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 5:15

5:15 Recall that you were slaves in the land of Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there by strength and power. ³  That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to observe ⁴  the Sabbath day.

Deuteronomy 6:3

6:3 Pay attention, Israel, and be careful to do this so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in number ⁵  – as the Lord, God of your ancestors, ⁶  said to you, you will have a land flowing with milk and honey.

Deuteronomy 8:1

The Lord’s Provision in the Desert

8:1 You must keep carefully all these commandments ⁷  I am giving ⁸  you today so that you may live, increase in number, ⁹  and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. ¹⁰ 

Deuteronomy 8:18

8:18 You must remember the Lord your God, for he is the one who gives ability to get wealth; if you do this he will confirm his covenant that he made by oath to your ancestors, ¹¹  even as he has to this day.

Deuteronomy 9:18

9:18 Then I again fell down before the Lord for forty days and nights; I ate and drank nothing because of all the sin you had committed, doing such evil before the Lord as to enrage him.

Deuteronomy 12:1

The Central Sanctuary

12:1 These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to obey as long as you live in the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, ¹²  has given you to possess. ¹³ 

Deuteronomy 13:18

13:18 Thus you must obey the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I am giving ¹⁴  you today and doing what is right ¹⁵  before him. ¹⁶ 

Deuteronomy 28:1

The Covenant Blessings

28:1 “If you indeed ¹⁷  obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving ¹⁸  you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth.

Deuteronomy 28:15

Curses as Reversal of Blessings

28:15 “But if you ignore ¹⁹  the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force: ²⁰ 

Deuteronomy 28:58

The Curse of Covenant Termination

28:58 “If you refuse to obey ²¹  all the words of this law, the things written in this scroll, and refuse to fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God,

Deuteronomy 31:12

31:12 Gather the people – men, women, and children, as well as the resident foreigners in your villages – so they may hear and thus learn about and fear the Lord your God and carefully obey all the words of this law.

Deuteronomy 32:46

32:46 he said to them, “Keep in mind all the words I am solemnly proclaiming to you today; you must command your children to observe carefully all the words of this law.

[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).

[5:15]  ³ tn Heb “by a strong hand and an outstretched arm,” the hand and arm symbolizing divine activity and strength. Cf. NLT “with amazing power and mighty deeds.”

[5:15]  ⁴ tn Or “keep” (so KJV, NRSV).

[6:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “may multiply greatly” (so NASB, NRSV); the words “in number” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 10, 18, 23).

[8:1]  ⁷ tn The singular term (מִצְוָה, mitsvah) includes the whole corpus of covenant stipulations, certainly the book of Deuteronomy at least (cf. Deut 5:28; 6:1, 25; 7:11; 11:8, 22; 15:5; 17:20; 19:9; 27:1; 30:11; 31:5). The plural (מִצְוֹת, mitsot) refers to individual stipulations (as in vv. 2, 6).

[8:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in v. 11).

[8:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “multiply” (so KJV, NASB, NLT); NIV, NRSV “increase.”

[8:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 16, 18).

[8:18]  ⁹ tc Smr and Lucian add “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” the standard way of rendering this almost stereotypical formula (cf. Deut 1:8; 6:10; 9:5, 27; 29:13; 30:20; 34:4). The MT’s harder reading presumptively argues for its originality, however.

[12:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “fathers.”

[12:1]  ¹² tn Heb “you must be careful to obey in the land the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess all the days which you live in the land.” This adverbial statement modifies “to obey,” not “to possess,” so the order in the translation has been rearranged to make this clear.

[13:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB, NRSV).

[13:18]  ¹⁴ tc The LXX and Smr add “and good” to bring the phrase in line with a familiar cliché (cf. Deut 6:18; Josh 9:25; 2 Kgs 10:3; 2 Chr 14:1; etc.). This is an unnecessary and improper attempt to force a text into a preconceived mold.

[13:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord your God.” See note on the word “him” in v. 3.

[28:1]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “indeed.”

[28:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today” (likewise in v. 15).

[28:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “do not hear the voice of.”

[28:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and overtake you” (so NIV, NRSV); NAB, NLT “and overwhelm you.”

[28:58]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “If you are not careful to do.”