Deuteronomy 4:1

The Privileges of the Covenant

4:1 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances ¹  I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, ²  is giving you.

Deuteronomy 4:5

4:5 Look! I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the Lord my God told me to do, so that you might carry them out in ³  the land you are about to enter and possess.

Deuteronomy 4:40

4:40 Keep his statutes and commandments that I am setting forth ⁴  today so that it may go well with you and your descendants and that you may enjoy longevity in the land that the Lord your God is about to give you as a permanent possession.

Deuteronomy 6:1

Exhortation to Keep the Covenant Principles

6:1 Now these are the commandments, ⁵  statutes, and ordinances that the Lord your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed ⁶ 

Psalms 105:45

105:45 so that they might keep his commands

and obey ⁷  his laws.

Praise the Lord!

Luke 1:74-75

1:74 that we, being rescued from the hand of our ⁸  enemies,

may serve him without fear, ⁹ 

1:75 in holiness and righteousness ¹⁰  before him for as long as we live. ¹¹ 

¹ tn These technical Hebrew terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) occur repeatedly throughout the Book of Deuteronomy to describe the covenant stipulations to which Israel had been called to subscribe (see, in this chapter alone, vv. 1, 5, 6, 8). The word חֻקִּים derives from the verb חֹק (khoq, “to inscribe; to carve”) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim) from שָׁפַט (shafat, “to judge”). They are virtually synonymous and are used interchangeably in Deuteronomy.

² tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 37).

³ tn Heb “in the midst of” (so ASV).

⁴ tn Heb “commanding” (so NRSV).

⁵ tn Heb “commandment.” The word מִצְוָה (mitsvah) again is in the singular, serving as a comprehensive term for the whole stipulation section of the book. See note on the word “commandments” in 5:31.

⁶ tn Heb “where you are going over to possess it” (so NASB); NRSV “that you are about to cross into and occupy.”

⁷ tn Heb “guard.”

⁸ tc Many important early mss (א B L W [0130] Ë^1,13 565 892 pc) lack “our,” while most (A C D [K] Θ Ψ 0177 33 Ï pc) supply it. Although the addition is most likely not authentic, “our” has been included in the translation due to English stylistic requirements.

⁹ tn This phrase in Greek is actually thrown forward to the front of the verse to give it emphasis.

¹⁰ sn The phrases that we…might serve him…in holiness and righteousness from Luke 1:74-75 well summarize a basic goal for a believer in the eyes of Luke. Salvation frees us up to serve God without fear through a life full of ethical integrity.

¹¹ tn Grk “all our days.”