The Greatest Commandment

(Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34)

1Now this is the commandment, 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 over to possess it: 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. 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, the God of thy fathers, hath promised unto thee, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

4Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD: 5and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thine 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. 8And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. 9And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thy house, and upon thy gates.

10And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall bring 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, 11and houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and cisterns hewn out, which thou hewedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not, and thou shalt eat and be full; 12then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 13Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; and him shalt thou serve, and shalt swear by his name. 14Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples which are round about you; 15for the LORD thy God in the midst of thee is a jealous God; lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and he destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

16Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah. 17Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee. 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, 19to thrust out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken.

Teach Your Children

(Ephesians 6:1-4)

20When 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? 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: 22and the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his house, before our eyes: 23and he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto 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 at this day. 25And it shall be righteousness unto us, if we observe to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.