The Greatest Commandment
(Matthew 22:34–40; Mark 12:28–34)

1“These are the precepts and ceremonies, as well as the judgments, which the Lord your God has commanded that I teach to you, which you shall do in the land to which you will travel in order to possess it. 2So may you fear the Lord your God, and keep all his commandments and precepts, which I am entrusting to you, and to your sons and grandsons, all the days of your life, so that your days may be prolonged. 3Listen and observe, O Israel, so that you may do just as the Lord has instructed you, and it may be well with you, and you may be multiplied all the more, for the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey.

4Listen, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord. 5You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6And these words, which I instruct to you this day, shall be in your heart. 7And you shall explain them to your sons. And you shall meditate upon them sitting in your house, and walking on a journey, when lying down and when rising up. 8And you shall bind them like a sign on your hand, and they shall be placed and shall move between your eyes. 9And you shall write them at the threshold and on the doors of your house.

10And when the Lord your God will have led you into the land, about which he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and when he will have given to you great and excellent cities, which you did not build; 11houses full of goods, which you did not amass; cisterns, which you did not dig; vineyards and olive groves, which you did not plant; 12and when you will have eaten and been satisfied: 13take care diligently, lest you forget the Lord, who led you away from the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude. You shall fear the Lord your God, and you shall serve him alone, and you shall swear by his name. 14You shall not go after the strange gods of all the Gentiles, who are around you. 15For the Lord your God is a jealous God in your midst. Otherwise, at sometime, the fury of the Lord your God may be enraged against you, and he may take you away from the face of the earth.

16You shall not tempt the Lord your God, as you tempted him in the place of temptation. 17Keep the precepts of the Lord your God, as well as the testimonies and ceremonies, which he has instructed to you. 18And do what is pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord, so that it may be well with you, and so that, when you enter, you may possess the excellent land, about which the Lord swore to your fathers 19that he would wipe away all your enemies before you, just as he has spoken.

Teach Your Children

20And when your son will ask you tomorrow, saying: ‘What do these testimonies and ceremonies and judgments mean, which the Lord our God has entrusted to us?’ 21You shall say to him: ‘We were servants of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord led us away from Egypt with a strong hand. 22And he wrought signs and wonders, great and very grievous, in Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his house, in our sight. 23And he led us away from that place, so that he might lead us in and give us the land, about which he swore to our fathers. 24And the Lord instructed us that we should do all these ordinances, and that we should fear the Lord our God, so that it may be well with us all the days of our life, just as it is today. 25And he will be merciful to us, if we keep and perform all his precepts, in the sight of the Lord our God, just as he has commanded us.’ ”