Deuteronomy 6–8

Love the Lord Your God

6These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, ²so that you, your children and their children after them may fear^q the Lord your God as long as you live^r by keeping all his decrees and commands^s that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.^{t 3}Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey^u so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly^v in a land flowing with milk and honey,^w just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised^x you.

⁴Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^{ay 5}Love^z the Lord your God with all your heart^a and with all your soul and with all your strength.^{b 6}These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.^{c 7}Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.^{d 8}Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.^{e 9}Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.^f

¹⁰When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build,^{g 11}houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig,^h and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied,^{i 12}be careful that you do not forget^j the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

¹³Fear the Lord^k your God, serve him only^l and take your oaths^m in his name.^{n 14}Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; ¹⁵for the Lord your God^o, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. ¹⁶Do not put the Lord your God to the test^p as you did at Massah. ¹⁷Be sure to keep^q the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you.^{r 18}Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight,^s so that it may go well^t with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors, ¹⁹thrusting out all your enemies^u before you, as the Lord said.

²⁰In the future, when your son asks you,^v “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws 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 mighty hand.^{w 22}Before our eyes the Lord sent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. ²³But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land he promised on oath to our ancestors. ²⁴The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God,^x so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.^{y 25}And if we are careful to obey all this law^z before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.^a”

Driving Out the Nations

7When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess^b and drives out before you many nations^c—the Hittites,^d Girgashites,^e Amorites,^f Canaanites, Perizzites,^g Hivites^h and Jebusites,ⁱ seven nations larger and stronger than you—²and when the Lord your God has delivered^j them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy^k them totally.^al Make no treaty^m with them, and show them no mercy.^{n 3}Do not intermarry with them.^o Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, ⁴for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods,^p and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy^q you. ⁵This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles^br and burn their idols in the fire.^{s 6}For you are a people holy^t to the Lord your God.^u The Lord your God has chosen^v you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.^w

⁷The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous^x than other peoples, for you were the fewest^y of all peoples.^{z 8}But it was because the Lord loved^a you and kept the oath he swore^b to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand^c and redeemed^d you from the land of slavery,^e from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ⁹Know therefore that the Lord your God is God;^f he is the faithful God,^g keeping his covenant of love^h to a thousand generationsⁱ of those who love him and keep his commandments.^{j 10}But

those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction;

he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.^k

¹¹Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.

¹²If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your ancestors.^{l 13}He will love you and bless you^m and increase your numbers.ⁿ He will bless the fruit of your womb,^o the crops of your land—your grain, new wine^p and olive oil^q—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.^{r 14}You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor will any of your livestock be without young.^{s 15}The Lord will keep you free from every disease.^t He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt,^u but he will inflict them on all who hate you.^{v 16}You must destroy all the peoples the Lord your God gives over to you.^w Do not look on them with pity^x and do not serve their gods,^y for that will be a snare^z to you.

¹⁷You may say to yourselves, “These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?^a” ¹⁸But do not be afraid^b of them; remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt.^{c 19}You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand^d and outstretched arm, with which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear.^{e 20}Moreover, the Lord your God will send the hornet^f among them until even the survivors who hide from you have perished. ²¹Do not be terrified by them, for the Lord your God, who is among you,^g is a great and awesome God.^{h 22}The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little.ⁱ You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you. ²³But the Lord your God will deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are destroyed.^{j 24}He will give their kings^k into your hand,^l and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand up against you;^m you will destroy them.^{n 25}The images of their gods you are to burn^o in the fire. Do not covet^p the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared^q by it, for it is detestable^r to the Lord your God. ²⁶Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction.^s Regard it as vile and utterly detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.

Do Not Forget the Lord

8Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live^t and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.^{u 2}Remember how the Lord your God led^v you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test^w you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. ³He humbled^x you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna,^y which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach^z you that man does not live on bread^a alone but on every word that comes from the mouth^b of the Lord.^{c 4}Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.^{d 5}Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.^e

⁶Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him^f and revering him.^{g 7}For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land^h—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills;^{i 8}a land with wheat and barley,^j vines^k and fig trees,^l pomegranates, olive oil and honey;^{m 9}a land where breadⁿ will not be scarce and you will lack nothing;^o a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.^p

¹⁰When you have eaten and are satisfied,^q praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. ¹¹Be careful that you do not forget^r the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. ¹²Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down,^{s 13}and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, ¹⁴then your heart will become proud and you will forget^t the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness,^u that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes^v and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.^{w 16}He gave you manna^x to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known,^y to humble and test^z you so that in the end it might go well with you. ¹⁷You may say to yourself,^a “My power and the strength of my hands^b have produced this wealth for me.” ¹⁸But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth,^c and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

¹⁹If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods^d and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.^{e 20}Like the nations^f the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be…