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 2Do this so that you may feara the Lord your Godb all the days of your lifec 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.d 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.a

4“Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.a a 5Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.a 6These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart.a 7Repeat them to your children.a 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 symbolA on your forehead.B a 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 planta — and when you eat and are satisfied,b 12be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.a 13Fear the Lord your God, worship him, and take your oaths in his name.a 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.a Otherwise, the Lord your God will become angry with you and obliterate you from the face of the earth. 16Do not testa the Lord your God as you tested him at Massah.b 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 landa the Lord your God swore to give your ancestors,b 19by driving out all your enemies before you, as the Lord has said.a

20“When your son asks you in the future, ‘What is the meaninga 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.a 22Before our eyes the Lord inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt,a 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.’