Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall do my ordinances, and you shall keep my statutes, and walk in them: I am Yahweh your God.
- BSB You are to practice My judgments and keep My statutes by walking in them. I am the LORD your God.
- NKJV You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God.
- NASB You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the Lord your God.
- NLT You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the Lord your God.
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 to do God's ordinances and keep his statutes, because he is their God.
Overview
Obedience here is framed positively as walking in God's ways, not merely avoiding evil. The grounding clause 'I am Yahweh your God' makes obedience a matter of loyal relationship. Keeping God's commands is presented as the natural and fitting response of a redeemed people to their Redeemer.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Lev 18:2Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God.
- Ezek 20:19I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them;
- Deut 6:1Now 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:
- John 15:14Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
- Ezek 36:27And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
- Lev 20:22Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out.
- Ps 119:4Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
- Lev 19:37Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the LORD.
- Lev 18:26Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:
- Luke 1:6And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
- Ps 105:45That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the LORD.
- Ezek 37:24And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
- Deut 4:1–2Now 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.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 18:4 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.