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.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses addresses Israel on the plains of Moab, on the eve of entering the land. He is delivering the statutes and judgments he is about to teach them, immediately before warning against adding or subtracting (v. 2).

The words — שְׁמַע (shema'), "listen," is the imperative that drives the verse; it is the same verb that opens the Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4.

The thread — The life-through-obedience formula ("the man who does these things will live by them") recurs in Leviticus 18:5, Ezekiel 20:11, and is quoted in Romans 10:5.

Why it lands — The verse makes the stakes concrete: listen, follow, live, enter, possess. It asks the reader to treat the law as a living instrument, not a document to be amended.

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

וְעַתָּ֣הve./'a.Tahand/ now יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לYis.ra.'ElO Israel שְׁמַ֤עshe.Ma'listen אֶל־'el-to הַֽחֻקִּים֙ha./chu.Kimthe/ statutes וְאֶל־ve./'el-and/ to הַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֔יםha./mish.pa.Timthe/ judgments אֲשֶׁ֧ר'a.Sherwhich אָֽנֹכִ֛י'a.no.KhiI מְלַמֵּ֥דme.la.Med[am] about to teach אֶתְכֶ֖ם'et./Khem<obj.>/ you לַעֲשׂ֑וֹתla./'a.Sotto/ observe לְמַ֣עַןle.Ma.'anso that תִּֽחְי֗וּtich.Yuyou may live וּבָאתֶם֙u./va.Temand/ you will go וִֽירִשְׁתֶּ֣םvi./rish.Temand/ you will take possession of אֶת־'et-<obj.>הָאָ֔רֶץha./'A.retzthe/ land אֲשֶׁ֧ר'a.Sherwhich יְהוָ֛הYah.wehYahweh אֱלֹהֵ֥י'e.lo.Hei[the] God of אֲבֹתֵיכֶ֖ם'a.vo.tei./Khemancestors/ your נֹתֵ֥ןno.Ten[is] about to giveלָכֶֽם׃la./Khemto/ you

King James Version

Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you.

Cross-references

Romans 10:5 For concerning the righteousness that is by the law, Moses writes: “The man who does these things will live by them.”
Ezekiel 20:11 And I gave them My statutes and made known to them My ordinances—for the man who does these things will live by them.
Leviticus 18:5 Keep My statutes and My judgments, for the man who does these things will live by them. I am the LORD.
Deuteronomy 8:1 You must carefully follow every commandment I am giving you today, so that you may live and multiply, and enter and possess the land that the LORD swore to give your fathers.
Leviticus 22:31 You are to keep My commandments and practice them. I am the LORD.
Deuteronomy 5:1 Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: Hear, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances that I declare in your hearing this day. Learn them and observe them carefully.
Deuteronomy 30:16 For I am commanding you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and increase, and the LORD your God may bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.
Leviticus 20:8 And you shall keep My statutes and practice them. I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
Deuteronomy 4:8 And what nation is great enough to have righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?
Deuteronomy 4:45 These are the testimonies, statutes, and ordinances that Moses proclaimed to them after they had come out of Egypt,