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An Exhortation to Love Both God and People

12 Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to revere him,[a] to obey all his commandments,[b] to love him, to serve him[c] with all your mind and being,[d] 13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and statutes that I am giving[e] you today for your own good? 14 The heavens—indeed the highest heavens—belong to the Lord your God, as does the earth and everything in it. 15 However, only to your ancestors did he[f] show his loving favor,[g] and he chose you, their descendants,[h] from all peoples—as is apparent today. 16 Therefore, cleanse[i] your hearts and stop being so stubborn![j] 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe, 18 who justly treats[k] the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing. 19 So you must love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 20 Revere the Lord your God, serve him, be loyal to him, and take oaths only in his name. 21 He is the one you should praise;[l] he is your God, the one who has done these great and awesome things for you that you have seen. 22 When your ancestors went down to Egypt, they numbered only seventy, but now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky.[m]

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 10:12 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 10:4.
  2. Deuteronomy 10:12 tn Heb “to walk in all his ways” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “follow his ways exactly”; NLT “to live according to his will.”
  3. Deuteronomy 10:12 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 10:4.
  4. Deuteronomy 10:12 tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being”; NCV “with your whole being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.
  5. Deuteronomy 10:13 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation.
  6. Deuteronomy 10:15 tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 10:4.
  7. Deuteronomy 10:15 tn Heb “take delight to love.” Here again the verb אָהֵב (ʾahev, “love”), juxtaposed with בָחַר (bakhar, “choose”), is a term in covenant contexts that describes the Lord’s initiative in calling the patriarchal ancestors to be the founders of a people special to him (cf. the note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37).
  8. Deuteronomy 10:15 tn The Hebrew text includes “after them,” but it is redundant in English style and has not been included in the translation.
  9. Deuteronomy 10:16 tn Heb “circumcise the foreskin of” (cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV). Reference to the Abrahamic covenant prompts Moses to recall the sign of that covenant, namely, physical circumcision (Gen 17:9-14). Just as that act signified total covenant obedience, so spiritual circumcision (cleansing of the heart) signifies more internally a commitment to be pliable and obedient to the will of God (cf. Deut 30:6; Jer 4:4; 9:26).
  10. Deuteronomy 10:16 tn Heb “your neck do not harden again.” See note on the word “stubborn” in Deut 9:6.
  11. Deuteronomy 10:18 tn Or “who executes justice for” (so NAB, NRSV); NLT “gives justice to.” Cf. Exod 22:21; Lev 19:33-34; Deut 24:14, 17; 27:19.
  12. Deuteronomy 10:21 tn Heb “your praise.” The pronoun is subjective and the noun “praise” is used here metonymically for the object of their praise (the Lord).
  13. Deuteronomy 10:22 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

A Call to Love and Obedience

12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. 13 And you must always obey the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.

14 “Look, the highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the Lord your God. 15 Yet the Lord chose your ancestors as the objects of his love. And he chose you, their descendants, above all other nations, as is evident today. 16 Therefore, change your hearts[a] and stop being stubborn.

17 “For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed. 18 He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing. 19 So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. 20 You must fear the Lord your God and worship him and cling to him. Your oaths must be in his name alone. 21 He alone is your God, the only one who is worthy of your praise, the one who has done these mighty miracles that you have seen with your own eyes. 22 When your ancestors went down into Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky!

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Footnotes

  1. 10:16 Hebrew circumcise the foreskin of your hearts.