The Greatest Commandment

Deuteronomy 6

1 "Now this is z the commandment, the statutes and the rules 1 that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that a you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and b that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, c as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

4 "Hear, O Israel: d The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 2 5 You e shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And f these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 g You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 h You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 i You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

10 "And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you - with great and good cities j that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant - and when you eat and are full, 12 k then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 It is l the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and m by his name you shall swear. 14 You shall not n go after other gods, o the gods of the peoples who are around you - 15 for p the Lord your God in your midst q is a jealous God - r lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

16 s "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, t as you tested him at Massah. 17 You shall u diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. 18 v And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers 19 w by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised.

20 x "When your son asks you in time to come, 'What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?' 21 then you shall say to your son, y 'We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 And z the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. 23 And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. 24 And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, a to fear the Lord our God, b for our good always, that c he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. 25 And d it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.'

  1. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 4:1
    And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
    Deuteronomy 5:31
    But you, stand here by me, and I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules that you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.
    Deuteronomy 12:1
    These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth.
  2. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 5:29
    Oh that they had such a mind as this always, to...
    Deuteronomy 10:12
    And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God re...
    Deuteronomy 10:20
    You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall ser...
    Deuteronomy 13:4
    You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear...
    Psalms 128:1
    Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who wal...
    Ecclesiastes 12:13
    The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear...
  3. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 4:40
    Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.
  4. Cross References
    Genesis 15:5
    And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be.
    Genesis 22:17
    I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies.
    Genesis 26:4
    I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.
    Genesis 28:14
    Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
    Exodus 32:13
    Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.'
  5. Cross References
    Mark 12:29
    Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, ...
    Isaiah 42:8
    I am the Lord ; that is my name; my glory I giv...
    Zechariah 14:9
    And the Lord will be king over all the earth. O...
    John 17:3
    And this is eternal life, that they know you th...
    1 Corinthians 8:4
    Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to ...
    1 Corinthians 8:6
    Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from w...
  6. Cross References
    Matthew 22:37
    And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
    Mark 12:30
    And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
    Luke 10:27
    And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.
    2 Kings 23:25
    Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.
  7. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 11:18
    You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
    Deuteronomy 32:46
    He said to them, "Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law.
    Psalms 37:31
    The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip.
    Isaiah 51:7
    Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear not the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings.
    Jeremiah 31:33
    But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord : I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
  8. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 4:9
    Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children -
  9. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 11:18
    You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
    Proverbs 3:3
    Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.
    Proverbs 6:21
    Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck.
    Proverbs 7:3
    Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
    Exodus 13:9
    And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.
  10. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 11:20
    You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
    Isaiah 57:8
    Behind the door and the doorpost you have set up your memorial; for, deserting me, you have uncovered your bed, you have gone up to it, you have made it wide; and you have made a covenant for yourself with them, you have loved their bed, you have looked on nakedness.
  11. Cross References
    Joshua 24:13
    I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.
    Joshua 11:13
    But none of the cities that stood on mounds did Israel burn, except Hazor alone; that Joshua burned.
    Nehemiah 9:25
    And they captured fortified cities and a rich land, and took possession of houses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in your great goodness.
    Psalms 105:44
    And he gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples' toil.
  12. Cross References
    Proverbs 30:8 - 9
    Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me.
  13. Cross References
    Matthew 4:10
    Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'
    Luke 4:8
    And Jesus answered him, "It is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'
  14. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 10:20
    You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall ser...
    Joshua 2:12
    Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, ...
    Psalms 63:11
    But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swea...
    Isaiah 45:23
    By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone ...
    Isaiah 65:16
    So that he who blesses himself in the land shal...
    Jeremiah 12:16
    And it shall come to pass, if they will diligen...
  15. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 8:19
    And if you forget the Lord your God and go afte...
    Deuteronomy 11:16
    Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you ...
    Deuteronomy 11:28
    And the curse, if you do not obey the commandme...
    Deuteronomy 13:2 - 3
    And the sign or wonder that he tells you comes ...
    Deuteronomy 28:14
    And if you do not turn aside from any of the wo...
    Jeremiah 25:6
    Do not go after other gods to serve and worship...
  16. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 13:7
    Some of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other.
  17. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 7:21
    You shall not be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God.
  18. Cross References
    Exodus 20:5
    You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me.
  19. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 7:4
    For they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.
    Deuteronomy 11:17
    Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you.
  20. Cross References
    Matthew 4:7
    Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'
    Luke 4:12
    And Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'
  21. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 9:22
    At Taberah also, and at Massah and at Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked the Lord to wrath.
    Deuteronomy 33:8
    And of Levi he said, "Give to Levi your Thummim, and your Urim to your godly one, whom you tested at Massah, with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah.
    Psalms 95:8
    Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness.
    1 Corinthians 10:9
    We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents.
    Exodus 17:2 - 7
    Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord ?
  22. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 11:22
    For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the Lord your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him.
    Psalms 119:4
    You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently.
  23. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 12:25
    You shall not eat it, that all may go well with you and with your children after you, when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord.
  24. Cross References
    Exodus 23:28 - 30
    And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you.
    Numbers 33:52 - 53
    Then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places.
  25. Cross References
    Exodus 12:26
    And when your children say to you, 'What do you mean by this service?
    Exodus 13:14
    And when in time to come your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' you shall say to him, 'By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.
  26. Cross References
    Exodus 20:2
    I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
  27. Cross References
    Psalms 135:9
    Who in your midst, O Egypt, sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants.
    Deuteronomy 4:34
    Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
  28. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 6:2
    That you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long.
    Deuteronomy 6:13
    It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.
  29. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 10:13
    And to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?
    Jeremiah 32:39
    I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them.
  30. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 4:1
    And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
    Deuteronomy 8:1
    The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers.
    Leviticus 18:5
    You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.
    Psalms 41:2
    The Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
  31. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 24:13
    You shall restore to him the pledge as the sun sets, that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you. And it shall be righteousness for you before the Lord your God.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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