Fear the Lord

¹² And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you^(A) but to fear^(B) the Lord your God, to walk^(C) in obedience to him, to love him,^(D) to serve the Lord^(E) your God with all your heart^(F) and with all your soul,^{(G) 13} and to observe the Lord’s commands^(H) and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?^(I)

¹⁴ To the Lord your God belong the heavens,^(J) even the highest heavens,^(K) the earth and everything in it.^{(L) 15} Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved^(M) them, and he chose you,^(N) their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today.^{(O) 16} Circumcise^(P) your hearts,^(Q) therefore, and do not be stiff-necked^(R) any longer. ¹⁷ For the Lord your God is God of gods^(S) and Lord of lords,^(T) the great God, mighty and awesome,^(U) who shows no partiality^(V) and accepts no bribes.^{(W) 18} He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow,^(X) and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.^{(Y) 19} And you are to love^(Z) those who are foreigners,^(AA) for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.^{(AB) 20} Fear the Lord your God and serve him.^(AC) Hold fast^(AD) to him and take your oaths in his name.^{(AE) 21} He is the one you praise;^(AF) he is your God, who performed for you those great^(AG) and awesome wonders^(AH) you saw with your own eyes. ²² Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were seventy in all,^(AI) and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.^(AJ)

¹⁰ When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into their house to get what is offered to you as a pledge.^{(A) 11} Stay outside and let the neighbor to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you. ¹² If the neighbor is poor, do not go to sleep with their pledge^(B) in your possession. ¹³ Return their cloak by sunset^(C) so that your neighbor may sleep in it.^(D) Then they will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the Lord your God.^(E)

¹⁴ Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.^{(F) 15} Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor^(G) and are counting on it.^(H) Otherwise they may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.^(I)

¹⁶ Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.^(J)

¹⁷ Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless^(K) of justice,^(L) or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. ¹⁸ Remember that you were slaves in Egypt^(M) and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.

¹⁹ When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it.^(N) Leave it for the foreigner,^(O) the fatherless and the widow,^(P) so that the Lord your God may bless^(Q) you in all the work of your hands. ²⁰ When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time.^(R) Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. ²¹ When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. ²² Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.^(S)