Deuteronomy 6

1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land that you go over to possess;

“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.

2 that you might fear Yahweh your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you—you, your son, and your son’s son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged.

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.

3 Hear therefore, Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

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].

4 Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one.

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

5 You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.

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

6 These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart;

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

7 and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.

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.

8 You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.

[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].

9 You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates.

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

10 It shall be, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, great and goodly cities which you didn’t build,

“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.

11 and houses full of all good things which you didn’t fill, and cisterns dug out which you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive trees which you didn’t plant, and you shall eat and be full;

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,

12 then beware lest you forget Yahweh, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

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

13 You shall fear Yahweh your God; and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name.

“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.

14 You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are around you,

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

15 for Yahweh your God among you is a jealous God, lest the anger of Yahweh your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

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.

16 You shall not tempt Yahweh your God, as you tempted him in Massah.

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.

17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you.

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

18 You shall do that which is right and good in Yahweh’s sight, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which Yahweh swore to your fathers,

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.

19 to thrust out all your enemies from before you, as Yahweh has spoken.

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

20 When your son asks you in time to come, saying, “What do the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh our God has commanded you mean?”

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

21 then you shall tell your son, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand;

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

22 and Yahweh showed great and awesome signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his house, before our eyes;

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.

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

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

24 Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are today.

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.

25 It shall be righteousness to us, if we observe to do all these commandments before Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us.”

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