< Deuteronomy 6 >
1 And these are the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Jehovah your God commanded to teach you, that ye may do them in the land whereunto ye pass over to possess it,
These are the commandments and rules and regulations that the Lord your God has ordered me to teach you to follow in the country that you're going to enter and occupy.
2 that thou mayest fear Jehovah thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
This is so you and your children and grandchildren will show respect to the Lord your God throughout your lives by keeping all his rules and regulations that I give you, and so that you may have a long life.
3 And thou shalt hear, Israel, and take heed to do [them]; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase greatly, as Jehovah the God of thy fathers hath said unto thee, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
Listen, people of Israel, and be careful to observe them, so that you may do well and have many descendants in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your forefathers, promised you.
4 Hear, Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah;
Listen, people of Israel, The Lord our God, the Lord is the only one.
5 and thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your mind and with all your being and with all your strength.
6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart;
The commands I'm giving you today must stay in your minds.
7 and thou shalt impress them on thy sons, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou goest on the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
You are to explain them carefully to your children and talk about them when you're at home and when you're traveling, when you lie down and when you get up.
8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign on thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes.
Tie them on your hands as reminders and put them on your foreheads as well.
9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and upon thy gates.
Write them on the doorposts of your homes and on your gates.
10 And it shall be, when Jehovah thy God bringeth thee into the land which he swore unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee: great and good cities which thou buildedst not,
The Lord your God is going to take you into the country he promised to give you and your forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It's a country with large, prosperous towns that you didn't build,
11 and houses full of everything good which thou filledst not, and wells digged which thou diggedst not, vineyards and oliveyards which thou plantedst not, and thou shalt have eaten and shalt be full;
with houses full of plenty of good things that you didn't provide, that have wells you didn't dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant. When you eat and are full
12 [then] beware lest thou forget Jehovah who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
make sure you don't forget the Lord who led you out of Egypt, out of the prison-house of slavery.
13 Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
Respect the Lord your God only worship him, and only make promises in his name.
14 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples that are round about you;
Don't worship any other gods, the gods of the peoples around you,
15 for Jehovah thy God is a jealous God in thy midst; lest the anger of Jehovah thy God be kindled against thee, and he destroy thee from the face of the earth.
because the Lord your God, who lives among you, is an exclusive God, and Lord your God will become angry with you, and he will wipe you out.
16 Ye shall not tempt Jehovah your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
Don't test the Lord your God like you did at Massah.
17 Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of Jehovah your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.
You must be careful to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and the laws and rules he's given you.
18 And thou shalt do what is right and good in the sight of Jehovah, that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest enter in and possess the good land which Jehovah swore unto thy fathers,
Do what's good and right in the Lord's sight so that it will go well for you and that you may enter and take over the good land that the Lord your God promised to give your forefathers,
19 thrusting out all thine enemies from before thee, as Jehovah hath spoken.
He will drive out all your enemies ahead of you, just as he said.
20 When thy son shall ask thee in time to come, saying, What are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Jehovah our God hath commanded you?
In the future, when your children come and ask you, “What's the point of decrees and rules and regulations that the Lord our God ordered you to follow?”
21 then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and Jehovah brought us out of Egypt with a powerful hand;
then you are to tell them, “Once we were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord by his power led us out of Egypt.
22 and Jehovah shewed signs and wonders, great and grievous, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes;
Before our very eyes the Lord brought down incredible and terrifying signs and miracles on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his people.
23 and he brought us out thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore unto our fathers.
But he led us out of there to take us here, giving us this country that he had promised to our forefathers.
24 And Jehovah commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Jehovah our God, for our good continually, that he might preserve us alive, as it is this day.
The Lord ordered us to keep all these laws and to respect the Lord our God, so that we would always be safe and well, as we are today
25 And it shall be our righteousness if we take heed to do all these commandments before Jehovah our God, as he hath commanded us.
And if we carefully observe each of these commandments as we live in the presence of the Lord, as he instructed us, then we will be right with him.”