Deuteronomy 13:4

4 Serve only the Lord your God. Respect him, keep his commands, and obey him. Serve him and be loyal to him.

Deuteronomy 13:4 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 13:4

Ye shall walk after the Lord your God
As he has directed, according to the laws and rules which he has given, both with respect to their moral and civil conduct, and their religious worship of him; and so the Targum of Jonathan,

``ye shall walk after the worship of the Lord your God:''

and fear him, and keep his commandments;
fear to offend him, and so keep his commandments; or keep his commandments from or through fear; not a servile but a filial one, a reverential affection for him; this is the whole duty of man, ( Ecclesiastes 12:13 ) ,

and obey his voice;
in his word, or by his prophets and ministers: it may very well be understood of the voice of Christ, the Angel that went before them, whose voice they were continually to hearken to and obey, ( Exodus 23:21 Exodus 23:22 )

and you shall serve him, and cleave unto him;
it may respect all religious worship, both private and public; the Targum of Jonathan restrains it to prayer, but it not only includes that, but all other acts of piety and devotion, and which are to be constantly performed and not departed from; for so to do is to cleave to the Lord as a man to his wife, or a woman to her husband, in which conjugal relation God and his people Israel were, he was an husband unto them, and to do otherwise is to go a whoring from him after other gods.

Deuteronomy 13:4 In-Context

2 The miracle or sign might even happen, and then they might say, "Let's serve other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let's worship them."

3 But you must not listen to those prophets or dreamers. The Lord your God is testing you, to find out if you love him with your whole being.

4 Serve only the Lord your God. Respect him, keep his commands, and obey him. Serve him and be loyal to him.

5 The prophets or dreamers must be killed, because they said you should turn against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and saved you from the land where you were slaves. They tried to turn you from doing what the Lord your God commanded you to do. You must get rid of the evil among you.

6 Someone might try to lead you to serve other gods -- it might be your brother, your son or daughter, the wife you love, or a close friend. The person might say, "Let's go and worship other gods." (These are gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known,