when all Israel has come to appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
Parallel translations
- KJV When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
- BSB when all Israel comes before the LORD your God at the place He will choose, you are to read this law in the hearing of all Israel.
- NKJV when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.
- NASB when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place which He will choose, you shall read this Law before all Israel so that they hear it.
- NLT you must read this Book of Instruction to all the people of Israel when they assemble before the Lord your God at the place he chooses.
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
When all Israel gathers before the LORD at the chosen place, the law is to be read aloud in their hearing. It matters because faith comes through hearing God's word proclaimed to the gathered people.
Overview
The public reading was to occur at the central sanctuary God would choose, uniting the nation around His revealed will. Hearing the law together, rather than each person privately, reinforced their shared identity as God's covenant people. This corporate hearing of Scripture anticipates the gathered worship of the church, where faith is nurtured by the proclaimed word that points to Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 2 Kgs 23:2The king went up to Yahweh’s house, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, with the priests, the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in Yahweh’s house.
- Josh 8:34–35Afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law.
- Deut 16:16–17Three times in a year all of your males shall appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he chooses: in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tents. They shall not appear before Yahweh empty.
- Exod 34:24For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither shall any man desire your land when you go up to appear before Yahweh, your God, three times in the year.
- Exod 23:16–17And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you sow in the field; and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labors out of the field.
- Neh 8:1–8All the people gathered themselves together as one man into the wide place that was in front of the water gate; and they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which Yahweh had commanded to Israel.
- Deut 12:5But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, you shall seek his habitation, and there you shall come.
- Neh 9:3They stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of Yahweh their God a fourth part of the day; and a fourth part they confessed, and worshiped Yahweh their God.
- Neh 8:13On the second day, the heads of fathers’ households of all the people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered together to Ezra the scribe, to study the words of the law.
- Ps 84:7They go from strength to strength. Everyone of them appears before God in Zion.
- Luke 4:16–17He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. He entered, as was his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
- Acts 13:15After the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, speak.”
- Acts 15:21For Moses from generations of old has in every city those who preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
- Neh 8:18Also day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. They kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according to the ordinance.
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 31:11 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.