1These 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,2so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.3Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.4Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one.[1]5Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.6These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.7Impress 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.8Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.9Write them on the door-frames of your houses and on your gates.10When 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,11houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant – then when you eat and are satisfied,12be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.13Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.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 and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.16Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah.17Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you.18Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land that the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors,19thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said.20In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws 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 mighty hand.22Before our eyes the Lord sent signs and wonders – great and terrible – on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household.23But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our ancestors.24The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.25And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.’
Deuteronomy 6
English Standard Version
The Greatest Commandment
1“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules[1]—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, (De 4:1; De 5:31; De 12:1)2that 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 that your days may be long. (De 4:40; De 5:29; De 10:12; De 10:20; De 13:4; Ps 128:1; Ec 12:13)3Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. (Ge 15:5; Ge 22:17; Ge 26:4; Ge 28:14; Ex 32:13)4“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[2] (Isa 42:8; Zec 14:9; Mr 12:29; Joh 17:3; 1Co 8:4; 1Co 8:6)5You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (2Ki 23:25; Mt 22:37; Mr 12:30; Lu 10:27)6And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. (De 11:18; De 32:46; Ps 37:31; Isa 51:7; Jer 31:33)7You 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. (De 4:9)8You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. (Ex 13:9; De 11:18; Pr 3:3; Pr 6:21; Pr 7:3)9You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (De 11:20; Isa 57:8)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 that you did not build, (Jos 11:13; Jos 24:13; Ne 9:25; Ps 105:44)11and 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,12then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (Pr 30:8)13It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. (De 10:20; Jos 2:12; Ps 63:11; Isa 45:23; Isa 65:16; Jer 12:16; Mt 4:10; Lu 4:8)14You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— (De 8:19; De 11:16; De 11:28; De 13:2; De 13:7; De 28:14; Jer 25:6)15for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. (Ex 20:5; De 7:4; De 7:21; De 11:17)16“You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. (Ex 17:2; De 9:22; De 33:8; Ps 95:8; Mt 4:7; Lu 4:12; 1Co 10:9)17You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. (De 11:22; Ps 119:4)18And 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 (De 12:25)19by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised. (Ex 23:28; Nu 33:52)20“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?’ (Ex 12:26; Ex 13:14)21then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. (Ex 20:2)22And the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. (De 4:34; Ps 135:9)23And 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.24And 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 we are this day. (Le 18:5; De 4:1; De 6:2; De 6:13; De 8:1; De 10:13; Ps 41:2; Jer 32:39)25And 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.’ (De 24:13)