1 "And now, O Israel, give heed to the statutes and the ordinances which I teach you, and do them; that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land which YHVH, the god of your fathers, gives you.
2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it; that you may keep the commandments of YHVH, your god, which I command you.
3 Your eyes have seen what YHVH did at Ba'al-pe'or; for YHVH, your god, destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Ba'al of Pe'or;
4 but you who held fast to YHVH, your god, are all alive this day.
5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, as YHVH, my god, commanded me, that you should do them in the land which you are entering to take possession of it.
6 Keep them and do them; for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'
7 For what great nation is there that has gods so near to it as YHVH, our god, is to us, whenever we call upon him?
8 And what great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day?
9 "Only take heed, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children's children—
10 how on the day that you stood before YHVH, your god, at Horeb, YHVH said to me, 'Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children so.'
11 And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of the heavens, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom.
12 Then YHVH spoke to you out of the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.
13 And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
14 And YHVH commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land which you are going over to possess.
15 "Therefore take good heed to yourselves. Since you saw no form on the day that YHVH spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire,
16 beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
17 the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air,
18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.
Like the burning bush from which YHVH spoke to Moses, the mountain represents a high state of spiritual consciousness. It is within us. So are the Israelites. People symbolize ideas in the Bible. The Israelites represent the ideas which are spiritually elevated. Even if they are side tracked, YHVH will hear them if they seek Him wholly, which is to say the thoughts are spiritually elevated.
19 And beware lest you lift up your eyes to the heavens, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of the heavens, you be drawn away and worship them and serve them, things which YHVH, your god, has allotted to all the peoples under the whole the heavens.
20 But YHVH has taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own possession, as at this day.