Deuteronomy Chapter 10 in Simple English

Updated on October 1, 2026

Read Deuteronomy Chapter 10

1At that time the LORD said to me, "Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and come up to me on the mountain. Also make yourself an ark of wood."

2"And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you shall put them in the ark."

3So I made an ark of shittim wood, and cut two tablets of stone like the first ones. Then I went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand.

4And he wrote on the tablets, just as he had written the first time, the ten commandments which the LORD spoke to you on the mountain out of the middle of the fire on the day of the assembly. And the LORD gave them to me.

5I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tablets in the ark which I had made. And there they are, as the LORD commanded me.

6The children of Israel travelled from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to Mosera. There Aaron died, and there he was buried. And Eleazar his son served as priest in his place.

7From there they travelled to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbath, a land of rivers of water.

8At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to serve him, and to bless in his name, as they do to this day.

9That is why Levi has no share or inheritance with his brothers. The LORD is his inheritance, just as the LORD your God promised him.

10I stayed on the mountain, as I had the first time, forty days and forty nights. And the LORD listened to me that time also, and the LORD would not destroy you.

11And the LORD said to me, "Get up, go on your journey ahead of the people, so that they may go in and take the land which I swore to their fathers I would give them."

12And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you? Only this: to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

13and to keep the commandments of the LORD and his laws, which I command you today for your good.

14Look, the heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, and the earth also, with everything in it.

15Yet the LORD delighted in your fathers and loved them, and he chose their children after them, you above all peoples, as it is today.

16So circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stubborn no longer.

17For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, a great God, mighty and terrible. He shows no favour to anyone, and he takes no bribe.

18He gives justice to the fatherless and the widow, and he loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing.

19So love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

20You shall fear the LORD your God. You shall serve him, and hold fast to him, and swear by his name.

21He is your praise, and he is your God, who has done for you these great and terrible things which your eyes have seen.

22Your fathers went down into Egypt with seventy persons. And now the LORD your God has made you as many as the stars of heaven.

You are readingSimple English

Explanation

Deuteronomy 10

In short

After Moses broke the first stone tablets, God commands him to make new ones and receive the law again. The chapter then describes how the Levites were set apart for religious service and calls Israel to love God and to treat strangers well, because God himself cares for the vulnerable and Israel once were strangers too.

Context

Moses is speaking to Israel at the end of their wilderness journey, recounting what happened after he shattered the first tablets in anger at the golden calf. He is reminding them of God's faithfulness and what God requires of them as they prepare to enter the land. The events described here took place forty years earlier, during the wilderness wandering.

What the text says

Verses 1-5 describe how Moses was told to cut new stone tablets, go back up the mountain, make a wooden ark, and receive the commandments again written by God's hand. Verses 6-7 note a travel segment and Aaron's death. Verses 8-9 explain that God set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark and serve before the Lord, and so the Levites received no land inheritance like the other tribes; instead, "the LORD is his inheritance."

Verses 10-11 mention Moses stayed on the mountain forty days and nights, and God promised not to destroy Israel. God then told them to go and take possession of the land he swore to their fathers.

Verses 12-13 pose a central question: what does God require? Fear him, walk in his ways, love him, serve him with all your heart and soul, and keep his commandments. Verses 14-15 state that everything belongs to God, and he chose Israel's ancestors and their descendants above all people. Verse 16 commands Israel to "circumcise the foreskin of your heart" and stop being stubborn.

Verses 17-19 describe God as God of gods and Lord of lords who does not show favoritism, executes justice for orphans and widows, and loves strangers. Israel is therefore commanded to love strangers because "ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." Verses 20-22 require Israel to fear, serve, and be loyal to God, acknowledge him as their praise, and remember how he multiplied them from seventy people to countless multitudes.

Takeaways

God gave Israel the law a second time, preserved in an ark kept by the Levites, who served as priests instead of receiving land.
God's core requirement is that Israel fear, love, and serve him with complete devotion and obey his commandments.
God himself shows justice to the powerless and loves foreigners, so Israel must do the same, remembering their own past as outsiders in Egypt.

Deuteronomy 10 - Simple English