Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore you shall lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul. You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.
- BSB Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
- NKJV “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
- NASB “You shall therefore take these words of mine to heart and to soul; and you shall tie them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets on your forehead.
- NLT “So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel must store God's words in heart and soul and keep them ever before them. God's word is to saturate their inner life.
Overview
Moses urges that God's commands be laid up inwardly and kept symbolically on hand and forehead. The aim is constant, heartfelt attention to God's word. This devotion to Scripture anticipates the new covenant, in which God writes His law on the heart through Christ and His Spirit.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Col 3:16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
- Deut 6:6–9And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
- Prov 3:1My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
- Ps 119:11Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
- 2 Pet 3:1–2This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
- Exod 13:9And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD’s law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.
- Prov 6:20–23My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
- 2 Pet 1:12Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.
- Prov 7:2–3Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.
- Exod 13:16And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.
- Deut 32:46And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.
- Heb 2:1Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
- Matt 23:5But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 11:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.