“And now, Israel, listen carefully to these decrees and regulations that I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you may live, so you may enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances, which I teach you, to do them; that you may live, and go in and possess the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, gives you.
- KJV Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you.
- BSB Hear 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.
- NKJV “Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you.
- NASB “Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, so that you will live and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
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
Moses urges Israel to obey God's statutes so they may live and possess the land. It links obedience with life and inheritance.
Overview
Moses opens his great appeal by calling Israel to listen and do God's commands, tying covenant obedience to flourishing in the land. Obedience here is the grateful response to grace, not a way of earning God's favor. This life-through-obedience theme finds its deepest fulfillment in Christ, who perfectly kept the law on His people's behalf.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 25
- Rom 10:5For Moses writes about the righteousness of the law, “The one who does them will live by them.”
- Ezek 20:11I gave them my statutes, and showed them my ordinances, which if a man does, he shall live in them.
- Lev 18:5You shall therefore keep my statutes and my ordinances; which if a man does, he shall live in them. I am Yahweh.
- Deut 8:1You shall observe to do all the commandments which I command you today, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers.
- Deut 5:1Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, “Hear, Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your ears today, that you may learn them, and observe to do them.”
- Lev 22:31“Therefore you shall keep my commandments, and do them. I am Yahweh.
- Deut 30:16For I command you today to love Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that Yahweh your God may bless you in the land where you go in to possess it.
- Deut 30:19I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants;
- Ezek 36:27I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.
- Deut 4:45These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Moses spoke to the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt,
- Ps 105:45that they might keep his statutes, and observe his laws. Praise Yah!
- Lev 20:8You shall keep my statutes, and do them. I am Yahweh who sanctifies you.
- Deut 11:32You shall observe to do all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you today.
- Ezek 37:24My servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them.
- Ezek 11:20that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
- Ezek 20:21“‘“But the children rebelled against me. They didn’t walk in my statutes, neither kept my ordinances to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them. They profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.
- Deut 5:33You shall walk in all the way which Yahweh your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.
- Ps 119:4You have commanded your precepts, that we should fully obey them.
- Deut 11:1Therefore you shall love Yahweh your God, and keep his instructions, his statutes, his ordinances, and his commandments, always.
- Deut 4:8What great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you today?
- Matt 28:20teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
- Lev 19:37“‘You shall observe all my statutes, and all my ordinances, and do them. I am Yahweh.’”
- John 15:14You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you.
- Deut 16:20You shall follow that which is altogether just, that you may live, and inherit the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
- Luke 1:6They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.
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 4:1 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.