Deuteronomy 6:5
New International Version
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

New Living Translation
And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

English Standard Version
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Berean Standard Bible
And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

King James Bible
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

New King James Version
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

New American Standard Bible
And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

NASB 1995
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

NASB 1977
“And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Legacy Standard Bible
You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Amplified Bible
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and mind and with all your soul and with all your strength [your entire being].

Christian Standard Bible
Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

American Standard Version
and thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Contemporary English Version
So love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, and strength.

English Revised Version
and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Good News Translation
Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

International Standard Version
You are to love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

Majority Standard Bible
And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

NET Bible
You must love the LORD your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength.

New Heart English Bible
And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

Webster's Bible Translation
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

World English Bible
You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And you have loved your God YHWH with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

Young's Literal Translation
and thou hast loved Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might,

Smith's Literal Translation
And love thou Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength.

Catholic Public Domain Version
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.

New American Bible
Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength.

New Revised Standard Version
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Love LORD JEHOVAH your God from all your heart and from all your soul and from all your possessions.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, and all thy strength.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Greatest Commandment
4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One. 5And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts.…

Cross References
Matthew 22:37
Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

Mark 12:30
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

Luke 10:27
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Leviticus 19:18
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

Joshua 22:5
But be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

2 Kings 23:25
Neither before nor after Josiah was there any king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, according to all the Law of Moses.

Nehemiah 1:5
Then I said: “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion with those who love Him and keep His commandments,

Psalm 31:23
Love the LORD, all His saints. The LORD preserves the faithful, but fully repays the arrogant.

Psalm 119:2
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies and seek Him with all their heart.

Psalm 119:10
With all my heart I have sought You; do not let me stray from Your commandments.

Psalm 119:34
Give me understanding that I may obey Your law, and follow it with all my heart.

Psalm 119:69
Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep Your precepts with all my heart.

Psalm 119:145
I call with all my heart; answer me, O LORD! I will obey Your statutes.

Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;

Isaiah 56:6
And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD to minister to Him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be His servants—all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it and who hold fast to My covenant—


Treasury of Scripture

And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

thou shalt

Deuteronomy 10:12
And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

Deuteronomy 11:13
And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,

Deuteronomy 30:6
And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

God with all

Deuteronomy 4:29
But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

2 Kings 23:25
And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.

Matthew 10:37
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

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Heart Love Soul Strength
Deuteronomy 6
1. The end of the law is obedience
3. An exhortation thereto
20. What they are to teach their children














And you shall love the LORD your God
This command is central to the Shema, a foundational declaration of faith in Judaism. The use of "LORD" refers to Yahweh, the covenant name of God, emphasizing a personal relationship. The command to love God is not merely emotional but involves a commitment to obedience and loyalty. This love is a response to God's love and faithfulness, as seen in His deliverance of Israel from Egypt. The call to love God is echoed in the New Testament, where Jesus identifies it as the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37-38).

with all your heart
In ancient Hebrew thought, the heart is the center of one's being, encompassing mind, will, and emotions. Loving God with all one's heart implies a total devotion that influences thoughts, decisions, and feelings. This comprehensive love contrasts with the divided loyalties often seen in Israel's history, where idolatry and syncretism were prevalent. The heart's devotion is a recurring theme in Scripture, as seen in Proverbs 4:23, which emphasizes guarding the heart as the wellspring of life.

and with all your soul
The soul represents the life force or essence of a person. Loving God with all one's soul suggests a dedication that encompasses one's entire life and being. This phrase underscores the depth of commitment required, extending beyond mere ritualistic observance to a profound, life-encompassing devotion. The soul's involvement in loving God is seen in the Psalms, where the psalmist often expresses a deep yearning for God (Psalm 42:1-2).

and with all your strength
Strength here refers to one's resources, abilities, and efforts. Loving God with all one's strength involves using one's physical capabilities and material resources in service to God. This comprehensive love calls for action and sacrifice, reflecting a life fully dedicated to God's purposes. The concept of strength in devotion is mirrored in the New Testament, where believers are encouraged to offer their bodies as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1). This phrase also anticipates the holistic nature of Christian discipleship, where every aspect of life is brought under the lordship of Christ.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Moses
The prophet and leader of the Israelites who delivered God's laws and commandments, including the Shema, to the people.

2. Israelites
The chosen people of God, to whom the commandments were given as they prepared to enter the Promised Land.

3. Mount Sinai
The place where Moses received the Ten Commandments and other laws from God, forming the basis of the covenant.

4. Promised Land
The land of Canaan, which God promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

5. Shema
A central declaration of the Jewish faith, beginning with Deuteronomy 6:4-5, emphasizing the oneness of God and the call to love Him fully.
Teaching Points
Wholehearted Devotion
Loving God with all your heart, soul, and strength means a complete and undivided commitment to Him. This involves prioritizing God in every aspect of life.

Holistic Love
The command encompasses emotional (heart), spiritual (soul), and physical (strength) dimensions, calling for a comprehensive love that affects every part of our being.

Covenant Relationship
This command is rooted in the covenant relationship between God and His people, reminding us of our identity and responsibilities as His followers.

Daily Practice
Loving God is not a one-time event but a daily practice that involves intentional actions, decisions, and attitudes that reflect our devotion to Him.

Foundation for Obedience
This commandment serves as the foundation for all other commandments, guiding our actions and interactions with others.(5) With all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.--The word "heart" has been taken both as "thought" and "affection." Hence, perhaps, the four terms, "heart, mind, soul, and strength," which we find in St. Mark 12:30. Bashi says upon the expression "all thy heart"--"with both natures" (the good and evil nature). "With all thy soul" he expounds thus: "Even though He take it (thy life) from thee." And "with all thy might" he paraphrases in a truly practical and characteristic fashion, "With all thy money, for you sometimes find a man whose money is dearer to him than his life (or body)." Or, as an alternative, "in every condition which He allots to thee, whether prosperity or chastisement. And so He says in David, 'I will take the cup of salvation (deliverances), and I will call on the name of the Lord' (Psalm 116:13); and again. 'I shall find trouble and heaviness, and I will call on the name of the Lord'" (Deuteronomy 6:3-4.) It is an interesting illustration of the passage, though the verbal connection on which it is based will not hold.

Verse 5. - To the one indivisible Jehovah undivided devotion and love are due. Hence the injunction, Thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. The "heart" is the inner nature of the man, including his intellectual, emotional, and cognitive futurities; the "soul" is the personality, the entire self-consciousness; and the" might" is the sum of the energies, bodily and mental. Not by profession merely is Jehovah to be loved; the whole man, body, soul, and spirit, is to be yielded to him in holy and devout affection (cf. Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:33; Luke 10:27; Romans 12:1). The last letter Of the first word, and the last letter of the last word in this verse are larger than the ordinary size (majuscula), and as these two form the word for witness (עד), the Jews say that they are written thus "that every one may know, when he professes the unity of God, that his heart ought to be intent and devoid of every other thought, because God is a witness, and knoweth everything" (R. Bechai, fol. 195, quoted by Michaelis, 'Bib. Heb,' in loc.).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
And you shall love
וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ (wə·’ā·haḇ·tā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 157: To have affection f

the LORD
יְהוָ֣ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

your God
אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ (’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā)
Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

with all
בְּכָל־ (bə·ḵāl)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

your heart
לְבָבְךָ֥ (lə·ḇā·ḇə·ḵā)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 3824: Inner man, mind, will, heart

and with all
וּבְכָל־ (ū·ḇə·ḵāl)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

your soul
נַפְשְׁךָ֖ (nap̄·šə·ḵā)
Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 5315: A soul, living being, life, self, person, desire, passion, appetite, emotion

and with all
וּבְכָל־ (ū·ḇə·ḵāl)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

your strength.
מְאֹדֶֽךָ׃ (mə·’ō·ḏe·ḵā)
Adverb | second person masculine singular
Strong's 3966: Vehemence, vehemently, wholly, speedily


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OT Law: Deuteronomy 6:5 And you shall love Yahweh your God (Deut. De Du)
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