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The Essence of the Law

12 “So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,(A) 13 and to keep the commandments of the Lord and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being. 14 Although heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to the Lord your God, the earth with all that is in it,(B) 15 yet the Lord set his heart in love on your ancestors alone and chose you, their descendants after them, out of all the peoples, as it is today.(C) 16 Circumcise, then, the foreskin of your heart, and do not be stubborn any longer.(D) 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe,(E) 18 who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing.(F) 19 You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.(G) 20 You shall fear the Lord your God; him you shall serve; to him you shall hold fast; and by his name you shall swear.(H) 21 He is your praise; he is your God who has done for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen.(I) 22 Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in heaven.(J)

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12 So now, Israel, what is the Lord your God asking of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 to keep the commandments of the Lord and his statutes that I am commanding you today for your own good.

14 Indeed, the heavens and the heaven of heavens,[a] the earth and everything that is on it—these belong to the Lord your God. 15 Still, the Lord attached himself to your fathers, loved them, and he chose their descendants after them (that’s you!) from all peoples, as it is today.

16 So cut away the tough shell of your sinful nature,[b] and do not be stubborn any longer.

17 The Lord your God is God of Gods and Lord of Lords, the great God, the mighty one and the awesome one, who does not show favoritism and does not take a bribe. 18 He carries out justice for the fatherless and widows. He loves the alien who dwells among you and gives him food and clothing. 19 So you are to love the alien, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

20 Fear the Lord your God, serve him, cling to him, and take your oaths in his name.

21 He is your glory. He is your God, who performed for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen.

22 When your fathers went down to Egypt, they numbered seventy people, but now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 10:14 The heavens are where the birds and stars are. The heaven of heavens is where God dwells.
  2. Deuteronomy 10:16 Literally circumcise the foreskin of your hearts