"At that time the LORD said to me, `Prepare two stone tablets like the first ones, and make a sacred chest of wood to keep them in. Return to me on the mountain,
and I will write on the tablets the same words that were on the ones you smashed. Then place the tablets in the sacred chest--the Ark of the Covenant.'
"So I made a chest of acacia wood and cut two stone tablets like the first two, and I took the tablets up the mountain.
The LORD again wrote the terms of the covenant--the Ten Commandments--on them and gave them to me. They were the same words the LORD had spoken to you from the heart of the fire on the mountain as you were assembled below.
Then I came down and placed the tablets in the Ark of the Covenant, which I had made, just as the LORD commanded me. And the tablets are still there in the Ark.
"The people of Israel set out from the wells of the people of Jaakan and traveled to Moserah, where Aaron died and was buried. His son Eleazar became the high priest in his place.
Then they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from there to Jotbathah, a land with brooks of water.
At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the Ark of the LORD's covenant, to minister before the LORD, and to pronounce blessings in his name. These are still their duties.
That is why the Levites have no share or inheritance reserved for them among the other Israelite tribes. The LORD himself is their inheritance, as the LORD your God told them.
"As I said before, I stayed on the mountain in the LORD's presence for forty days and nights, as I had done the first time. And once again the LORD yielded to my pleas and didn't destroy you.
But the LORD said to me, `Get up and lead the people into the land I swore to give their ancestors, so they may take possession of it.'
"And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? He requires you to fear him, to live according to his will, to love and worship him with all your heart and soul,
and to obey the LORD's commands and laws that I am giving you today for your own good.
The highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the LORD your God.
Yet the LORD chose your ancestors as the objects of his love. And he chose you, their descendants, above every other nation, as is evident today.
Therefore, cleanse your sinful hearts and stop being stubborn.
"The LORD your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and takes no bribes.
He gives justice to orphans and widows. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing.
You, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.
You must fear the LORD your God and worship him and cling to him. Your oaths must be in his name alone.
He is your God, the one who is worthy of your praise, the one who has done mighty miracles that you yourselves have seen.
When your ancestors went down into Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky!