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Thursday, May 15th, 2025
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Read the Bible

Easy-to-Read Version

Deuteronomy 6:13

Respect the Lord your God and serve only him. You must use only his name to make promises.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Blessing;   Fear of God;   Oath;   Obedience;   Quotations and Allusions;   Worship;   Thompson Chain Reference - Oaths;   The Topic Concordance - Fear;   Service;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Oaths;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Frontlets;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Slave;   Temptation;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Amos, Theology of;   King, Christ as;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Oath;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Deuteronomy, the Book of;   Frontlets;   Matthew, the Gospel According to;   Oath;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Temptation of Jesus;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Deuteronomy;   Fear;   Oaths;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Hunger;   Old Testament (I. Christ as Fulfilment of);   Phylacteries ;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Vow;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Deuteronomy;   Fear;   Name;   Oath;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Commandments, the 613;   Fear of God;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
You shall fear the LORD your God; and him shall you serve, and shall swear by his name.
King James Version
Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
Lexham English Bible
"You shall fear Yahweh your God, and you shall serve him, and by his name you shall swear.
English Standard Version
It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.
New Century Version
Respect the Lord your God. You must worship him and make your promises only in his name.
New English Translation
You must revere the Lord your God, serve him, and take oaths using only his name.
Amplified Bible
"You shall fear [only] the LORD your God; and you shall serve Him [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect] and swear [oaths] by His name [alone].
New American Standard Bible
"You shall fear only the LORD your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Thou shalt feare the Lorde thy God, and serue him, and shalt sweare by his Name.
Legacy Standard Bible
Yahweh your God you shall fear; and Him you shall serve; and by His name you shall swear.
Contemporary English Version
Worship and obey the Lord your God with fear and trembling, and promise that you will be loyal to him.
Complete Jewish Bible
You are to fear Adonai your God, serve him and swear by his name.
Darby Translation
Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
George Lamsa Translation
You shall reverence the LORD your God, and serve him, and shall swear by his name.
Good News Translation
Honor the Lord your God, worship only him, and make your promises in his name alone.
Christian Standard Bible®
Fear the Lord your God, worship him, and take your oaths in his name.
Literal Translation
You shall fear Jehovah your God, and you shall serve Him, and you shall swear by His name.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
but thou shalt feare the LORDE thy God, and him onely shalt thou serue, and sweare by his name.
American Standard Version
Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God; and him shalt thou serve, and shalt swear by his name.
Bible in Basic English
Let the fear of the Lord your God be in your hearts, and be his servants, taking your oaths by his name.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Thou shalt feare the Lorde thy God and serue hym, and shalt sweare by his name.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; and Him shalt thou serve, and by His name shalt thou swear.
King James Version (1611)
Thou shalt feare the Lord thy God, and serue him, & shalt sweare by his Name.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve; and thou shalt cleave to him, and by his name thou shalt swear.
English Revised Version
Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; and him shalt thou serve, and shalt swear by his name.
Berean Standard Bible
Fear the LORD your God, serve Him, and take your oaths using only His name.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
be war diligentli, lest thou foryete the Lord, that ladde thee out of the lond of Egipt, fro the hows of seruage. Thou schalt drede thi Lord God, and thou schalt serue hym aloone, `bi seruyce due to God onely, and thou schalt swere bi his name.
Young's Literal Translation
Jehovah thy God thou dost fear, and Him thou dost serve, and by His name thou dost swear;
Update Bible Version
You shall fear Yahweh your God; and him you shall serve, and shall swear by his name.
Webster's Bible Translation
Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
World English Bible
You shall fear Yahweh your God; and him shall you serve, and shall swear by his name.
New King James Version
You shall fear the LORD your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name.
New Living Translation
You must fear the Lord your God and serve him. When you take an oath, you must use only his name.
New Life Bible
You must fear the Lord your God. You must worship Him, and swear by His name.
New Revised Standard
The Lord your God you shall fear; him you shall serve, and by his name alone you shall swear.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Yahweh thy God, shalt thou revere And him, shalt thou serve, - And by his name, shalt thou swear.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Take heed diligently lest thou forget the Lord, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and shalt serve him only, and thou shalt swear by his name.
Revised Standard Version
You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve him, and swear by his name.
THE MESSAGE
Deeply respect God , your God. Serve and worship him exclusively. Back up your promises with his name only. Don't fool around with other gods, the gods of your neighbors, because God , your God, who is alive among you is a jealous God. Don't provoke him, igniting his hot anger that would burn you right off the face of the Earth. Don't push God , your God, to the wall as you did that day at Massah, the Testing-Place. Carefully keep the commands of God , your God, all the requirements and regulations he gave you. Do what is right; do what is good in God 's sight so you'll live a good life and be able to march in and take this pleasant land that God so solemnly promised through your ancestors, throwing out your enemies left and right—exactly as God said.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"You shall fear only the LORD your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name.

Contextual Overview

4 "Listen, people of Israel! The Lord is our God. The Lord is the only God. 5 You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 Always remember these commands that I give you today. 7 Be sure to teach them to your children. Talk about these commands when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road. Talk about them when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them on your hands and wear them on your foreheads to help you remember my teachings. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates. 10 "The Lord your God made a promise to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He promised to give you this land, and he will give it to you. He will give you great and rich cities that you did not build. 11 He will give you houses full of good things that you did not put there. He will give you wells that you did not dig. He will give you vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant, and you will have plenty to eat. 12 "But be careful! Don't forget the Lord . You were slaves in Egypt, but he brought you out of the land of Egypt. 13 Respect the Lord your God and serve only him. You must use only his name to make promises.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

fear: Deuteronomy 6:2, Deuteronomy 5:29, Deuteronomy 10:12, Deuteronomy 10:20, Deuteronomy 13:4, Matthew 4:10, Luke 4:8

and serve him: Our Saviour quotes these words thus: "And him only (בץפש לןםש), shalt thou serve;" from which it would appear, that the word levaddo was anciently in the Hebrew Text, as it was in the Septuagint, Coptic, Vulgate (illi soli), and Anglo-Saxon. Dr. Kennicott argues that without the word only, the text would not have conclusive for the purpose for which our Lord advanced it. It is proper, however, to observe, that the word levaddo is not found in any manuscript yet collated, though retained in the above versions.

shalt swear: Leviticus 19:12, Joshua 2:12, Psalms 15:4, Psalms 63:11, Isaiah 45:23, Isaiah 65:16, Jeremiah 4:2, Jeremiah 5:2, Jeremiah 5:7, Jeremiah 12:16

Reciprocal: Genesis 21:23 - swear Genesis 24:3 - swear Genesis 31:53 - fear Genesis 42:15 - By the life Exodus 23:25 - And ye Deuteronomy 5:11 - General Deuteronomy 28:58 - fear this glorious 1 Samuel 7:3 - serve him 1 Samuel 20:3 - sware 1 Kings 8:40 - fear thee 2 Kings 17:36 - him shall ye fear 2 Chronicles 30:8 - serve Nehemiah 13:25 - made them Isaiah 48:1 - which swear

Cross-References

Genesis 6:1
The number of people on earth continued to increase. When these people had daughters, the sons of God saw how beautiful they were. So they chose the women they wanted. They married them, and the women had their children. Then the Lord said, "People are only human. I will not let my Spirit be troubled by them forever. I will let them live only 120 years." During this time and also later, the Nephilim people lived in the land. They have been famous as powerful soldiers since ancient times.
Genesis 6:6
The Lord was sorry that he had made people on the earth. It made him very sad in his heart.
Genesis 6:7
So the Lord said, "I will destroy all the people I created on the earth. I will destroy every person and every animal and everything that crawls on the earth. And I will destroy all the birds in the air, because I am sorry that I have made them."
Genesis 6:10
Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Genesis 6:11
When God looked at the earth, he saw that people had ruined it. Violence was everywhere, and it had ruined their life on earth.
Genesis 7:23
In this way God wiped the earth clean—he destroyed every living thing on the earth—every human, every animal, everything that crawls, and every bird. All that was left was Noah and his family and the animals that were with him in the boat.
Genesis 49:5
"Simeon and Levi are brothers. They are violent with their swords.
Jeremiah 51:13
Babylon, you live near much water. You are rich with treasures, but your end as a nation has come. It is time for you to be destroyed.
Amos 8:2
He said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then the Lord said to me, "The end has come to my people Israel. I will not ignore their sins anymore.
Hebrews 11:7
Noah was warned by God about things that he could not yet see. But he had faith and respect for God, so he built a large boat to save his family. With his faith, Noah showed that the world was wrong. And he became one of those who are made right with God through faith.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him,.... Serve him through fear; not through slavish fear, a fear of hell and damnation; but through filial fear, a reverential affection for that God that had brought them out of a state of bondage into great and glorious liberty, out of Egypt into Canaan's land, out of a place of misery into a land of plenty; and therefore should fear the Lord and his goodness, and from such a fear of him serve him, in every part of worship, public and private, enjoined; this passage Christ refers to Matthew 4:10

and shalt swear by his name; when they made a covenant with any, or were called to bear a testimony for the decision of any controversy which could not be otherwise finished; or whenever they took an oath on any account, which should never be taken rashly or on any trivial account, and much less falsely; it should be taken not in the name of any idol, or of any other but the true and living God; the Targum of Jonathan is,

"in the name of the Word of the Lord, in truth ye shall swear.''

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The Israelites were at the point of quitting a normal, life for a fixed and settled abode in the midst of other nations; they were exchanging a condition of comparative poverty for great and goodly cities, houses and vineyards. There was therefore before them a double danger;

(1) a God-forgetting worldliness, and

(2) a false tolerance of the idolatries practiced by those about to become their neighbors.

The former error Moses strives to guard against in the verses before us; the latter in Deuteronomy 7:1-11.

Deuteronomy 6:13

The command “to swear by His Name” is not inconsistent with the Lord’s injunction Matthew 5:34, “Swear not at all.” Moses refers to legal swearing, our Lord to swearing in common conversation. It is not the purpose of Moses to encourage the practice of taking oaths, but to forbid that, when taken, they should be taken in any other name than that of Israel’s God. The oath involves an invocation of Deity, and so a solemn recognition of Him whose Name is made use of in it. Hence, it comes especially within the scope of the commandment Moses is enforcing.

Deuteronomy 6:25

It shall be our righteousness - i. e., God will esteem us as righteous and deal with us accordingly. From the very beginning made Moses the whole righteousness of the Law to depend entirely on a right state of the heart, in one word, upon faith.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Deuteronomy 6:13. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God — Thou shalt respect and reverence him as thy Lawgiver and Judge; as thy Creator, Preserver, and the sole object of thy religious adoration.

And serve him — Our blessed Lord, in Matthew 4:10; Luke 4:8, quotes these words thus: And him ONLY (αυτω μονω) shalt thou serve. It appears, therefore, that לבדו lebaddo was anciently in the Hebrew text, as it was and is in the SEPTUAGINT, (αυτωμονω,) from which our Lord quoted it. The COPTIC preserves the same reading; so do also the VULGATE, (illi soli,) and the ANGLO-SAXON, ([Anglo-Saxon]) Dr. Kennicott argues, that without the word only the text would not have been conclusive for the purpose for which our Lord advanced it; for as we learn from Scripture that some men worshipped false gods in conjunction with the true, the quotation here would not have been full to the point without this exclusive word. It may be proper to observe that the omitted word לבדו lebaddo, retained in the above versions, does not exist in the Hebrew printed text, nor in any MS. hitherto discovered.

Shalt swear by his name. — תשבע tishshabea, from שבע shaba, he was full, satisfied, or gave that which was full or satisfactory. Hence an oath and swearing, because appealing to God, and taking him for witness in any case of promise, c., gave full and sufficient security for the performance and if done in evidence, or to the truth of any particular fact, it gave full security for the truth of that evidence. An oath, therefore, is an appeal to God, who knows all things, of the truth of the matter in question: and when a religious man takes such an oath, he gives full and reasonable satisfaction that the thing is so, as stated; for it is ever to be presumed that no man, unless in a state of the deepest degradation, would make such an appeal falsely, for this would imply an attempt to make God a party in the deception.


 
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