²⁶ When your children^(A) ask you, ‘What does this ritual mean to you?’

⁷ Repeat them to your children.^(A) Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

²⁰ “When your son asks you in the future, ‘What is the meaning of the decrees, statutes, and ordinances, which the Lord our God has commanded you?’ ²¹ tell him, ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand. ²² Before our eyes the Lord inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his household, ²³ but He brought us from there in order to lead us in and give us the land that He swore to our fathers. ²⁴ The Lord commanded us to follow all these statutes and to fear the Lord our God for our prosperity always and for our preservation, as it is today. ²⁵ Righteousness will be ours if we are careful to follow every one of these commands before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.’

² You must understand today that it is not your children who experienced or saw the discipline of the Lord your God:

⁷ Your own eyes have seen every great work the Lord has done.

¹⁸ “Imprint these words of mine on your hearts and minds, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol^[a] on your foreheads.^{[b] 19} Teach them to your children,^(A) talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ²⁰ Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,^{(B) 21} so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your fathers.^(C)

¹² Gather the people—men, women, children, and foreigners living within your gates—so that they may listen and learn to fear^(A) the Lord your God and be careful to follow all the words of this law. ¹³ Then their children^(B) who do not know the law will listen and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

¹⁹ Therefore write down this song^(A) for yourselves and teach it to the Israelites; have them recite it,^[a] so that this song may be a witness for Me against the Israelites. ²⁰ When I bring them into the land I swore to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey,^(B) they will eat their fill^(C) and prosper.^[b] They will turn to other gods and worship them, despising Me and breaking My covenant.^{(D) 21} And when many troubles and afflictions come to them, this song will testify against them, because^[c] their descendants will not have forgotten it. For I know what they are prone to do,^[d] even before I bring them into the land I swore to give them.” ²² So Moses wrote down this song on that day and taught it to the Israelites.

⁴⁶ he said to them, “Take to heart all these words I am giving as a warning to you today, so that you may command your children to carefully follow all the words of this law.

⁶ so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’^(A)