Deuteronomy 6
New King James Version
The Greatest Commandment
6 “Now this is (A)the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, 2 (B)that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, (C)and that your days may be prolonged. 3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and [a]be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may (D)multiply greatly (E)as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you—(F)‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’
4 (G)“Hear, O Israel: [b]The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 (H)You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, (I)with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And (J)these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 (K)You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 (L)You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 (M)You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Caution Against Disobedience
10 “So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He [c]swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities (N)which you did not build, 11 houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—(O)when you have eaten and are full— 12 then beware, lest you forget the (P)Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 13 You shall (Q)fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and (R)shall take oaths in His name. 14 You shall not go after other gods, (S)the gods of the peoples who are all around you 15 (for (T)the Lord your God is a jealous God (U)among you), lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.
16 (V)“You shall not [d]tempt the Lord your God (W)as you [e]tempted Him in Massah. 17 You shall (X)diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you. 18 And you (Y)shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the Lord swore to your fathers, 19 (Z)to cast out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken.
20 (AA)“When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord our God has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt (AB)with a mighty hand; 22 and the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. 23 Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He [f]swore to our fathers. 24 And the Lord commanded us to [g]observe all these [h]statutes, (AC)to fear the Lord our God, (AD)for our good always, that (AE)He might preserve us alive, as it is [i]this day. 25 Then (AF)it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.’
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 6:3 Lit. observe to do
- Deuteronomy 6:4 Or The Lord is our God, the Lord alone, i.e., the only one
- Deuteronomy 6:10 promised
- Deuteronomy 6:16 test
- Deuteronomy 6:16 tested
- Deuteronomy 6:23 promised
- Deuteronomy 6:24 do
- Deuteronomy 6:24 ordinances
- Deuteronomy 6:24 today
Deuteronomy 6
Wycliffe Bible
6 These be the commandments, ceremonies, and dooms, which your Lord God commanded that I should teach you, and that ye do them in the land to which ye pass over to wield; (These be the commandments, and statutes, and laws, or judgements, which the Lord your God commanded that I should teach you, so that ye would do them in the land to which ye shall cross over to take;)
2 that thou dread thy Lord God, and keep all his commandments, and behests, which I command to thee, and to thy sons, and to the sons of thy sons, in all the days of thy life, that thy days be lengthened. (that thou fear the Lord thy God/that thou revere the Lord thy God, and obey all his commandments, and statutes, which I command to thee, and to thy sons and daughters, and to thy children’s children, in all the days of thy life, so that thy days be lengthened.)
3 Thou Israel, hear, and keep, that thou do those things which the Lord commanded to thee, and that it be well to thee, and thou be multiplied more, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised, to give to thee a land flowing with milk and honey. (Hear, O Israel, and obey, that thou do those things which the Lord commanded thee, and that it be well with thee, and thou be greatly multiplied in the land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord God of thy fathers promised thee.)
4 Thou Israel, hear, thy Lord God is one God. (Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one God.)
5 Thou shalt love thy Lord God of all thine heart, and of all thy soul, and of all thy strength. (Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength.)
6 And these words which I command to thee today, shall be in thine heart;
7 and thou shalt tell those to thy sons, and thou shalt think upon them, sitting in thine house, and going in the way (and going on the way), lying down, and rising (up).
8 And thou shalt bind those as a sign in thine hand; and those shall be, and shall be moved before thine eyes; (And thou shalt bind them upon thy hands for a sign; and they shall be before thine eyes forevermore;)
9 and thou shalt write them in the lintel, and in the doors of thine house. (and thou shalt write them on the lintels, and on the door-posts of thy houses.)
10 And when thy Lord God hath brought thee into the land, for which he swore to thy fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he hath given to thee great cities, and best, which thou buildedest not (and he hath given thee the best and the greatest cities, yea, which thou hast not built),
11 houses full of all riches, which thou madest not, and cisterns, which thou diggedest not, (and) vineyards, and olive places, which thou plantedest not, and when thou hast eaten, and art full-filled (and art filled full),
12 beware diligently, lest thou forget the Lord, that led thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of servage. (be careful, lest thou forget the Lord, who led thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude, or of slavery.)
13 Thou shalt dread thy Lord God (Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God/Thou shalt revere the Lord thy God), and thou shalt serve him alone, and thou shalt swear by his name.
14 Ye shall not go after alien gods, of all (the) heathen men that be in your compass/that be about you; (Ye shall not follow foreign, or other, gods, the gods of the heathen who be all around you;)
15 for God is a fervent lover, thy Lord God is in the midst of thee, lest any time the strong vengeance/the fierceness of thy Lord God be wroth against thee, and do away thee from the face of the earth. (for God is a jealous lover, the Lord thy God who is in the midst of thee, lest any time the Lord thy God be angry with thee, and in his strong vengeance he do thee away from off the face of the earth.)
16 Thou shalt not tempt thy Lord God, as thou temptedest him in the place of tempting. (Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, as thou temptedest him at Massah.)
17 Keep thou the commandments of thy Lord God, and the witnessings, and ceremonies, which he hath commanded to thee; (Obey thou the commandments of the Lord thy God, and his testimonies, and statutes, which he hath commanded to thee;)
18 and do thou that that is pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord, that it be well to thee (so that it shall be well with thee), and that thou enter, and wield the best land, of which the Lord swore to thy fathers,
19 that he should do away all thine enemies before thee, as he hath spoken. (and that he would do away all thy enemies before thee/and that thou would do away all thy enemies before thee, as he hath promised.)
20 And when thy son shall ask thee tomorrow, that is, in time to coming, and shall say, What will these witnessings, and ceremonies, and dooms to themselves, which our Lord God commanded to us? (And when thy son, or thy daughter, shall ask thee tomorrow, that is, in the time to come, and shall say, What is the meaning of these testimonies, and statutes, and laws, or judgements, which the Lord our God hath commanded us to obey?)
21 thou shalt say to him, We were Pharaoh’s servants in Egypt, and the Lord led us out of Egypt, in a strong hand; (thou shalt say to them, We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, and the Lord led us out of Egypt, with a strong hand;)
22 and he did miracles, and great wonders, and worst, that is, most painful vengeances, in Egypt, against Pharaoh, and all his house, in our sight. (and he did miracles, and wonders, yea, the greatest and the worst, in Egypt, against Pharaoh, and all his household, right before our eyes.)
23 And he led us out thereof, that he should give to us led in, the land of which he swore to our fathers. (And he led us out of there, to lead us into the land which he had promised to our fathers, that he would give us.)
24 And the Lord commanded to us, that we do all these lawful things, and dread our Lord God, that it be well to us, in all the days of our life, as it is today. (And the Lord commanded us, to obey all these laws, and to fear the Lord our God/and to revere the Lord our God, so that it would be well with us, all the days of our life, as it is today.)
25 And he shall be merciful to us, if we shall do and keep all his behests, before our Lord God, as he commanded to us. (And he shall be merciful to us, if we shall obey all these commandments, before the Lord our God, as he commanded us.)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
2001 by Terence P. Noble
