Bible / Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 6
Douay-Rheims Bible, Challoner revision (1749–1752), the traditional Catholic English Bible, translated from the Latin Vulgate. If you read a modern Bible, this is the same Scripture in older English; some names are spelled differently (Cesarea for Caesarea, Apocalypse for Revelation). About this translation
1 These are the precepts, and ceremonies, and judgments, which the Lord your God commanded that I should teach you, and that you should do them in the land into which you pass over to possess it:
2 That thou mayst fear the Lord thy God, and keep all his commandments and precepts, which I command thee, and thy sons, and thy grandsons, all the days of thy life, that thy days may be prolonged.
3 Hear, O Israel, and observe to do the things which the Lord hath commanded thee, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayst be greatly multiplied, as the Lord the God of thy fathers hath promised thee a land flowing with milk and honey.
4 Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.
5 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength.
6 And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart:
7 And thou shalt tell them to thy children, and thou shalt meditate upon them sitting in thy house, and walking on thy journey, sleeping and rising.
8 And thou shalt bind them as a sign on thy hand, and they shall be and shall move between thy eyes.
9 And thou shalt write them in the entry, and on the doors of thy house.
10 And when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land, for which he swore to thy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: and shall have given thee great and goodly cities, which thou didst not build,
11 Houses full of riches, which thou didst not set up, cisterns which thou didst not dig, vineyards and oliveyards, which thou didst not plant,
12 And thou shalt have eaten and be full:
13 Take heed diligently lest thou forget the Lord, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and shalt serve him only, and thou shalt swear by his name.
14 You shall not go after the strange gods of all the nations, that are round about you:
15 Because the Lord thy God is a jealous God in the midst of thee: lest at any time the wrath of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and take thee away from the face of the earth.
16 Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, as thou temptedst him in the place of temptation.
17 Keep the precepts of the Lord thy God, and the testimonies and ceremonies which he hath commanded thee.
18 And do that which is pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with thee: and going in thou mayst possess the goodly land, concerning which the Lord swore to thy fathers,
19 That he would destroy all thy enemies before thee, as he hath spoken.
20 And when thy son shall ask thee to morrow, saying: What mean these testimonies, and ceremonies and judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded us?
21 Thou shalt say to him: We were bondmen of Pharao in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand.
22 And he wrought signs and wonders great and very grievous in Egypt against Pharao, and all his house, in our sight,
23 And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in and give us the land, concerning which he swore to our fathers.
24 And the Lord commanded that we should do all these ordinances, and should fear the Lord our God, that it might be well with us all the days of our life, as it is at this day.
25 And he will be merciful to us, if we keep and do all his precepts before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us.
This chapter in the Catechism and the early Church
Where the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites these verses (from its footnotes on vatican.va), and where the earliest Church Fathers quote them (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, public domain). Short quotes only; follow the links for the full text. The Catechism uses modern verse numbers, so these are listed by chapter.
Read the Catechism and Fathers
- CCC 459 “The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me." "I am the…”
- CCC 2083 “Jesus summed up man's duties toward God in this saying: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and…”
- CCC 2093 “Faith in God's love encompasses the call and the obligation to respond with sincere love to divine charity. the first commandment enjoins…”
- CCC 2196 “In response to the question about the first of the commandments, Jesus says: "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our…”
“… god at all); or shall it be (what is really the case) the Maker of heaven and earth, whom also the prophets proclaimed, – whom Christ, too, confesses as His Father, – whom also the law announces, saying: "Hear, O Israel; The Lord thy God is one God?”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter II. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
“… the superior above all, He who is loudly proclaimed in the law: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one God;" and, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart;" and, "Him shall thou adore, and Him alone shall thou serve.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
Read the Catechism and Fathers
- CCC 368 “The spiritual tradition of the Church also emphasizes the heart, in the biblical sense of the depths of one's being, where the…”
- CCC 459 “The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me." "I am the…”
- CCC 2055 “When someone asks him, "Which commandment in the Law is the greatest?" Jesus replies: "You shall love the Lord your God with…”
- CCC 2093 “Faith in God's love encompasses the call and the obligation to respond with sincere love to divine charity. the first commandment enjoins…”
- CCC 2196 “In response to the question about the first of the commandments, Jesus says: "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our…”
“… the superior above all, He who is loudly proclaimed in the law: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one God;" and, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart;" and, "Him shall thou adore, and Him alone shall thou serve.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Deuteronomy 6:6 in modern Bibles
Read the Fathers
“For He enjoined you to place around you [a fringe] of purple dye, in order that you might not forget God; and He commanded you to wear a phylactery,”
Quoted in Dialogue with Trypho, St. Justin Martyr (c. AD 160), Chapter XLVI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
Read the Catechism and Fathers
- CCC 2084 “God makes himself known by recalling his all-powerful loving, and liberating action in the history of the one he addresses: "I brought…”
- CCC 2096 “Adoration is the first act of the virtue of religion. To adore God is to acknowledge him as God, as the Creator…”
- CCC 2150 “The second commandment forbids false oaths. Taking an oath or swearing is to take God as witness to what one affirms. It…”
“… the superior above all, He who is loudly proclaimed in the law: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one God;" and, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart;" and, "Him shall thou adore, and Him alone shall thou serve.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Deuteronomy 6:14 in modern BiblesCCC 2084
Read the Catechism
- CCC 2084 “God makes himself known by recalling his all-powerful loving, and liberating action in the history of the one he addresses: "I brought…”
- Deuteronomy 6:16 in modern Bibles
Read the Fathers
“The Lord therefore confuted him out of the law, when He said, "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God;”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
“… of righteousness, or when adorned with super-eminent [gifts of] ministration, by any means be lifted up with pride, nor should we tempt God, but should feel humility in all things, and have ready to hand [this saying], "Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XXII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Deuteronomy 6:45 in modern BiblesCCC 201
Read the Catechism
- CCC 201 “To Israel, his chosen, God revealed himself as the only One: "Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD; and…”
A modern English Catholic translation will be added once its publisher grants permission.