Deuteronomy 4:23

23 So stay alert. Don't for a minute forget the covenant which God, your God, made with you. And don't take up with any carved images, no forms of any kind - God, your God, issued clear commands on that.

Deuteronomy 4:23 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 4:23

Take heed unto yourselves
Since he should not be long with them, to advise, instruct, and caution them:

lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God,
which he made with you; what that required of them, and what was promised unto them on the performance of it, and what they must expect should they break it, and particularly be so forgetful of it, and the first articles in it, as follows:

and make you a graven image, or the likeness of anything which the
Lord thy God hath forbidden thee;
a graven image in the likeness of men or women, of any beast on the earth, or fowl in heaven, or fish in the sea.

Deuteronomy 4:23 In-Context

21 But God was angry with me because of you and the things you said. He swore that I'd never cross the Jordan, never get to enter the good land that God, your God, is giving you as an inheritance.

22 This means that I am going to die here. I'm not crossing the Jordan. But you will cross; you'll possess the good land.

23 So stay alert. Don't for a minute forget the covenant which God, your God, made with you. And don't take up with any carved images, no forms of any kind - God, your God, issued clear commands on that.

24 God, your God, is not to be trifled with - he's a consuming fire, a jealous God.

25 When the time comes that you have children and grandchildren, put on years, and start taking things for granted, if you then become corrupt and make any carved images, no matter what their form, by doing what is sheer evil in God's eyes and provoking his anger -