Deuteronomy 6

The Commandment for the Land

1“And this is the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, to do in the land that you are crossing over to possess, 2so that you may fear the LORD your God, keeping all his statutes and his commandments that I command you—you, your child, and your child’s child—all the days of your life, and so that your days may be prolonged. 3Hear therefore, Israel, and be careful to do them, so that it may go well with you and so that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, spoke to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

Hear, Israel

4Hear, Israel:
The LORD is our God;
the LORD is one. 5You shall love the LORD your God
with all your heart,
with all your life,
and with all your might.

Teach These Words to Your Children

6“These words that I command you today shall be upon your heart. 7You shall impress them upon your children and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the way, when you lie down, and when you rise. 8You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Do Not Forget the LORD

10“And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you—great and good cities that you did not build, 11houses full of every good thing that you did not fill, cisterns hewn that you did not hew, vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and you eat and are satisfied, 12guard yourself, lest you forget the LORD who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 13The LORD your God you shall fear, him you shall serve, and by his name you shall swear. 14You shall not go after other gods, from the gods of the peoples who are around you, 15for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God, lest the anger of the LORD your God burn against you and he destroy you from the face of the ground.

Do Not Test the LORD

16“You shall not test the LORD your God as you tested him at Massah. 17You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, his testimonies, and his statutes that he commanded you. 18You shall do what is right and good in the eyes of the LORD, so that it may go well with you and you may enter and possess the good land that the LORD swore to your ancestors, 19driving out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has spoken.

When Your Child Asks

20“When your child asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What are the testimonies, statutes, and judgments that the LORD our God commanded you?’ 21then you shall say to your child, ‘We were Pharaoh’s servants in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out from Egypt with a strong hand. 22The LORD gave signs and wonders, great and harmful, against Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his house, before our eyes. 23He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land that he swore to our ancestors. 24The LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good all the days, to keep us alive, as it is this day. 25And it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he commanded us.’