Deuteronomy — Chapter 10

And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but that thou fear the Lord thy God? Six reasons Lapide gives for the fear of God: (1) it restrains from concupiscence and moves to all good; (2) it is the beginning and consummation of wisdom; (3) filial fear is simply love of God; (4) it gives constancy in temptation; (5) it brings God's favour and every blessing; (6) it gives joy of heart (Ecclus. 1:12).

Behold heaven is the Lord's thy God, and the heaven of heaven. Lapide: 'Heaven of heavens' (coeli coelorum) signifies the vast and highest heavens that encompass all inferior spheres—a fitting expression of God's infinite transcendence over His creation.

Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and stiffen your neck no more. Lapide: Foreskin of the heart means the will covered and hardened by corruption, luxury, vanity, and blindness. St. Gregory (26 Moral. 7): 'Circumcise the foreskin of your heart: after you extinguish lust in the flesh, cut off also the superfluous thoughts.'

For the Lord your God he is the God of gods, and the Lord of lords, a great God and mighty and terrible, who accepteth no person nor taketh bribes. God is not merely supreme but infinitely superior to all that men call gods. He is neither partial to persons nor swayed by gifts—a rebuke to all human corruption in judgment. Lapide: Justice is holy and inviolable; hence God ordered judges to reside in the sacred place, for the magistrate is like an altar to which the oppressed flee.

Love ye therefore strangers, because you also were strangers in the land of Egypt. God commands love of the pilgrim and foreigner as a special work of mercy, since Israel knew the bitter experience of being aliens in Egypt. This is the foundation of Christian charity toward all men regardless of origin.