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Deuteronomy 6:5
Total Devotion to God
Deuteronomy 6:5
You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
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Why it is worth knowing
- Love for God is a command, not merely an emotion
- The call is to love with every dimension of the person: heart, soul, might
- Jesus called this the greatest commandment
- Wholehearted devotion leaves no room for divided loyalty
Where it sits: Deuteronomy 6:4-7
Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one. You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.
Hear the passage it sits in, sung word for word, on BibleDo's Deuteronomy page.
Background
Known as the Shema, this passage from Deuteronomy 6 is the central confession of Jewish faith. Moses delivered it as Israel stood on the border of Canaan, calling them to wholehearted allegiance to the one true God. Jesus later identified it as the first and greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37-38). The word for “love” here is covenantal: it is the loyal, committed love of a covenant partner, not sentimental feeling.