Deuteronomy 10:1-11

1 At that time the Lord said to me, "Cut two stone tablets like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden Ark.
2 I will write on the tablets the same words that were on the first tablets, which you broke, and you will put the new tablets in the Ark."
3 So I made the Ark out of acacia wood, and I cut out two stone tablets like the first ones. Then I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands.
4 The Lord wrote the same things on these tablets he had written before -- the Ten Commandments that he had told you on the mountain from the fire, on the day you were gathered there. And the Lord gave them to me.
5 Then I turned and came down the mountain; I put the tablets in the Ark I had made, as the Lord had commanded, and they are still there.
6 (The people of Israel went from the wells of the Jaakanites to Moserah. Aaron died there and was buried; his son Eleazar became priest in his place.
7 From Moserah they went to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah they went to Jotbathah, a place with streams of water.
8 At that time the Lord chose the tribe of Levi to carry the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord. They were to serve the Lord and to bless the people in his name, which they still do today.
9 That is why the Levites did not receive any land of their own; instead, they received the Lord himself as their gift, as the Lord your God told them.)
10 I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights just like the first time, and the Lord listened to me this time also. He did not want to destroy you.
11 The Lord said to me, "Go and lead the people so that they will go in and take the land I promised their ancestors."

Deuteronomy 10:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 10

In this chapter an account is given of an order to Moses to hew two tables of stone, on which the Lord would write the words that were on the first, and to make an ark and put them into it, all which was accordingly done, De 10:1-5 and of some of the journeys of the children of Israel, De 10:6,7 and of the separation of the tribe of Levi to the service of the sanctuary, De 10:8,9 and of Moses's stay in the mount forty days and nights, and his success there, and the direction he had to lead on the people of Israel towards Canaan's land, De 10:10,11 and who by various arguments are exhorted to fear the Lord, and serve him, and keep his commands, De 10:12-22.

Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.