Study Desk

"So be very careful yourselves, since you did not see any form on the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire,

"There you will serve gods, the work of human hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear, nor eat nor smell anything.

"Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire.

"See, I am placing before you today a blessing and a curse:

"Be careful that you do not offer your burnt offerings in any cultic place that you see,

"This is in accordance with everything that you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, 'Do not let me hear the voice of the LORD my God again, and do not let me see this great fire anymore, or I will die!'

"When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you.

and they shall respond and say, 'Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see who did.

and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and are strongly attracted to her and would take her as a wife for yourself,

"You shall not see your countryman's ox or his sheep straying away, and avoid them; you shall certainly bring them back to your countryman.

"You shall not see your countryman's donkey or his ox fallen down on the road, and avoid them; you shall certainly help him raise them up.

"Since the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp to save you and to defeat your enemies before you, your camp must be holy; so He must not see anything indecent among you or He will turn away from you.

"So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will be afraid of you.

"You will also be driven insane by the sight of what you see.

"In the morning you will say, 'If only it were evening!' And at evening you will say, 'If only it were morning!' because of the terror of your heart which you fear, and the sight of your eyes which you will see.

"And the LORD will bring you back to Egypt in ships, by the way about which I said to you, 'You will never see it again!' And there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer."

"Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.

"Now the future generation, your sons who rise up after you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land, when they see the plagues of that land and the diseases with which the LORD has afflicted it, will say,

"See, I have placed before you today life and happiness, and death and adversity,

"Then He said, 'I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be; For they are a perverse generation, Sons in whom there is no faithfulness.