses recounts some of the great and terrible works of God which their eyes had seen. What our eyes have seen, especially in our early days, should affect us, and make us better long afterwards.
Deuteronomy 11:8-17 Verses 8-17
Moses sets before them, for the future, life and death, the blessing and the curse, according as they did or did not keep God's commandment. Sin tends to shorten the days of all men, and to shorten the days of a people's prosperity. God will bless them with an abundance of all good things, if they would love him and serve him. Godliness has the promise of the life that now is; but the favour of God shall put gladness into the heart, more than the increase of corn, and wine, and oil. Revolt from God to idols would certainly be their ruin. Take heed that your hearts be not deceived. All who forsake God to set their affection upon any creature, will find themselves wretchedly deceived, to their own destruction; and this will make it worse, that it was for want of taking heed.
Deuteronomy 11:18-25 Verses 18-25
Let all be directed by the three rules here given. 1. Let our hearts be filled with the word of God. There will not be good practices in the life, unless there be good thoughts, good affections, and good principles in the heart. 2. Let our eyes be fixed upon the word of God, having constant regard to it as the guide of our way, as the rule of our work, Ps 119:30. 3. Let our tongues be employed about the word of God. Nor will any thing do more to cause prosperity, and keeping up religion in a nation, than the good education of children.
Deuteronomy 11:26-32 Verses 26-32
Moses sums up all the arguments for obedience in two words, the blessing and the curse. He charged the people to choose which they would have. Moses then appointed a public and solemn proclamation of the blessing and curse, to be made upon the two mountains of Gerizim and Ebal. We have broken the law, and are under its curse, without remedy from ourselves. In mercy, the gospel again sets before us a blessing and a curse. A blessing, if we obey the call to repentance, to faith in Christ, and newness of heart and life through him; an awful curse, if we neglect so great salvation. Let us thankfully welcome these glad tidings of great joy; and let us not harden our hearts, but hear this voice of God while it is called to-day, and while he invites us to come to him upon a mercy-seat. Let us be diligent to make our calling and election sure.
Deuteronomy 12:1-4 Verses 1-4
Moses comes to the statutes he had to give in charge to Israel; and begins with such as relate to the worship of God. The Israelites are charged not to bring the rites and usages of idolaters into the worship of God; not under colour of making it better. We cannot serve God and mammon; nor worship the true God and idols; nor depend upon Christ Jesus and upon superstitious or self-righteous confidences.
Deuteronomy 12:5-32 Verses 5-32
The command to bring ALL the sacrifices to the door of the tabernacle, was now explained with reference to the promised land. As to moral service, then, as now, men might pray and worship every where, as they did in their synagogues. The place which God would choose, is said to be the place where he would put his name. It was to be his habitation, where, as King of Israel, he would be found by all who reverently sought him. Now, under the gospel, we have no temple or altar that sanctifies the gift but Christ only: and as to the places of worship, the prophets foretold that in every place the spiritual incense should be offered, Mal 1:11. Our Saviour declared, that those are accepted as true worshippers, who worship God in sincerity and truth, without regard either to this mountain or Jerusalem, Joh 4:21. And a devout Israelite might honour God, keep up communion with him, and obtain mercy from him, though he had no opportunity of bringing a sacrifice to his altar. Work for God should be done with holy joy and cheerfulness. Even children and servants must rejoice before God; the services of religion are to be a pleasure, and not a task or drudgery. It is the duty of people to be kind to their ministers, who teach them well, and set them good examples. As long as we live, we need their assistance, till we come to that world where ordinances will not be needed. Whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, we are commanded to do all to the glory of God. And we must do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to the Father through him. They must not even inquire into the modes and forms of idolatrous worship. What good would it do them to know those depths of Satan? And our inward satisfaction will be more and more, as we abound in love and good works, which spring from faith and the in-dwelling Spirit of Christ.