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Deuteronomy 6:17

You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you.
Deuteronomy 6:17 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.
  • 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 you shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cling to him;
  • Ps 119:4You have commanded your precepts, that we should fully obey them.
  • 2 Pet 1:5–10Yes, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge;
  • 1 Cor 15:58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
  • 2 Pet 3:14Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for these things, be diligent to be found in peace, without defect and blameless in his sight.
  • Titus 3:8This saying is faithful, and concerning these things I desire that you affirm confidently, so that those who have believed God may be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men;
  • Exod 15:26and he said, “If you will diligently listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you, which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am Yahweh who heals you.”
  • Heb 6:11We desire that each one of you may show the same diligence to the fullness of hope even to the end,
  • Deut 11:13It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you today, to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
  • Deut 6:1–2Now this is the commandment, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Deuteronomy videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Deuteronomy 6:17YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on DeuteronomyMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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.