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New Stone Tablets

¹ At that time the Lord said to me, "Cut two stone tablets like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden Ark. ² I will write on the tablets the same words that were on the first tablets, which you broke, and you will put the new tablets in the Ark."

³ So I made the Ark out of acacia wood, and I cut out two stone tablets like the first ones. Then I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. ⁴ The Lord wrote the same things on these tablets he had written before —the Ten Commandments that he had told you on the mountain from the fire, on the day you were gathered there. And the Lord gave them to me. ⁵ Then I turned and came down the mountain; I put the tablets in the Ark I had made, as the Lord had commanded, and they are still there.

⁶ (The people of Israel went from the wells of the Jaakanites to Moserah. Aaron died there and was buried; his son Eleazar became priest in his place. ⁷ From Moserah they went to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah they went to Jotbathah, a place with streams of water. ⁸ At that time the Lord chose the tribe of Levi to carry the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord. They were to serve the Lord and to bless the people in his name, which they still do today. ⁹ That is why the Levites did not receive any land of their own; instead, they received the Lord himself as their gift, as the Lord your God told them.)

¹⁰ I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights just like the first time, and the Lord listened to me this time also. He did not want to destroy you. ¹¹ The Lord said to me, "Go and lead the people so that they will go in and take the land I promised their ancestors."

What the Lord Wants You to Do

¹² Now, Israel, this is what the Lord your God wants you to do: Respect the Lord your God, and do what he has told you to do. Love him. Serve the Lord your God with your whole being, ¹³ and obey the Lord's commands and laws that I am giving you today for your own good.

¹⁴ The Lord owns the world and everything in it—the heavens, even the highest heavens, are his. ¹⁵ But the Lord cared for and loved your ancestors, and he chose you, their descendants, over all the other nations, just as it is today. ¹⁶ Give yourselves completely to serving him, and do not be stubborn any longer. ¹⁷ The Lord your God is God of all gods and Lord of all lords. He is the great God, who is strong and wonderful. He does not take sides, and he will not be talked into doing evil. ¹⁸ He helps orphans and widows, and he loves foreigners and gives them food and clothes. ¹⁹ You also must love foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt. ²⁰ Respect the Lord your God and serve him. Be loyal to him and make your promises in his name. ²¹ He is the one you should praise; he is your God, who has done great and wonderful things for you, which you have seen with your own eyes. ²² There were only seventy of your ancestors when they went down to Egypt, and now the Lord your God has made you as many as the stars in the sky.