³ Then Moses went up to God,^(A) and the Lord called^(B) to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ⁴ ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt,^(C) and how I carried you on eagles’ wings^(D) and brought you to myself.^{(E) 5} Now if you obey me fully^(F) and keep my covenant,^(G) then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.^(H) Although the whole earth^(I) is mine, ⁶ you^[a] will be for me a kingdom of priests^(J) and a holy nation.’^(K) These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

⁷ So Moses went back and summoned the elders^(L) of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak.^{(M) 8} The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.”^(N) So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.

Follow the Lord’s Commands

¹⁶ The Lord your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.^{(A) 17} You have declared this day that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in obedience to him, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws—that you will listen to him.^{(B) 18} And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession^(C) as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. ¹⁹ He has declared that he will set you in praise,^(D) fame and honor high above all the nations^(E) he has made and that you will be a people holy^(F) to the Lord your God, as he promised.

Renewal of the Covenant

29 ^[a]These are the terms of the covenant the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab,^(A) in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.^(B)

² Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them:

Your eyes have seen all that the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land.^{(C) 3} With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those signs and great wonders.^{(D) 4} But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear.^{(E) 5} Yet the Lord says, “During the forty years that I led^(F) you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.^{(G) 6} You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink.^(H) I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God.”^(I)

⁷ When you reached this place, Sihon^(J) king of Heshbon^(K) and Og king of Bashan came out to fight against us, but we defeated them.^{(L) 8} We took their land and gave it as an inheritance^(M) to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.^(N)

⁹ Carefully follow^(O) the terms of this covenant,^(P) so that you may prosper in everything you do.^{(Q) 10} All of you are standing today in the presence of the Lord your God—your leaders and chief men, your elders and officials, and all the other men of Israel, ¹¹ together with your children and your wives, and the foreigners living in your camps who chop your wood and carry your water.^{(R) 12} You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the Lord your God, a covenant the Lord is making with you this day and sealing with an oath, ¹³ to confirm you this day as his people,^(S) that he may be your God^(T) as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

⁶ But when they said, “Give us a king^(A) to lead us,” this displeased^(B) Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord.

⁷ And the Lord told him: “Listen^(A) to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected,^(B) but they have rejected me as their king.^(C)