And the Lord has today declared you to be His people, His personal possession, just as He promised you, and that you are to keep all His commandments;
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh has declared today that you are a people for his own possession, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments.
- KJV And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments;
- BSB And today the LORD has proclaimed that you are His people and treasured possession as He promised, that you are to keep all His commandments,
- ESV And the LORD has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments,
- NKJV Also today the Lord has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments,
- NLT The Lord has declared today that you are his people, his own special treasure, just as he promised, and that you must obey all his commands.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
The Lord in turn has declared Israel His treasured possession, pledged to keep His commandments. God claims His people as uniquely His own.
Overview
Matching Israel's avowal, God affirms that they are His treasured possession, a people set apart for Himself. This reciprocal covenant bond expresses God's electing love and Israel's calling to obedience. The New Testament applies this very identity to the church, calling believers in Christ 'a people for his own possession' (1 Peter 2:9).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Deut 14:2For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.
- Deut 28:9Yahweh will establish you for a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and walk in his ways.
- Deut 7:6For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.
- Titus 2:14who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.
- Exod 6:7and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
- Ezek 36:25–27I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
- Rom 16:26—
- Exod 19:5–6Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine;
- Jer 31:32–34not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them,” says Yahweh.
- Ps 119:6Then I wouldn’t be disappointed, when I consider all of your commandments.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 26:18 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.