These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to follow all the days you live in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess.
Parallel translations
- WEB These are the statutes and the ordinances which you shall observe to do in the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess it, all the days that you live on the earth.
- KJV These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.
- NKJV “These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth.
- NASB “These are the statutes and the judgments which you shall carefully follow in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess as long as you live on the earth.
- NLT “These are the decrees and regulations you must be careful to obey when you live in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. You must obey them as long as you live.
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
These are the statutes and ordinances Israel must observe all their days in the land. God's law was to govern their whole life in Canaan.
Overview
This verse introduces the body of specific laws for life in the promised land. Israel's enjoyment of the land was to be shaped by lifelong obedience to God's commands. The enduring claim of God's word over every area of life anticipates the comprehensive lordship of Christ over His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Kgs 8:40so that they may fear You all the days they live in the land that You gave to our fathers.
- Job 7:1“Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?
- Deut 4:19When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.
- Deut 6:1–2These are the commandments and statutes and ordinances that the LORD your God has instructed me to teach you to follow in the land that you are about to enter and possess,
- Deut 4:5See, I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the LORD my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land that you are about to enter and possess.
- Deut 4:45These are the testimonies, statutes, and ordinances that Moses proclaimed to them after they had come out of Egypt,
- Ps 146:2I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
- Ps 104:33I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
- Deut 4:1–2Hear now, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live and may enter and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
- Deut 12:19and be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land.
- Deut 4:9–10Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 12:1 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.