The Greatest Commandment
1 "Now this isDeut. 12:1the commandment, andtheseare the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, 2 Ex. 20:20; Deut. 10:12, 13; (Ps. 111:10; 128:1; Eccl. 12:13)that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, Deut. 4:40and that your days may be prolonged. 3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may Deut. 7:13multiply greatly Gen. 22:17as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you—Ex. 3:8, 17‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’
4 Deut. 4:35; Mark 12:29; John 17:3; (1 Cor. 8:4, 6)"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lordis one! 5 Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 2 Kin. 23:25with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 "And Deut. 11:18–20; Ps. 119:11, 98these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 Deut. 4:9; 11:19; (Eph. 6:4)You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 Ex. 12:14; 13:9, 16; Deut. 11:18; Prov. 3:3; 6:21; 7:3You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 Deut. 11:20; Is. 57:8You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Caution Against Disobedience
10 "So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities Deut. 9:1; 19:1; Josh. 24:13; Ps. 105:44which you did not build, 11 houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—Deut. 8:10; 11:15; 14:29when you have eaten and are full— 12 then beware, lest you forget the Deut. 8:11–18Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 13 You shall Deut. 13:4; Matt. 4:10; Luke 4:8fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and Deut. 5:11; (Is. 45:23; Jer. 4:2)shall take oaths in His name. 14 You shall not go after other gods, Deut. 13:7the gods of the peoples who are all around you 15 (for Ex. 20:5; Deut. 4:24the Lord your God is a jealous God Ex. 33:3among you), lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.
16 Matt. 4:7; Luke 4:12"You shall not tempt the Lord your God (1 Cor. 10:9)as you tempted Him in Massah. 17 You shall Deut. 11:22; Ps. 119:4diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you. 18 And you Ex. 15:26; Deut. 8:7–10shall do whatis right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the Lord swore to your fathers, 19 Num. 33:52, 53to cast out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken.
20 Ex. 13:8, 14"When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What isthemeaningof the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord our God has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt Ex. 13:3with a mighty hand; 22 and the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. 23 Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers. 24 And the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, Deut. 6:2to fear the Lord our God, Deut. 10:12, 13; Job 35:7, 8; Jer. 32:39for our good always, that Deut. 4:1He might preserve us alive, as itis this day. 25 Then Deut. 24:13; (Rom. 10:3, 5)it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.’