Deuteronomy 6
6
The Greatest Command
1“This is the command — the statutes and ordinances — the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and possess. # 6:1 Dt 3:12 2Do this so that you may fear # 6:2 Dt 14:23 the Lord your God # 6:2 Dt 6:24; 10:12; 14:23; 17:19; 31:12–13; Jos 4:24; 24:14; 1Sm 12:14,24; 2Kg 17:34–39 all the days of your life # 6:2 Dt 4:9; 16:3; 17:19; Jos 1:5; 4:14; 1Sm 1:11; 7:15; 1Kg 4:21; 11:34; 15:5–6; 2Kg 25:29–30 by keeping all his statutes and commands I am giving you, your son, and your grandson, and so that you may have a long life. # 6:2 Ex 20:12; Dt 5:16 3Listen, Israel, and be careful to follow them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly, because the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey. # 6:3 Ex 3:8,17; 13:5; 33:3; Lv 20:24; Nm 16:13–14; Dt 11:9; 26:9,15; 27:3; Jos 5:6; Jr 11:5; 32:22
4“Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. # 6:4 Or the Lord is our God; the Lord is one, or The Lord is our God, the Lord alone, or The Lord our God is one Lord,# 6:4 Zch 14:9; Mk 12:29,32; Rm 3:30; 1Co 8:6; Eph 4:6; 1Tm 2:5; Jms 2:19 5Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. # 6:5 Mt 22:37; Mk 12:30; Lk 10:27 6These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. # 6:6–9 Dt 11:18–20 7Repeat them to your children. # 6:7 Dt 4:9–10 Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol # 6:8 Or phylactery; Mt 23:5 on your forehead. # 6:8 Lit symbol between your eyes,# 6:8 Ex 13:16; Dt 11:18 9Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates.
Remembering God through Obedience
10“When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give you — a land with large and beautiful cities that you did not build, 11houses full of every good thing that you did not fill them with, cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant # 6:10–11 Jos 24:13 — and when you eat and are satisfied, # 6:11 Dt 8:10; Neh 9:25 12be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. # 6:12 Lv 26:13; Dt 5:6; 8:14; 13:5,10; Jos 24:17; Jr 34:13 13Fear the Lord your God, worship him, and take your oaths in his name. # 6:13 Dt 10:12,20; 13:4; Jos 24:14; 1Sm 12:24; Mt 4:10; Lk 4:8; Rv 14:7 14Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you, 15for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. # 6:15 Dt 5:9 Otherwise, the Lord your God will become angry with you and obliterate you from the face of the earth. 16Do not test # 6:16 Ex 15:25; 16:4; Nm 14:22; Ps 78:18,41,56; 106:14; Mal 3:15; Mt 4:7; Lk 4:12 the Lord your God as you tested him at Massah. # 6:16 Ex 17:1–7; Dt 9:22; 33:8; Ps 95:8–9 17Carefully observe the commands of the Lord your God, the decrees and statutes he has commanded you. 18Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that you may prosper and so that you may enter and possess the good land # 6:18 Dt 8:7 the Lord your God swore to give your ancestors, # 6:18 Dt 1:35 19by driving out all your enemies before you, as the Lord has said. # 6:19 Ex 34:11
20“When your son asks you in the future, ‘What is the meaning # 6:20 Jos 4:21 of the decrees, statutes, and ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you? ’ 21tell him, ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand. # 6:21 Ex 3:19; 6:1; 13:9; 32:11; Nm 20:20; Dt 4:34; 5:15; 7:8; 9:26; 26:8; Ps 136:12; Jr 32:21; Ezk 20:33–34; Dn 9:15 22Before our eyes the Lord inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt, # 6:22 Neh 9:10; Ps 135:9; Is 20:3; Jr 32:20 on Pharaoh, and on all his household, 23but he brought us from there in order to lead us in and give us the land that he swore to our ancestors. 24The Lord commanded us to follow all these statutes and to fear the Lord our God for our prosperity always and for our preservation, as it is today. 25Righteousness will be ours if we are careful to follow every one of these commands before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.’
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Deuteronomy 6: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Deuteronomy 6
6
The most important commandment
Moses said to Israel:
1The LORD told me to give you these laws and teachings,#6.1 these laws and teachings: Or “the following commandment with its laws and teachings” (see 6.4,5). so you can obey them in the land he is giving you. Soon you will cross the River Jordan and take that land. 2And if you and your descendants want to live a long time, you must always worship the LORD and obey his laws. 3Pay attention, Israel! Our ancestors worshipped the LORD, and he promised to give us this land that is rich with milk and honey. Be careful to obey him, and you will become a successful and powerful nation.
4Listen, Israel! The LORD our God is the only true God!#6.4 The LORD…true God: Or “Only the LORD is our God.”#Mk 12.29. 5So love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, and strength.#Mt 22.37; Mk 12.30; Lk 10.27. 6Memorize his laws#Dt 11.18-20. 7and tell them to your children over and over again. Talk about them all the time, whether you're at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night, or getting up in the morning. 8Write down copies and tie them to your wrists and foreheads to help you obey them. 9Write these laws on the door frames of your homes and on your town gates.
Worship only the LORD
Moses said to Israel:
10The LORD promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give you this land. Now he will take you there and give you large towns, with good buildings that you didn't build,#Gn 12.7; Gn 26.3; Gn 28.13. 11and houses full of good things that you didn't put there. The LORD will give you wells#6.11 wells: Cisterns cut into the rock to collect rainwater. that you didn't have to dig, and vineyards and olive orchards that you didn't have to plant. But when you have eaten so much that you can't eat any more, 12don't forget it was the LORD who set you free from slavery and brought you out of Egypt. 13Worship and obey the LORD your God with fear and trembling, and promise that you will be loyal to him.#Mt 4.10; Lk 4.8.
14Don't have anything to do with gods that are worshipped by the nations around you. 15If you worship other gods, the LORD will be furious and wipe you off the face of the earth. The LORD your God is with you, 16so don't try to make him prove that he can help you, as you did at Massah.#6.16 Massah: See Exodus 17.1-7; Numbers 20.2-13.#Mt 4.7; Lk 4.12; Ex 17.1-7. 17Always obey the laws that the LORD has given you 18-19and live in a way that pleases him. Then you will be able to go in and take this good land from your enemies, just as he promised your ancestors.
20Some day your children will ask, “Why did the LORD give us these laws and teachings?”
21Then you will answer:
We were slaves of the king of Egypt, but the LORD used his great power and set us free. 22We saw him perform miracles and make horrible things happen to the king, his officials, and everyone else. 23The LORD rescued us from Egypt, so he could bring us into this land, as he had promised our ancestors. 24-25That's why the LORD our God demands that we obey his laws and worship him with fear and trembling. And if we do, he will protect us and help us be successful.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012