Beware of Idolatry

^15 (A)“Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no ^(B)form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, ¹⁶ lest you ^(C)act corruptly and ^(D)make for yourselves a carved image in the ^[a]form of any figure: ^(E)the likeness of male or female, ¹⁷ the likeness of any animal that is on the earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, ¹⁸ the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water beneath the earth. ¹⁹ And take heed, lest you ^(F)lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, ^(G)all the host of heaven, you feel driven to ^(H)worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has ^[b]given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage. ²⁰ But the Lord has taken you and ^(I)brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be ^(J)His people, an inheritance, as you are this day. ²¹ Furthermore ^(K)the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that ^(L)I would not cross over the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. ²² But ^(M)I must die in this land, ^(N)I must not cross over the Jordan; but you shall cross over and ^[c]possess ^(O)that good land. ²³ Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, ^(P)and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you. ²⁴ For ^(Q)the Lord your God is a consuming fire, ^(R)a jealous God.

²⁵ “When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and ^(S)do evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger, ^26 (T)I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not ^[d]prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. ²⁷ And the Lord ^(U)will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. ²⁸ And ^(V)there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, ^(W)which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.