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Love the Lord

These are the commands, laws, and rules Yahweh your Elohim commanded me to teach you. Obey them after you enter the land and take possession of it. As long as you live, you, your children, and your grandchildren must fear Yahweh your Elohim. All of you must obey all his laws and commands that I’m giving you, and you will live a long time. Listen, Israel, and be careful to obey these laws. Then things will go well for you and your population will increase in a land flowing with milk and honey, as Yahweh Elohim of your ancestors promised you.

Listen, Israel: Yahweh is our Elohim. Yahweh is the only God. Love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words that I give you today. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you’re at home or away, when you lie down or get up. Write them down, and tie them around your wrist, and wear them as headbands as a reminder. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

10 Yahweh your Elohim will bring you into the land and give it to you, as he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This land will have large, prosperous cities that you didn’t build. 11 Your houses will be filled with all kinds of things that you didn’t put there. You will have cisterns that you didn’t dig and vineyards and olive trees that you didn’t plant. After you have eaten all that you want, 12 be careful that you don’t forget Yahweh, who brought you out of slavery in Egypt. 13 You must fear Yahweh your Elohim, serve him, and take your oaths only in his name. 14 Never worship any of the gods worshiped by the people around you. 15 If you do, Yahweh your Elohim will become very angry with you and will wipe you off the face of the earth, because Yahweh your Elohim, who is with you, is El Kanna.

16 Never test Yahweh your Elohim as you did at Massah. 17 Be sure to obey the commands of Yahweh your Elohim and the regulations and laws he has given you. 18 Do what Yahweh considers right and good. Then things will go well for you, and you will enter and take possession of that good land which Yahweh promised to your ancestors with an oath. 19 You will see Yahweh expel your enemies as he said he would.

20 In the future your children will ask you, “What do these regulations, laws, and rules which Yahweh our Elohim commanded you mean to you?” 21 Tell them, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but Yahweh used his mighty hand to bring us out of there. 22 Right before our eyes Yahweh did miraculous signs and amazing things that were spectacular but terrible for Egypt, Pharaoh, and his whole family. 23 Yahweh led us out of there to bring us here and give us this land he promised to our ancestors with an oath. 24 Yahweh our Elohim commanded us to obey all these laws and to fear Yahweh. These laws are for our own good as long as we live so that he will preserve our lives. It’s still true today. 25 This is how we’ll have the Lord’s approval: If we faithfully obey all these laws in the presence of Yahweh our Elohim, as he has commanded us.”

Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:

That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.

Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

10 And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,

11 And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;

12 Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

13 Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.

14 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;

15 (For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

16 Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.

17 Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.

18 And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers.

19 To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the Lord hath spoken.

20 And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded you?

21 Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand:

22 And the Lord shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes:

23 And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.

24 And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.

25 And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us.

The Greatest Commandment

“Now this is (A)the commandment—the statutes and the rules[a]—that 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 (B)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 (C)that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, (D)as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

“Hear, O Israel: (E)The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[b] You (F)shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And (G)these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. (H)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. (I)You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. (J)You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

10 “And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities (K)that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, 12 (L)then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 It is (M)the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and (N)by his name you shall swear. 14 You shall not (O)go after other gods, (P)the gods of the peoples who are around you— 15 for (Q)the Lord your God in your midst (R)is a jealous God—(S)lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

16 (T)“You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, (U)as you tested him at Massah. 17 You shall (V)diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. 18 (W)And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers 19 (X)by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised.

20 (Y)“When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son, (Z)‘We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 And (AA)the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. 23 And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. 24 And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, (AB)to fear the Lord our God, (AC)for our good always, that (AD)he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. 25 And (AE)it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.’

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 6:1 Or just decrees; also verse 20
  2. 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