You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall fear Yahweh your God; and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name.
- KJV Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
- BSB Fear the LORD your God, serve Him only, and take your oaths in His name.
- NKJV You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name.
- NLT You must fear the Lord your God and serve him. When you take an oath, you must use only his name.
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
Israel must fear, serve, and swear by Yahweh alone. Exclusive reverence and allegiance belong to God.
Overview
Moses commands the fear of God, exclusive service, and oaths taken only in his name, marking total covenant loyalty. Allegiance to Yahweh must be undivided and sincere. Jesus quotes this verse to repel Satan's temptation, affirming that worship and service belong to God alone (Matthew 4:10).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Luke 4:8Jesus answered him, “Get behind me Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”
- Matt 4:10Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”
- Deut 10:20You shall fear Yahweh your God; you shall serve him; and you shall cling to him, and you shall swear by his name.
- Deut 13:4You shall walk after Yahweh your God, fear him, keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and cling to him.
- Lev 19:12“‘You shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of your God. I am Yahweh.
- Deut 10:12Now, Israel, what does Yahweh your God require of you, but to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
- Ps 63:11But the king shall rejoice in God. Everyone who swears by him will praise him, for the mouth of those who speak lies shall be silenced.
- Isa 45:23I have sworn by myself. The word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and will not be revoked, that to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath.
- Isa 65:16so that he who blesses himself in the earth will bless himself in the God of truth; and he who swears in the earth will swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from my eyes.
- Jer 12:16It shall happen, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘As Yahweh lives;’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built up in the middle of my people.
- Jer 4:2and you shall swear, ‘As Yahweh lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness. The nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.”
- Josh 2:12Now therefore, please swear to me by Yahweh, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a true sign;
- Deut 6:2that you might fear Yahweh your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you; you, and your son, and your son’s son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged.
- Deut 5:29Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!
- Ps 15:4In whose eyes a vile man is despised, but who honors those who fear Yahweh; he who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and doesn’t change;
- Jer 5:2Though they say, ‘As Yahweh lives;’ surely they swear falsely.”
- Jer 5:7“How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me, and sworn by what are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the prostitutes’ houses.
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 6:13 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.