Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you.
- BSB You are to diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God and the testimonies and statutes He has given you.
- 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 ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;
- Ps 119:4Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
- 2 Pet 1:5–10And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
- 1 Cor 15:58Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
- 2 Pet 3:14Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
- Titus 3:8This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
- Exod 15:26And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.
- Heb 6:11And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
- Deut 11:13And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
- Deut 6:1–2Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:
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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.