The Command to Love God

6 These are the commands, rules and laws of the Lord your God. He told me to teach them to you. Obey them in the land you are crossing the Jordan River to own. ² You, your children and grandchildren must respect the Lord your God. You must do this as long as you live. Obey all his rules and commands I give you. Then you will live a long time. ³ Listen, Israel, and carefully obey these laws. Then all will go well for you. You will become a great nation in a land where much food grows. The Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised it to you.

⁴ Listen, people of Israel! The Lord is our God. He is the only Lord. ⁵ Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength. ⁶ Always remember these commands I give you today. ⁷ Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and walk along the road. Talk about them when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Write them down and tie them to your hands as a sign. Tie them on your forehead to remind you. ⁹ Write them on your doors and gates.

¹⁰ The Lord your God will bring you into the land. He promised it to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He will give it to you. The land has large, growing cities you did not build. ¹¹ The houses there are full of good things that you did not buy. They have wells you did not dig. There are vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. You will eat as much as you want. ¹² But be careful! Do not forget the Lord. He brought you out of the land of Egypt where you were slaves.

¹³ Respect the Lord your God. Serve only him. Make your promises in his name. ¹⁴ Do not worship other gods as the people around you do. ¹⁵ The Lord your God is a jealous God. He is present with you. If you worship other gods, he will become angry with you. And he will destroy you from the earth. ¹⁶ Do not test the Lord your God as you did at Massah. ¹⁷ Be sure to obey the commands of the Lord your God. Obey the rules and laws he has given you. ¹⁸ Do what the Lord says is good and right. Then things will go well for you. Then you may go in and take the good land the Lord promised to your ancestors. ¹⁹ He will force all your enemies out as you go in. This is what the Lord has said.

²⁰ In the future your son will ask you, “What do the laws, commands and rules the Lord our God gave us mean?” ²¹ Tell him, “We were slaves to the king of Egypt. But the Lord brought us out of Egypt by his great power. ²² The Lord showed us great and terrible signs and miracles. He did them to Egypt, the king and his whole family. ²³ The Lord brought us out of Egypt. He led us here. And he will give us the land he promised our ancestors. ²⁴ The Lord ordered us to obey all these commands. And we must respect the Lord our God. Then we will always do well and stay alive as we are today. ²⁵ The right thing for us to do is this: Obey all these rules in the presence of the Lord our God. He has commanded it.”