Deuteronomy 6

1 “These are the commandments and rules and regulations that Yahweh our God commanded me to teach to you. He wants you to obey them in the land that you are about to enter and occupy.

Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the ordinances, which Jehovah your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land where ye go over to possess it,

2 He wants you to revere him, and he wants you and your descendants to always obey all these rules and regulations that I am giving to you, in order that you may live for a long time.

that thou might 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.

3 So, you Israeli people, listen to them carefully and obey them. If you do that, things will go well with you, and you will become a nation with a very large population when you are living in that very fertile [IDM] land. That is what Yahweh, the God whom our ancestors [worshiped], promised [would happen].

Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as Jehovah, the God of thy fathers, has promised to thee, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

4 “You Israeli people, listen! Only Yahweh is our God.

Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah.

5 You must love him with all your inner being and with all that you feel and with all that you do.

And thou shall love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

6 Never forget [IDM] these commands that I am giving to you today.

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart.

7 Teach them to your children again and again. Talk about them [all the time]: When you are in your houses and when you are walking outside; talk about them when you are lying down and when you are doing things.

And thou shall teach them diligently to thy sons, and shall talk of them when thou sit in thy house, and when thou walk by the way, and when thou lie down, and when thou rise up.

8 [Write them on tiny scrolls and] fasten them to your arms/wrists, and write them on bands that you fasten to your foreheads [to help you to remember them].

And thou shall bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes.

9 Write them on the doorposts and on the gates of your houses.

And thou shall write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates.

10 “Yahweh our God vowed to your ancestors Abraham and Isaac and Jacob that he will give you a land that already has in it large and prosperous cities that you did not build.

And it shall be, when Jehovah thy God shall bring thee into the land which he swore to thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee, great and goodly cities, which thou did not build,

11 He said that the houses in those cities will already be full of many good things that [others put there]; you did not put them there. There will be wells that others have dug. There will be vineyards and olive trees that others planted. So when Yahweh brings you into that land, and you have all that you want to eat,

and houses full of all good things, which thou did not fill, and cisterns hewn out, which thou did not hew, vineyards and olive trees, which thou did not plant, and thou shall eat and be full,

12 be sure that you do not forget Yahweh who rescued you from being slaves [in Egypt and gave all these things to you].

then beware lest thou forget Jehovah, who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

13 “You must revere Yahweh our God, and you must serve only him and say that he should [MTY] punish you if you do not do what you have promised.

Thou shall fear Jehovah thy God, and him thou shall serve, and shall swear by his name.

14 You must not worship any other gods, the gods that the people-groups who will live near you worship.

Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples that are round about you,

15 Yahweh our God, who lives among you, (will not accept/will punish) people who worship anyone or anything else. So if you worship any other god, Yahweh will be very angry with you, and he will get rid of you completely.

for Jehovah thy God in the midst of thee is a jealous God, lest the anger of Jehovah thy God be kindled against thee, and he destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

16 Do not do sinful things to find out if you can do them without Yahweh our God punishing you, like your ancestors did at Massah.

Ye shall not challenge Jehovah your God, as ye challenged him in Massah.

17 Be sure that you always obey all the laws, the commandments, the rules, and the regulations that he has given to you.

Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of Jehovah your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded thee.

18 Do what Yahweh says is right and good. If you do that, things will go well with you. You will be able to enter and occupy the good/fertile land that Yahweh vowed to give to our ancestors.

And thou shall do that which is right and good in the sight of Jehovah, that it may be well with thee, and that thou may go in and possess the good land which Jehovah swore to thy fathers,

19 He will do that by expelling your enemies from that land, just like he promised to do.

to thrust out all thine enemies from before thee, as Jehovah has spoken.

20 “In the future, when your children ask you, ‘Why did Yahweh our God command us to obey all these rules and regulations?’

When thy son asks thee in time to come, saying, What is the meaning of the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Jehovah our God has commanded you?

21 tell them, ‘Our ancestors were slaves of the king in Egypt, but Yahweh brought them out of Egypt by his great power [MTY].

Then thou shall say to thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt, and Jehovah brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

22 They saw him do many kinds of miracles [DOU] and do terrifying things to the people of Egypt and to the king and his officials.

And Jehovah showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his house, before our eyes.

23 He rescued our ancestors from Egypt and brought them here to give them this land, just like he vowed that he would do.

And he brought us out from there that he might bring us in to give us the land which he swore to our fathers.

24 And he commanded us to obey all these laws and to revere him, for our own good and in order that he would protect our nation and enable us to prosper, as he is doing now.

And Jehovah commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Jehovah our God for our good always, that he might preserve us alive as at this day.

25 Yahweh our God will (approve of us/consider us to be righteous) if we carefully obey everything that he has commanded us to do.’”

And it shall be righteousness to us, if we observe to do all this commandment before Jehovah our God as he has commanded us.