You are to diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God and the testimonies and statutes He has given you.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you.
- KJV Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.
- NKJV You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you.
- NASB You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and His provisions and His statutes which He has commanded you.
- NLT You must diligently obey the commands of the Lord your God—all the laws and decrees he has given 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
Israel is called to keep God's commandments, testimonies, and statutes diligently, not casually. Wholehearted obedience flows from the covenant love of the preceding verses.
Overview
Following the Shema and the call to love God with all the heart, Moses presses for careful, persistent obedience to the whole law. The three terms (commandments, testimonies, statutes) emphasize the comprehensive scope of God's revealed will. Such diligent keeping is the proper response to grace, anticipating the new-covenant promise that God himself writes his law on the heart through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Deut 11:22For if you carefully keep all these commandments I am giving you to follow—to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him—
- Ps 119:4You have ordained Your precepts, that we should keep them diligently.
- 2 Pet 1:5–10For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;
- 1 Cor 15:58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
- 2 Pet 3:14Therefore, beloved, as you anticipate these things, make every effort to be found at peace—spotless and blameless in His sight.
- Titus 3:8This saying is trustworthy. And I want you to emphasize these things, so that those who have believed God will take care to devote themselves to good deeds. These things are excellent and profitable for the people.
- 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.”
- Heb 6:11We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.
- 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,
- Deut 6:1–2These are the commandments and statutes and ordinances that the LORD your God has instructed me to teach you to follow in the land that you are about to enter and possess,
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 6:17 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.