1Herren, jeres Gud, har befalet mig at undervise jer om hans love, for at I skal adlyde dem i det land, I snart skal tage i besiddelse.2I skal vise ærefrygt for Herren, jeres Gud, så I selv, jeres børn og børnebørn livet igennem adlyder alle hans befalinger. Gør I det, vil I få et godt og langt liv.3Hør derfor opmærksomt efter, Israels folk, og vær rede til at adlyde lovene, så det må gå jer godt, og I må blive til et stort folk i et land, der ‚flyder med mælk og honning’, sådan som jeres forfædres Gud har lovet jer.4Israels folk, hør efter! Herren er vores Gud—Herren alene!5Du skal elske Herren, din Gud, af hele dit hjerte,[1] med alle dine tanker, med liv og sjæl og med al din styrke! (Mark 12,30)6De her ord, som jeg i dag pålægger dig, skal du have ind på rygmarven,7så du lærer dine børn dem og taler om dem hvor som helst og når som helst, ude og hjemme, ved sengetid og om morgenen.8-9Bind dem om håndleddet, sæt dem på din pande og skriv dem på dørstolpen som et tegn på, at dine handlinger og tanker og dit hverdagsliv skal styres af Herrens ord.10Når Herren, jeres Gud, har ført jer ind i det land, han lovede jeres forfædre Abraham, Isak og Jakob, og givet jer store og smukke byer, I ikke selv har haft besværet med at bygge,11prægtige huse med indbo, I ikke selv har samlet, med vandreservoirer, I ikke selv har udhugget af klippegrunden, med vingårde og olivenlunde, I ikke selv har plantet, og I har taget for jer af retterne,12da skal I passe på, at I ikke glemmer Herren, som frelste sit folk fra slaveriet i Egypten.13Det er Herren, din Gud, du skal vise ærefrygt, og ham alene du skal tjene. Det er kun ved hans navn, du har lov at sværge på, at du taler sandt.14I må ikke dyrke nabofolkenes guder,15for Herren er en Gud, der ikke tåler rivaler. Ellers vil hans vrede ramme jer og udslette jer fra jordens overflade.16I må ikke provokere Herren, jeres Gud, som dengang jeres forældre gjorde oprør mod ham ved Massa.17I skal adlyde hans ord til punkt og prikke18og gøre, hvad der er godt og ret i Herrens øjne. Da vil det gå jer godt, så I får lykke til at erobre det gode land, han lovede jeres forfædre.19Ja, Herren selv har lovet at jage fjenderne på flugt foran jer.20Når jeres sønner i fremtiden spørger jer: ‚Hvad er hensigten med de love og forordninger, Herren, vores Gud, har givet os?’21skal I svare: ‚Dengang Israels folk var slaver i Egypten, befriede Herren dem med magt og vælde,22med mægtige undere og frygtelige katastrofer, der ramte egypterkongen og hans folk. De så det med deres egne øjne.23Herren førte dem ud af Egypten, for at de skulle gå ind og tage det land i besiddelse, som han havde lovet vores forfædre.24Han har befalet os at overholde hans love og vise ham ærefrygt, så det må gå os godt, og han kan bevare os, sådan som han har gjort det indtil denne dag.25Så længe vi trofast adlyder Herren, vores Guds, love, vil han acceptere os som sit folk.’ ”
1“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules[1]—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, (5.Mos 4,1; 5.Mos 5,31; 5.Mos 12,1)2that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. (5.Mos 4,40; 5.Mos 5,29; 5.Mos 10,12; 5.Mos 10,20; 5.Mos 13,4; Salm 128,1; Præd 12,13)3Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. (1.Mos 15,5; 1.Mos 22,17; 1.Mos 26,4; 1.Mos 28,14; 2.Mos 32,13)4“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[2] (Es 42,8; Zak 14,9; Mark 12,29; Joh 17,3; 1.Kor 8,4; 1.Kor 8,6)5You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (2.Kong 23,25; Matt 22,37; Mark 12,30; Luk 10,27)6And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. (5.Mos 11,18; 5.Mos 32,46; Salm 37,31; Es 51,7; Jer 31,33)7You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (5.Mos 4,9)8You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. (2.Mos 13,9; 5.Mos 11,18; Ord 3,3; Ord 6,21; Ord 7,3)9You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (5.Mos 11,20; Es 57,8)10“And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, (Josva 11,13; Josva 24,13; Neh 9,25; Salm 105,44)11and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full,12then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (Ord 30,8)13It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. (5.Mos 10,20; Josva 2,12; Salm 63,11; Es 45,23; Es 65,16; Jer 12,16; Matt 4,10; Luk 4,8)14You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— (5.Mos 8,19; 5.Mos 11,16; 5.Mos 11,28; 5.Mos 13,2; 5.Mos 13,7; 5.Mos 28,14; Jer 25,6)15for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. (2.Mos 20,5; 5.Mos 7,4; 5.Mos 7,21; 5.Mos 11,17)16“You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. (2.Mos 17,2; 5.Mos 9,22; 5.Mos 33,8; Salm 95,8; Matt 4,7; Luk 4,12; 1.Kor 10,9)17You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. (5.Mos 11,22; Salm 119,4)18And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers (5.Mos 12,25)19by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised. (2.Mos 23,28; 4.Mos 33,52)20“When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ (2.Mos 12,26; 2.Mos 13,14)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. (2.Mos 20,2)22And the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. (5.Mos 4,34; Salm 135,9)23And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to 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 we are this day. (3.Mos 18,5; 5.Mos 4,1; 5.Mos 6,2; 5.Mos 6,13; 5.Mos 8,1; 5.Mos 10,13; Salm 41,2; Jer 32,39)25And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.’ (5.Mos 24,13)