Deuteronomy 12:1

These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to follow all the days you live in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites on the plains of Moab, speaking to the generation that will cross the Jordan. He delivers these instructions immediately before they enter the territory Yahweh has promised to give them.

The words — The Hebrew term חֻקִּים (ḥuqqîm) denotes fixed statutes or established decrees, paired with מִשְׁפָּטִים (mišpāṭîm), meaning judgments or legal rulings. Together they designate the binding legal framework Moses commands them to observe.

The thread — The phrase "all the days you live in the land" appears in Deuteronomy 4:1 and 1 Kings 8:40 to mark prolonged covenantal residence. Job 7:1 contrasts this promised duration with the transient, labor-bound existence of humanity on earth.

Why it lands — The text commands continuous adherence to the statutes and judgments upon taking possession of the land. It requires the reader to treat the delivered legal code as a permanent standard for daily conduct.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.

Cross-references

1 Kings 8:40 so that they may fear You all the days they live in the land that You gave to our fathers.
Job 7:1 “Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?
Deuteronomy 4:1 Hear now, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live and may enter and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
Deuteronomy 4:5 See, I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the LORD my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land that you are about to enter and possess.
Deuteronomy 4:9 Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.
Deuteronomy 4:19 When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.
Deuteronomy 4:45 These are the testimonies, statutes, and ordinances that Moses proclaimed to them after they had come out of Egypt,
Deuteronomy 6:1 These are the commandments and statutes and ordinances that the LORD your God has instructed me to teach you to follow in the land that you are about to enter and possess,
Deuteronomy 12:19 and be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land.
Psalms 104:33 I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.