The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your offspring, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.
- KJV And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
- NKJV And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
- NASB “Moreover, the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may live.
- NLT “The Lord your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may 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
God himself will circumcise their hearts so they truly love and obey him. Inward transformation by God is the key to lasting faithfulness.
Overview
This pivotal verse promises a divine work of heart-circumcision, an inner renewal enabling whole-hearted love for God 'that you may live.' It acknowledges that outward law cannot save without God changing the heart. This anticipates the new-covenant promise of a new heart (Jeremiah 31; Ezekiel 36) and its fulfillment in the Spirit's regenerating work through Christ, the heart of the gospel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 21
- Deut 10:16Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.
- Ezek 36:26–27I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
- Jer 32:39I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will always fear Me for their own good and for the good of their children after them.
- Ezek 11:19–20And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh,
- Col 2:11In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands.
- Rom 2:28–29A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical.
- Jer 4:4Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it, because of your evil deeds.”
- 1 Jn 5:3–4For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome,
- Deut 6:5And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
- 1 Jn 4:7Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
- 2 Cor 5:17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!
- Matt 22:37Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
- 1 Cor 8:3But the one who loves God is known by God.
- Rom 11:26And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will remove godlessness from Jacob.
- 1 Jn 4:16–19And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
- Jas 1:12Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.
- Rom 8:28And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
- Exod 20:6but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
- Jer 9:26Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair of their temples. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”
- John 3:3–7Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
- Jas 2:5Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 30:6 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.