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Deuteronomy 10

God’s mercy toward Israel grounds Moses’ call for wholehearted obedience and love for foreigners under the Lord of all.

Moses recounts to Israel how YHWH replaced the broken stone tablets and told him to place them in a wooden ark. The account also records Aaron’s death, Eleazar’s succession, and Levi’s appointment to service. Moses recalls that God heard his plea and spared the people. He then calls Israel to wholehearted obedience: the God who owns heaven and earth chose their ancestors, judges without favoritism, and loves the foreigner.

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1At that time the LORD said to me, “Cut two stone tablets like the first, and come up to me onto the mountain, and make an ark of wood.
2I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke, and you shall put them in the ark.”
3So I made an ark of acacia wood, and cut two stone tablets like the first, and went up onto the mountain, having the two tablets in my hand.
4He wrote on the tablets, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the LORD spoke to you on the mountain out of the middle of the fire in 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.
6(The children of Israel traveled from Beeroth Bene Jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest’s office in his place.
8At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the LORD’s covenant, to stand before the LORD to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day.
9Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, according as the LORD your God spoke to him.)
10I stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights; and the LORD listened to me that time also. The LORD would not destroy you.
11The LORD said to me, “Arise, take your journey before the people; and they shall go in and possess the land which I swore to their fathers to give to them.”
12Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but 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,
13to keep the LORD’s commandments and statutes, which I command you today for your good?
14Behold, to the LORD your God belongs heaven, the heaven of heavens, and the earth, with all that is therein.
15Only the LORD had a delight in your fathers to love them, and he chose their offspring after them, even you above all peoples, as it is today.
16Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked.
17For the LORD your God, he is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, and the awesome, who doesn’t respect persons or take bribes.
18He executes justice for the fatherless and widow and loves the foreigner in giving him food and clothing.
19Therefore love the foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
20You shall fear the LORD your God. You shall serve him. You shall cling to him, and you shall swear by his name.
21He is your praise, and he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome 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 the stars of the sky for multitude.
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Key verses
Deuteronomy 10:12Moses turns from recounting God’s mercy to naming the wholehearted love and obedience Israel owes him.
Deuteronomy 10:20The command to cling to God gathers Israel’s worship and allegiance around YHWH who spared them.
Deuteronomy 10:17God’s supreme authority and freedom from favoritism ground the commands to care for those without social protection.
Where this chapter reaches

Exodus shares the account of replacement tablets and the commands concerning foreigners, while Numbers shares the events of Aaron’s death and Eleazar’s succession. Acts shares the declaration that God shows no favoritism, a truth Deuteronomy places beside his care for vulnerable people.

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After reading the whole chapter

What does the sequence of mercy followed by commands show you about Israel’s relationship with God?

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How does Israel’s memory of being foreigners shape the command to love foreigners?

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Questions people ask about Deuteronomy 10

What does circumcising the heart mean in Deuteronomy 10:16?

Moses uses circumcision as an image for an inward change in Israel’s response to God. The next phrase, “be no more stiff-necked,” explains the demand: stop resisting him. In context, this means loving and serving God with the whole heart and keeping his commands.

What does God require in Deuteronomy 10:12?

Moses calls Israel to fear YHWH, walk in his ways, love him, and serve him with all their heart and soul. Verse 13 continues the sentence with obedience to God’s commands, given for their good. These requirements follow Moses’ account of God sparing Israel and restoring the tablets.

Why does Deuteronomy 10 command Israel to love foreigners?

The command has two stated grounds: God loves the foreigner, providing food and clothing, and Israel had been foreigners in Egypt. It follows the description of God as supreme and free from favoritism. Israel’s chosen status therefore carries a duty to reflect his care for people from outside their nation.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).