Deuteronomy 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. ^{a 2}Do this so that you may fear ^b the Lord your God ^c all the days of your life ^d 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. ^{e 3}Listen, 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. ^f

⁴“Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ^g,^{h 5}Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. ^{i 6}These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. ^{j 7}Repeat them to your children. ^k 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 ^l on your forehead. ^m,^{n 9}Write 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 ^o #— #and when you eat and are satisfied, ^{p 12}be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. ^{q 13}Fear the Lord your God, worship him, and take your oaths in his name. ^{r 14}Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you, ¹⁵for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. ^s Otherwise, the Lord your God will become angry with you and obliterate you from the face of the earth. ¹⁶Do not test ^t the Lord your God as you tested him at Massah. ^{u 17}Carefully 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 ^v the Lord your God swore to give your ancestors, ^{w 19}by driving out all your enemies before you, as the Lord has said. ^x

²⁰“When your son asks you in the future, ‘What is the meaning ^y 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. ^{z 22}Before our eyes the Lord inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt, ^aa 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.’