Love the Lord Your God

6 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, ² 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) 3} 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.

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^{[a](I) 5} Love^(J) the Lord your God with all your heart^(K) and with all your soul and with all your strength.^{(L) 6} These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.^{(M) 7} 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) 8} Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.^{(O) 9} Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.^(P)

¹⁰ When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build,^{(Q) 11} houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig,^(R) and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied,^{(S) 12} be careful that you do not forget^(T) the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

¹³ Fear the Lord^(U) your God, serve him only^(V) and take your oaths^(W) in his name.^{(X) 14} Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; ¹⁵ for the Lord your God^(Y), who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. ¹⁶ Do not put the Lord your God to the test^(Z) as you did at Massah. ¹⁷ Be sure to keep^(AA) the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you.^{(AB) 18} Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight,^(AC) so that it may go well^(AD) with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors, ¹⁹ thrusting out all your enemies^(AE) before you, as the Lord said.

²⁰ In the future, when your son asks you,^(AF) “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?” ²¹ tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.^{(AG) 22} Before our eyes the Lord sent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. ²³ But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land he promised on oath to our ancestors. ²⁴ The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God,^(AH) so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.^{(AI) 25} And if we are careful to obey all this law^(AJ) before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.^(AK)”

Love and Obey the Lord

11 Love^(A) the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.^{(B) 2} Remember today that your children^(C) were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God:^(D) his majesty,^(E) his mighty hand, his outstretched arm;^{(F) 3} the signs he performed and the things he did in the heart of Egypt, both to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his whole country;^{(G) 4} what he did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots,^(H) how he overwhelmed them with the waters of the Red Sea^[a](I) as they were pursuing you, and how the Lord brought lasting ruin on them. ⁵ It was not your children who saw what he did for you in the wilderness until you arrived at this place, ⁶ and what he did^(J) to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened^(K) its mouth right in the middle of all Israel and swallowed them up with their households, their tents and every living thing that belonged to them. ⁷ But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done.^(L)

⁸ Observe therefore all the commands^(M) I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,^{(N) 9} and so that you may live long^(O) in the land the Lord swore^(P) to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.^{(Q) 10} The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt,^(R) from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. ¹¹ But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys^(S) that drinks rain from heaven.^{(T) 12} It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes^(U) of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.

¹³ So if you faithfully obey^(V) the commands I am giving you today—to love^(W) the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul^(X)— ¹⁴ then I will send rain^(Y) on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains,^(Z) so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. ¹⁵ I will provide grass^(AA) in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.^(AB)

¹⁶ Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.^{(AC) 17} Then the Lord’s anger^(AD) will burn against you, and he will shut up^(AE) the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce,^(AF) and you will soon perish^(AG) from the good land the Lord is giving you. ¹⁸ Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.^{(AH) 19} Teach them to your children,^(AI) talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.^{(AJ) 20} Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates,^{(AK) 21} so that your days and the days of your children may be many^(AL) in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.^(AM)

²² If you carefully observe^(AN) all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love^(AO) the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast^(AP) to him— ²³ then the Lord will drive out^(AQ) all these nations^(AR) before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.^{(AS) 24} Every place where you set your foot will be yours:^(AT) Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River^(AU) to the Mediterranean Sea. ²⁵ No one will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror^(AV) and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.^(AW)

²⁶ See, I am setting before you today a blessing^(AX) and a curse^(AY)— ²⁷ the blessing^(AZ) if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; ²⁸ the curse if you disobey^(BA) the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods,^(BB) which you have not known. ²⁹ When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim^(BC) the blessings, and on Mount Ebal^(BD) the curses.^{(BE) 30} As you know, these mountains are across the Jordan, westward, toward the setting sun, near the great trees of Moreh,^(BF) in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah in the vicinity of Gilgal.^{(BG) 31} You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession^(BH) of the land the Lord your God is giving^(BI) you. When you have taken it over and are living there, ³² be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.