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The Great Commandment

“Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the ordinances which the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it; that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them; that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord;[a] and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 6:4 Or the Lord our God, the Lord is one Or the Lord is our God, the Lord is one Or the Lord is our God, the Lord alone
  2. 6.4-9 The recital thrice daily of this text, plus two others, is the principal practice of piety of the religious Jew; it is called the Shema (“Hear”). It contains the greatest commandment of the Law, that is, the love of the covenant-God (cf. Mt 22.37), and a clear statement of monotheism.

Love the Lord Your God

These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear(A) the Lord your God as long as you live(B) by keeping all his decrees and commands(C) that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.(D) Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey(E) so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly(F) in a land flowing with milk and honey,(G) just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised(H) you.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a](I) Love(J) the Lord your God with all your heart(K) and with all your soul and with all your strength.(L) These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.(M) Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.(N) Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.(O) Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.(P)

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 6:4 Or The Lord our God is one Lord; or The Lord is our God, the Lord is one; or The Lord is our God, the Lord alone