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 4:9

Reminder of the Horeb Covenant

4:9 Again, however, pay very careful attention, ³  lest you forget the things you have seen and disregard them for the rest of your life; instead teach them to your children and grandchildren.

Deuteronomy 5:29-33

5:29 If only it would really be their desire to fear me and obey ⁴  all my commandments in the future, so that it may go well with them and their descendants forever. 5:30 Go and tell them, ‘Return to your tents!’ 5:31 But as for you, remain here with me so I can declare to you all the commandments, ⁵  statutes, and ordinances that you are to teach them, so that they can carry them out in the land I am about to give them.” ⁶  5:32 Be careful, therefore, to do exactly what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn right or left! 5:33 Walk just as he ⁷  has commanded you so that you may live, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long ⁸  in the land you are going to possess.

Deuteronomy 6:17

6:17 Keep his ⁹  commandments very carefully, ¹⁰  as well as the stipulations and statutes he commanded you to observe.

Deuteronomy 11:13

11:13 Now, if you pay close attention ¹¹  to my commandments that I am giving you today and love ¹²  the Lord your God and serve him with all your mind and being, ¹³ 

Deuteronomy 11:22

11:22 For if you carefully observe all of these commandments ¹⁴  I am giving you ¹⁵  and love the Lord your God, live according to his standards, ¹⁶  and remain loyal to him,

Deuteronomy 12:32

Idolatry and False Prophets

12:32 (13:1) ¹⁷  You ¹⁸  must be careful to do everything I am commanding you. Do not add to it or subtract from it! ¹⁹ 

Deuteronomy 28:1-14

The Covenant Blessings

28:1 “If you indeed ²⁰  obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving ²¹  you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth. 28:2 All these blessings will come to you in abundance ²²  if you obey the Lord your God: 28:3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field. ²³  28:4 Your children ²⁴  will be blessed, as well as the produce of your soil, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. 28:5 Your basket and your mixing bowl will be blessed. 28:6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. ²⁵  28:7 The Lord will cause your enemies who attack ²⁶  you to be struck down before you; they will attack you from one direction ²⁷  but flee from you in seven different directions. 28:8 The Lord will decree blessing for you with respect to your barns and in everything you do – yes, he will bless you in the land he ²⁸  is giving you. 28:9 The Lord will designate you as his holy people just as he promised you, if you keep his commandments ²⁹  and obey him. ³⁰  28:10 Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you belong to the Lord, ³¹  and they will respect you. 28:11 The Lord will greatly multiply your children, ³²  the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil in the land which he ³³  promised your ancestors ³⁴  he would give you. 28:12 The Lord will open for you his good treasure house, the heavens, to give you rain for the land in its season and to bless all you do; ³⁵  you will lend to many nations but you will not borrow from any. 28:13 The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always end up at the top and not at the bottom, if you obey his ³⁶  commandments which I am urging ³⁷  you today to be careful to do. 28:14 But you must not turn away from all the commandments I am giving ³⁸  you today, to either the right or left, nor pursue other gods and worship ³⁹  them.

Deuteronomy 30:16

30:16 What ⁴⁰  I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are about to possess. ⁴¹ 

Joshua 1:7

1:7 Make sure you are ⁴²  very strong and brave! Carefully obey ⁴³  all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep! ⁴⁴  Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful ⁴⁵  in all you do. ⁴⁶ 

Jeremiah 7:23

7:23 I also explicitly commanded them: ⁴⁷  “Obey me. If you do, I ⁴⁸  will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you ⁴⁹  and things will go well with you.”

Matthew 28:20

28:20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, ⁵⁰  I am with you ⁵¹  always, to the end of the age.” ⁵² 

John 14:15

Teaching on the Holy Spirit

14:15 “If you love me, you will obey ⁵³  my commandments. ⁵⁴ 

John 14:21

14:21 The person who has my commandments and obeys ⁵⁵  them is the one who loves me. ⁵⁶  The one ⁵⁷  who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal ⁵⁸  myself to him.”

Philippians 4:8-9

4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, ⁵⁹  whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things. 4:9 And what you learned and received and heard and saw in me, do these things. And the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:1

Christian Practices

4:1 So then, my brothers and sisters, ⁶⁰  dear friends whom I long to see, my joy and crown, stand in the Lord in this way, my dear friends!

Philippians 1:3

Prayer for the Church

1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁶¹ 

[4:1]  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.

[4:1]  ² tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 37).

[4:9]  ³ tn Heb “watch yourself and watch your soul carefully.”

[5:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “keep” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[5:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “commandment.” The MT actually has the singular (הַמִּצְוָה, hammitsvah), suggesting perhaps that the following terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) are in epexegetical apposition to “commandment.” That is, the phrase could be translated “the entire command, namely, the statutes and ordinances.” This would essentially make מִצְוָה (mitsvah) synonymous with תּוֹרָה (torah), the usual term for the whole collection of law.

[5:31]  ⁶ tn Heb “to possess it” (so KJV, ASV); NLT “as their inheritance.”

[5:33]  ⁷ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[5:33]  ⁸ tn Heb “may prolong your days”; NAB “may have long life”; TEV “will continue to live.”

[6:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “the commandments of the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[6:17]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before the finite verb to emphasize the statement. The imperfect verbal form is used here with an obligatory nuance that can be captured in English through the imperative. Cf. NASB, NRSV “diligently keep (obey NLT).”

[11:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “if hearing, you will hear.” The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute to emphasize the verbal idea. The translation renders this emphasis with the word “close.”

[11:13]  ¹² tn Again, the Hebrew term אָהַב (’ahav) draws attention to the reciprocation of divine love as a condition or sign of covenant loyalty (cf. Deut 6:5).

[11:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.

[11:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “this commandment.” See note at Deut 5:30.

[11:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “commanding you to do it.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation and “to do it” has been left untranslated.

[11:22]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “walk in all his ways” (so KJV, NIV); TEV “do everything he commands.”

[12:32]  ¹⁷ sn Beginning with 12:32, the verse numbers through 13:18 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 12:32 ET = 13:1 HT, 13:1 ET = 13:2 HT, 13:2 ET = 13:3 HT, etc., through 13:18 ET = 13:19 HT. With 14:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[12:32]  ¹⁸ tn This verse highlights a phenomenon found throughout Deuteronomy, but most especially in chap. 12, namely, the alternation of grammatical singular and plural forms of the pronoun (known as Numeruswechsel in German scholarship). Critical scholarship in general resolves the “problem” by suggesting varying literary traditions – one favorable to the singular pronoun and the other to the plural – which appear in the (obviously rough) redacted text at hand. Even the ancient versions were troubled by the lack of harmony of grammatical number and in this verse, for example, offered a number of alternate readings. The MT reads “Everything I am commanding you (plural) you (plural) must be careful to do; you (singular) must not add to it nor should you (singular) subtract form it.” Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate suggest singular for the first two pronouns but a few Smr mss propose plural for the last two. What both ancient and modern scholars tend to overlook, however, is the covenantal theological tone of the Book of Deuteronomy, one that views Israel as a collective body (singular) made up of many individuals (plural). See M. Weinfeld, Deuteronomy 1–11 (AB), 15-16; J. A. Thompson, Deuteronomy (TOTC), 21-23.

[12:32]  ¹⁹ sn Do not add to it or subtract from it. This prohibition makes at least two profound theological points: (1) This work by Moses is of divine origination (i.e., it is inspired) and therefore can tolerate no human alteration; and (2) the work is complete as it stands (i.e., it is canonical).

[28:1]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “indeed.”

[28:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today” (likewise in v. 15).

[28:2]  ²² tn Heb “come upon you and overtake you” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “come upon you and accompany you.”

[28:3]  ²³ tn Or “in the country” (so NAB, NIV, NLT). This expression also occurs in v. 15.

[28:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[28:6]  ²⁵ sn Come in…go out. To “come in” and “go out” is a figure of speech (merism) indicating all of life and its activities.

[28:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “who rise up against” (so NIV).

[28:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “way” (also later in this verse and in v. 25).

[28:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” Because English would not typically reintroduce the proper name following a relative pronoun (“he will bless…the Lord your God is giving”), the pronoun (“he”) has been employed here in the translation.

[28:9]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the commandments of the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in the previous verse.

[28:9]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and walk in his ways” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[28:10]  ³¹ tn Heb “the name of the Lord is called over you.” The Hebrew idiom indicates ownership; see 2 Sam 12:28; Isa 4:1, as well as BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph. 2.d.(4).

[28:11]  ³² tn Heb “the fruit of your womb” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “will give you a lot of children.”

[28:11]  ³³ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 28:8.

[28:11]  ³⁴ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 36, 64).

[28:12]  ³⁵ tn Heb “all the work of your hands.”

[28:13]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the Lord your God’s.” See note on “he” in 28:8.

[28:13]  ³⁷ tn Heb “commanding” (so NRSV); NASB “which I charge you today.”

[28:14]  ³⁸ tn Heb “from all the words which I am commanding.”

[28:14]  ³⁹ tn Heb “in order to serve.”

[30:16]  ⁴⁰ tc A number of LXX mss insert before this verse, “if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God,” thus translating אֲשֶׁר (’asher) as “which” and the rest as “I am commanding you today, to love,” etc., “then you will live,” etc.

[30:16]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “which you are going there to possess it.” This has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:7]  ⁴² tn Or “Only be.”

[1:7]  ⁴³ tn Heb “so you can be careful to do.” The use of the infinitive לִשְׁמֹר (lishmor, “to keep”) after the imperatives suggests that strength and bravery will be necessary for obedience. Another option is to take the form לִשְׁמֹר as a vocative lamed (ל) with imperative (see Isa 38:20 for an example of this construction), which could be translated, “Indeed, be careful!”

[1:7]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “commanded you.”

[1:7]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.

[1:7]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “in all which you go.”

[7:23]  ⁴⁷ tn Verses 22-23a read in Hebrew, “I did not speak with your ancestors and I did not command them when I brought them out of Egypt about words/matters concerning burnt offering and sacrifice, but I commanded them this word:” Some modern commentators have explained this passage as an evidence for the lateness of the Pentateuchal instruction regarding sacrifice or a denial that sacrifice was practiced during the period of the wilderness wandering. However, it is better explained as an example of what R. de Vaux calls a dialectical negative, i.e., “not so much this as that” or “not this without that” (Ancient Israel, 454-56). For other examples of this same argument see Isa 1:10-17; Hos 6:4-6; Amos 5:21-25.

[7:23]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “Obey me and I will be.” The translation is equivalent syntactically but brings out the emphasis in the command.

[7:23]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “Walk in all the way that I command you.”

[28:20]  ⁵⁰ tn The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has been translated here as “remember” (BDAG 468 s.v. 1.c).

[28:20]  ⁵¹ sn I am with you. Matthew’s Gospel begins with the prophecy that the Savior’s name would be “Emmanuel, that is, ‘God with us,’” (1:23, in which the author has linked Isa 7:14 and 8:8, 10 together) and it ends with Jesus’ promise to be with his disciples forever. The Gospel of Matthew thus forms an inclusio about Jesus in his relationship to his people that suggests his deity.

[28:20]  ⁵² tc Most mss (A^c Θ Ë¹³ Ï it sy) have ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”) at the end of v. 20. Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, no good reason exists for the omission of the particle in significant and early witnesses such as א A* B D W ˹ 33 al lat sa.

[14:15]  ⁵³ tn Or “will keep.”

[14:15]  ⁵⁴ sn Jesus’ statement If you love me, you will obey my commandments provides the transition between the promises of answered prayer which Jesus makes to his disciples in vv. 13-14 and the promise of the Holy Spirit which is introduced in v. 16. Obedience is the proof of genuine love.

[14:21]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “keeps.”

[14:21]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “obeys them, that one is the one who loves me.”

[14:21]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “And the one.” Here the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated to improve the English style.

[14:21]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “will disclose.”

[4:8]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.

[4:1]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.

[1:3]  ⁶¹ tn This could also be translated “for your every remembrance of me.” See discussion below.