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Deuteronomy 10

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1 At that time Jehovah said to me, Carve·​·out for thee two tablets of stone like the first, and come·​·up to Me in the mountain, and make thee an ark of wood.

2 And I will write on the tablets the Words that were on the first tablets which thou didst break, and thou shalt set them in the ark.

3 And I made an ark of shittim* wood, and carved·​·out two tablets of stone like the first, and went·​·up to the mountain, and the two tablets were in my hand.

4 And He wrote on the tablets, according·​·to the first writing, the Ten Words*, which Jehovah spoke to you in the mountain out·​·of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly; and Jehovah gave them to me.

5 And I turned and came·​·down from the mountain, and set the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as Jehovah commanded me.

6 And the sons of Israel journeyed from Beeroth of the sons of Jaakan to Moserah; there Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son was·​·a·​·priest in his stead.

7 From thence they journeyed to Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbath, a land of brooks of waters.

8 At that time Jehovah distinguished the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, to stand before Jehovah to minister to Him, and to bless in His name, even·​·to this day.

9 Therefore Levi has no part nor inheritance with his brothers; Jehovah is his inheritance, according as Jehovah thy God spoke to him.

10 And I stood in the mountain, as in the first days, forty days and forty nights; and Jehovah hearkened to me at that time also, and Jehovah was· not ·willing to destroy thee.

11 And Jehovah said to me, Arise, go to journey before the people, that they may go·​·in and possess the land, which I promised to their fathers to give to them.

12 And now, Israel, what does Jehovah thy God ask from thee, but to fear Jehovah thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

13 to keep the commandments of Jehovah, and His statutes, which I command thee today for thy good?

14 Behold, the heavens and the heavens of heavens are Jehovah’s thy God, the earth also, with all that is in it.

15 Only Jehovah delighted in thy fathers to love them, and He chose their seed after them, even you above all the peoples, as it is this day.

16 And circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and let your neck be hardened no more.

17 For Jehovah your God, He is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great God, the Hero, and the Fearsome, who accepts not faces*, nor takes a bribe;

18 He makes judgment for the orphan and widow, and loves the sojourner, to give him bread and raiment.

19 And love ye the sojourner; for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

20 Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God; Him thou shalt serve, and to Him thou shalt stick, and promise by His name.

21 He is thy praise, and He is thy God, who has done for thee these great and fearsome things, which thine eyes have seen.

22 Thy fathers went·​·down into Egypt with seventy souls; and now Jehovah thy God has set thee as the stars of the heavens for multitude.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Stone

  

Stones in the Bible in general represent truths, or things we know concerning the Lord and what He wants from us and for us in life. This is why the people of Israel built altars of stone, and is also why stoning was a principal form of capital punishment (using truth to destroy falsity, or in the negative sense using falsity to destroy truth). It is also why precious stones are described in such detail on Aaron's breastplate and ephod, and also in the New Jerusalem in Revelation; precious stones represent true ideas directly from the Lord with the various colors showing various forms of love. Stones are not alone in representing truth, of course -- it sometimes seems that almost everything in the Bible represents either true ideas or desires for good. But that makes sense, since our thoughts and our desires together are everything we are in life, and the interplay between them is what life is all about. The many ways they are represented in the Bible reflect the incredible variety in our feelings and thoughts, though we can only distantly understand how those representations work. In the case of stones, in their weight, strength and permanence they tend to represent true ideas that come from a desire for good, the understanding we can have if we are truly good and loving -- and in the highest sense the exalted ideas that come from the Lord's love. Those ideas are ones that are not easily moved or changed, and make wonderful foundations for the things we want to build in our spiritual lives.