Deuteronomy 5:1-4·~1 min
The Covenant at Horeb
Moses calls Israel to hear and keep the covenant made at Horeb, stressing that it belongs to the living assembly before him. He recalls the LORD's direct address from the fire on the mountain.
T1hen Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: 2Hear, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances that I declare in your hearing this day. Learn them and observe them carefully. The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3He did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with all of us who are alive here today. 4The LORD spoke with you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.
Section summaryMoses gathers Israel to hear the covenant again and frames Horeb as a living obligation, not a distant memory. The covenant is spoken as something made with the people now standing before him, under the direct speech of God from the fire.
Role in the chapterThis opening reanchors the whole chapter in covenant memory. It turns Horeb from past event into present claim, preparing the repeated commandments to be heard as binding words for this generation.