Deuteronomy 30:2

and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey His voice with all your heart and all your soul according to everything I am giving you today,

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses addresses Israel on the plains of Moab, framing the verse as the conditional response required after future exile and scattering.

The words — The Hebrew verbs שַׁבְתָּ (shavat) and שָׁמַעְתָּ (shama) carry the literal sense of “you will turn back” and “you will listen.”

The thread — The call to wholehearted return appears in Joel 2:12 and Nehemiah 1:9, while Deuteronomy 4:28 contrasts this obedience with the fate of those serving wooden and stone idols.

Why it lands — The text requires a complete reorientation of allegiance and active compliance with God’s commands as the explicit prerequisite for His promised restoration.

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

וְשַׁבְתָּ֞ve./shav.Taand/ you will turn back עַד־'ad-to יְהוָ֤הYah.wehYahweh אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙'e.lo.Hei./khaGod/ your וְשָׁמַעְתָּ֣ve./sha.ma'.Taand/ you will listen בְקֹל֔וֹve./ko.L/oto/ voice/ his כְּכֹ֛לke./Kholaccording to/ all אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-that אָנֹכִ֥י'a.no.KhiI מְצַוְּךָ֖me.tza.ve./Kha[am] commanding/ you הַיּ֑וֹםhai./Yomthis/ day אַתָּ֣ה'a.Tahyou וּבָנֶ֔יךָu./va.Nei./khaand/ children/ your בְּכָל־be./kholwith/ all לְבָבְךָ֖le.va.ve./Khaheart/ your וּבְכָל־u./ve./Khol-and/ with/ all נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃naf.She./khabeing/ your

King James Version

And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;

Cross-references

Joel 2:12 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”
Nehemiah 1:9 but if you return to Me and keep and practice My commandments, then even if your exiles have been banished to the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for My Name.’
Deuteronomy 4:28 And there you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.
Lamentations 3:40 Let us examine and test our ways, and turn back to the LORD.
Isaiah 55:6 Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
2 Corinthians 3:16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
Ephesians 6:24 Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Deuteronomy 6:5 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 13:3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. For the LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul.