Deuteronomy Chapter 6 in Simple English

Read Deuteronomy Chapter 6

1These are the commandments, the rules, and the laws which the LORD your God commanded me to teach you. You are to obey them in the land you are crossing over to take as your own.

2So you must fear the LORD your God. Keep all his rules and his commandments that I give you, you and your son and your son's son, all the days of your life. Then your days will be long.

3So listen, Israel, and be careful to do them. Then it will go well with you, and you will increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD God of your fathers promised you.

4Hear, Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD.

5You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.

6And these words that I command you today shall be in your heart.

7You shall teach them carefully to your children. You shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk along the road, and when you lie down, and when you get up.

8You shall tie them on your hand as a sign, and they shall be like bands on your forehead, between your eyes.

9You shall write them on the doorposts of your house, and on your gates.

10The LORD your God will bring you into the land he promised with an oath to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. He will give you great and fine cities that you did not build,

11and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and wells that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant. When you have eaten and are full,

12then be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

13You shall fear the LORD your God, and serve him, and swear by his name.

14You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples around you.

15(For the LORD your God among you is a jealous God.) If you do, the anger of the LORD your God will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the earth.

16You shall not test the LORD your God, as you tested him at Massah.

17You shall carefully keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his rules, which he has commanded you.

18You shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD. Then it will go well with you, and you will go in and take the good land that the LORD promised with an oath to your fathers,

19and he will drive out all your enemies before you, as the LORD has said.

20In time to come your son will ask you, "What do these testimonies and rules and laws mean, which the LORD our God has commanded you?"

21Then you shall say to your son, "We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand."

22"The LORD showed signs and wonders, great and terrible, on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his household, before our eyes."

23"He brought us out from there, so that he might bring us in and give us the land he promised with an oath to our fathers."

24"And the LORD commanded us to do all these rules, and to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, so that he might keep us alive, as we are today."

25"And it will be our righteousness if we are careful to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us."

Explanation

Deuteronomy 6

In short

Moses presents the core of Israel's covenant with God: to love the Lord completely and to pass this commitment to future generations. The chapter emphasizes that obedience brings blessing, while forgetting God in times of plenty brings danger.

Context

Moses is addressing Israel before they enter the promised land. This chapter follows the Ten Commandments and other laws. Moses is speaking directly to the people, sometimes using "thou" for the individual and sometimes "ye" for the community together. He is reinforcing what God has commanded and warning them about what will happen once they settle in their new land.

What the text says

Verses 1-3 frame the entire chapter: these are God's commandments and statutes for Israel to follow in the land they will possess, so they may live well and increase in numbers as promised.

Verses 4-5 state the central command: "The LORD our God is one LORD" and Israel must "love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might."

Verses 6-9 describe how to keep these words: hold them in your heart, teach them earnestly to your children in all circumstances of life (sitting, walking, lying down, rising up), and bind them on your hand and forehead and write them on your house and gates.

Verses 10-12 warn that when Israel enjoys the prosperity of the land they did not build (cities, houses, wells, vineyards), they must be careful not to forget the Lord who brought them out of Egypt.

Verses 13-15 command fear of the Lord, service to him alone, and avoidance of other gods, warning that God's anger will be kindled if they do not obey.

Verse 16 forbids testing God as Israel did at Massah (a place where they complained in the wilderness, mentioned elsewhere in the text you are reading).

Takeaways

The command to love God with whole heart, soul, and strength is central to Israel's covenant response, not separate laws added on top.
God's people are to remember his past acts and teach the next generation, so the meaning of obedience is never forgotten.
Prosperity and comfort without remembrance of God are dangers that require intentional resistance.

Deuteronomy 6 - Simple English