Deuteronomy

The fifth book of Moses, called Deuteronomy, chapter 6, New English Translation and King James Version

Chapter 6 New English Translation

Exhortation to Keep the Covenant Principles

   1 Now these are the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that the LORD your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed 2 and that you may so revere the LORD your God that you will keep all his statutes and commandments that I am giving you - you, your children, and your grandchildren - all your lives, to prolong your days. 3 Pay attention, Israel, and be careful to do this so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in number - as the LORD, God of your ancestors, said to you, you will have a land flowing with milk and honey.

The Essence of the Covenant Principles

   4 Listen, Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! 5 You must love the LORD your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength.

Exhortation to Teach the Covenant Principles

   6 These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, 7 and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up. 8 You should tie them as a reminder on your forearm and fasten them as symbols on your forehead. 9 Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and gates.

Exhortation to Worship the LORD Exclusively

   10 Then when the LORD your God brings you to the land he promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you - a land with large, fine cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with choice things you did not accumulate, hewn out cisterns you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant - and you eat your fill, 12 be careful not to forget the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, that place of slavery. 13 You must revere the LORD your God, serve him, and take oaths using only his name. 14 You must not go after other gods, those of the surrounding peoples, 15 for the LORD your God, who is present among you, is a jealous God and his anger will erupt against you and remove you from the land.

Exhortation to Obey the LORD Exclusively

   16 You must not put the LORD your God to the test as you did at Massah. 17 Keep his commandments very carefully, as well as the stipulations and statutes he commanded you to observe. 18 Do whatever is proper and good before the LORD so that it may go well with you and that you may enter and occupy the good land that he promised your ancestors, 19 and that you may drive out all your enemies just as the LORD said.

Exhortation to Remember the Past

   20 When your children ask you later on, "What are the stipulations, statutes, and ordinances that the LORD our God commanded you?" 21 you must say to them, "We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt in a powerful way. 22 And he brought signs and great, devastating wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on his whole family before our very eyes. 23 He delivered us from there so that he could give us the land he had promised our ancestors. 24 The LORD commanded us to obey all these statutes and to revere him so that it may always go well for us and he may preserve us, as he has to this day. 25 We will be innocent if we carefully keep all these commandments before the LORD our God, just as he demands."

King James Version

   1 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:
   2 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.
   3 ¶ 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.
   4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
   5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
   6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
   7 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.
   8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
   9 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.