Bible Reading Plan

The Greatest Command

¹ "This is the command—the statutes and ordinances—the Lord your God has instructed me to teach you, so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and possess.^{(a) 2} Do this so that you may fear^(b) the Lord your God all the days of your life by keeping all His statutes and commands I am giving you, your son, and your grandson, and so that you may have a long life. ³ Listen, Israel, and be careful to follow them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly, because Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey.^(c)

⁴ "Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.^{[a](d) 5} Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.^{(e) 6} These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart.^{(f) 7} Repeat them to your children.^(g) Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol^[b] on your forehead.^{[c](h) 9} Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Remembering God through Obedience

¹⁰ "When the Lord your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would give you—a land with large and beautiful cities that you did not build, ¹¹ houses full of every good thing that you did not fill them with, wells dug that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant⁽ⁱ⁾—and when you eat and are satisfied,^{(j) 12} be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.^{(k) 13} Fear Yahweh your God, worship Him, and take your oaths in His name.^{(l) 14} Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you, ¹⁵ for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God.^(m) Otherwise, the Lord your God will become angry with you and wipe you off the face of the earth. ¹⁶ Do not test⁽ⁿ⁾ the Lord your God as you tested Him at Massah.^{(o) 17} Carefully observe the commands of the Lord your God, the decrees and statutes He has commanded you. ¹⁸ Do what is right and good in the Lord 's sight, so that you may prosper and so that you may enter and possess the good land^(p) the Lord your God swore to give your fathers,^{(q) 19} by driving out all your enemies before you, as the Lord has said.^(r)

²⁰ "When your son asks you in the future, ‘What is the meaning of the decrees, statutes, and ordinances, which the Lord our God has commanded you?' ²¹ tell him, ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand. ²² Before our eyes the Lord inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his household, ²³ but He brought us from there in order to lead us in and give us the land that He swore to our fathers. ²⁴ The Lord commanded us to follow all these statutes and to fear the Lord our God for our prosperity always and for our preservation, as it is today. ²⁵ Righteousness will be ours if we are careful to follow every one of these commands before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.'

Israel to Destroy Idolatrous Nations

¹ "When the Lord your God brings you into the land^(a) you are entering to possess,^(b) and He drives out many nations before you—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and powerful than you— ² and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you and you defeat them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy. ³ Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,^{(c) 4} because they will turn your sons away from Me to worship other gods. Then the Lord 's anger will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you. ⁵ Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles,^(d) and burn up their carved images. ⁶ For you are a holy people^(e) belonging to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be His own possession^(f) out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.

⁷ "The Lord was devoted to you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. ⁸ But because the Lord loved^(g) you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed^(h) you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ⁹ Know that Yahweh your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commands.^{(i) 10} But He directly pays back^[a] and destroys those who hate Him.^(j) He will not hesitate to directly pay back^[b] the one who hates Him. ¹¹ So keep the command—the statutes and ordinances—that I am giving you to follow today.

¹² "If you listen to and are careful to keep these ordinances, the Lord your God will keep His covenant loyalty with you, as He swore to your fathers.^{(k) 13} He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will bless your descendants,^[c](l) and the produce of your land—your grain, new wine, and oil—the young of your herds, and the newborn of your flocks, in the land He swore to your fathers that He would give you. ¹⁴ You will be blessed above all peoples; there will be no infertile male or female among you or your livestock. ¹⁵ The Lord will remove all sickness from you; He will not put on you^(m) all the terrible diseases of Egypt that you know about, but He will inflict them on all who hate you. ¹⁶ You must destroy all the peoples the Lord your God is delivering over to you and not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

¹⁷ "If you say to yourself, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I drive them out?' ¹⁸ do not be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt: ¹⁹ the great trials that you saw, the signs and wonders, the strong hand and outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you fear. ²⁰ The Lord your God will also send the hornet against them until all the survivors and those hiding from you perish.^{(n) 21} Don't be terrified of them, for the Lord your God, a great and awesome God, is among you. ²² The Lord your God will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be able to destroy them all at once; otherwise, the wild animals will become too numerous for you.^{(o) 23} The Lord your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed. ²⁴ He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their names under heaven. No one will be able to stand against you; you will annihilate them. ²⁵ You must burn up the carved images of their gods. Don't covet the silver and gold on the images and take it for yourself, or else you will be ensnared by it, for it is abhorrent to the Lord your God. ²⁶ You must not bring any abhorrent thing into your house, or you will be set apart for destruction like it. You are to utterly detest and abhor it, because it is set apart for destruction.