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.

And these [are] the commands, and the ordinances, and the judgments, as many as the Lord our God gave commandment to teach you to do so in the land on which you enter to inherit 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 you may fear the Lord your God, keep you all his ordinances, and his commandments, which I command you today, you, and your sons, and your sons' sons, all the days of your life, that you may live many days.

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 them, that it may be well with you, and that you may be greatly multiplied, as the Lord God of your fathers said that he would give you a land flowing with milk and honey: and these [are] the ordinances, and the judgments, which the Lord commanded the children of Israel in the wilderness, when they had gone forth from the land of Egypt.

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

Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord.

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

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your mind, and with all your soul, and all your strength.

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

And these words, all that I command you this day, shall be in your heart and in your soul.

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 you shall teach them to your children, and you shall speak of them sitting in the house, and walking by the way, and lying down, and rising 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 you shall fasten them for a sign upon your hand, and it shall be immoveable before your eyes.

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

And you shall write them on the lintels of your houses and of your 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 come to pass when the Lord your God shall have brought you into the land which he sware to your fathers, to Abraam, and to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you great and beautiful cities which you 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,

houses full of all good things which you did not fill, wells dug in the rock which you did not dig, vineyards and olive yards which you did not plant, then having eaten and been filled,

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

beware lest you forget the Lord your God that brought you 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.

You shall fear the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve; and you shall cleave to him, and by his name you shall swear.

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

Go you not after other gods of the gods of the nations 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 the Lord your God in the midst of you [is] a jealous God, lest the Lord your God be very angry with you, and destroy you 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.

You shall not tempt the Lord your God, as you tempted him in the temptation.

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

You shall by all means keep the commands of the Lord your God, the testimonies, and the ordinances, which he commanded you.

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 you shall do that which is pleasing and good before the Lord your God, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and inherit the good land, which the Lord sware to your fathers,

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

to chase all your enemies from before your face, as the Lord said.

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

And it shall come to pass when your son shall ask you at a future time, saying, What are the testimonies, and the ordinances, and the judgments, which the Lord our God has commanded us?

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 shall you say to your son, We were slaves to Pharao in the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought us forth thence with a mighty hand, and with a high arm.

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 the Lord wrought signs and great and grievous wonders in Egypt, on Pharao and on his house before us.

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 thence to give us this land, which he sware to give 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 the Lord charged us to observe all these ordinances; to fear the Lord our God, that it may be well with us for ever, that we may live, as even today.

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 there shall be mercy to us, if we take heed to keep all these commands before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.