Deuteronomy
Chapter 6
Moses gives Israel the rules God wants them to follow in the land they are about to enter. He tells them to love God with everything they have, to keep his words in their hearts, and to teach them to their children at home and everywhere else. He warns them not to forget God once they live in good houses and eat good food they did not work for. He also tells parents what to answer when a child asks why these rules exist: God brought us out of slavery in Egypt.
Plain reading written for kids. Short sentences, everyday words, one idea at a time.
Now 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:
1These are the commands and rules the LORD your God said to teach you. You are to obey them in the land you are going in to take.
2That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
2Then you will respect the LORD your God. You, your children, and your grandchildren will keep his rules all your lives. And you will live a long time.
3Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.
3So listen, Israel. Be careful to obey. Then things will go well for you. You will grow into a great many people. That is what the LORD, the God your fathers served, promised you. It is a land where milk and honey flow.
4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
4Listen, Israel! The LORD our God, the LORD, is one.
5And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
5Love the LORD your God with all your heart. Love him with all your soul and all your strength.
6And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
6Keep these words I am giving you today inside your heart.
7And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
7Teach them carefully to your children. Talk about them when you sit at home. Talk about them when you walk down the road. Talk about them when you lie down and when you get up.
8And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
8Tie them on your hands as a reminder. Wear them on your forehead too.
People wore small boxes or bands holding written words of God on their hands and foreheads. The old word "frontlets" means the band worn on the forehead.
9And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
9Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.
10And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,
10The LORD your God will bring you into the land he promised long ago. He promised it to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It has big, fine cities that you did not build.
11And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
11It has houses full of good things you did not put there. It has wells you did not dig. It has grapevines and olive trees you did not plant. You will eat until you are full.
12Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
12Then be careful. Do not forget the LORD. He brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves.
13Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
13Respect the LORD your God. Serve him. When you make a serious promise, use his name.
"Swear by his name" means using God's name when you make a serious promise, to show you mean it.
14Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;
14Do not go after other gods, the gods of the people who live around you.
15(For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
15The LORD your God is right there with you, and he will not share you with other gods. If you go after them, he will be angry. He will wipe you off the earth.
16Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
16Do not test the LORD your God. You tested him once at a place called Massah.
Massah was a place in the desert. The people there had no water and doubted that God was with them. The name means "testing."
17Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.
17Be careful to keep the commands the LORD your God gave you. Keep his rules and his laws too.
18And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers,
18Do what is right and good in the LORD's sight. Then things will go well for you. You will go in and take the good land he promised your fathers.
19To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken.
19He will drive all your enemies out ahead of you, just as he said he would.
20And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you?
20Someday your son will ask you a question. He will say, "What do these rules and laws mean? Why did the LORD our God give them to us?"
21Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand:
21Then tell your son this: "We were slaves of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. But the LORD brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand.
22And the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes:
22We saw it with our own eyes. The LORD sent great and terrible signs and wonders on Egypt. They struck Pharaoh and everyone in his house.
23And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.
23He brought us out of that place so he could bring us here. He gave us the land he promised our fathers.
24And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.
24The LORD told us to obey all these rules and to respect him. This is for our own good, always. It is how he has kept us alive to this day.
25And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.
25And if we are careful to obey every command the LORD our God gave us, that will count as us doing what is right."
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