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Deuteronomy 28:1

“Now if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God and are careful to follow all His commandments I am giving you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
Deuteronomy 28:1 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you today, that Yahweh your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
  • KJV And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
  • NKJV “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.
  • NASB “Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I am commanding you today, that the Lord your God will put you high above all the nations of the earth.
  • NLT “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world.

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

If Israel diligently obeys God's voice, he promises to exalt them above all nations.

Overview

This opens the great covenant blessings for obedience. God's promise to set Israel high reflects his purpose to display his glory through them to the world. Such exaltation is a gift of grace conditioned on faithful covenant living.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 26

  • Isa 1:19If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best of the land.
  • Exod 23:22But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.
  • Lev 26:3–13If you follow My statutes and carefully keep My commandments,
  • Luke 11:28But He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
  • John 15:14You are My friends if you do what I command you.
  • Exod 15:26saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”
  • Ps 91:14“Because he loves Me, I will deliver him; because he knows My name, I will protect him.
  • Deut 7:12–26If you listen to these ordinances and keep them carefully, then the LORD your God will keep His covenant and the loving devotion that He swore to your fathers.
  • Deut 15:5if only you obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commandments I am giving you today.
  • Deut 11:13So if you carefully obey the commandments I am giving you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,
  • Jas 2:10–11Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
  • Rom 2:7To those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life.
  • Isa 3:10Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.
  • Ps 111:10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts gain rich understanding. His praise endures forever!
  • Gal 3:10All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
  • Isa 55:2–3Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.
  • Luke 9:48And He said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in My name welcomes Me, and whoever welcomes Me welcomes the One who sent Me. For whoever is the least among all of you, he is the greatest.”
  • Jer 17:24If, however, you listen carefully to Me, says the LORD, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, and keep the Sabbath day holy, and do no work on it,
  • Deut 26:19that He will set you high in praise and name and honor above all the nations He has made, and that you will be a holy people to the LORD your God, as He has promised.
  • Ps 106:3Blessed are those who uphold justice, who practice righteousness at all times.
  • Jer 11:4which I commanded your forefathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey Me, and do everything I command you, and you will be My people, and I will be your God.’
  • Luke 1:6Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.
  • Ps 148:14He has raised up a horn for His people, the praise of all His saints, of Israel, a people near to Him. Hallelujah!
  • Jer 12:16And if they will diligently learn the ways of My people and swear by My name, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives’—just as they once taught My people to swear by Baal—then they will be established among My people.
  • Ps 119:128Therefore I admire all Your precepts and hate every false way.
  • Ps 119:6Then I would not be ashamed when I consider all Your commandments.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Deuteronomy videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Deuteronomy 28:1YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on DeuteronomyMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 28:1 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.