You shall not bow down to them or serve them: or “You must not….” See 4.19. Bow down in some languages will be expressed as “prostrate yourself before.” So we may also render this first sentence as “Do not prostrate yourselves before [or, bow down to] any likeness [or, image] of these gods.”

I … am a jealous God: see 4.24; 6.14-15. There are better ways of translating the concept of jealous when applied to God. Bible en français courant has “I demand to be your only God,” and see Good News Translation, “I tolerate no rivals”; or we may say “I demand that you love only me.” For a further discussion see 4.24.

Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon …: that is, extending the punishment for the sins of fathers onto their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. This may require considerable restructuring (see below).

Instead of the children to the third and fourth generation, it is better to say “their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.”

Those who hate me refers back to the fathers, not to the future generations. The verb hate can be translated “oppose me” (Bible en français courant), “are against me,” or even “my enemies.” Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version interpret the iniquity as being the sin of “hate” or “rejection.” So Good News Translation restructures the sentence, combining fathers and those who hate me to read “I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generations.” Contemporary English Version puts the clause those who hate me at the beginning of the sentence, making it conditional: “If you reject [the equivalent of “hate”] me, I will punish….”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• Do not bow down to [or, prostrate yourselves before] and worship any likeness of these gods. I am Yahweh, the God you must worship. I will not tolerate your worshiping any other gods. If you hate me, I will punish you for that sin. I will punish not only you, but your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .