Shema Yisrael in Hebrew
"Hear, O Israel." The Shema is the heart of Jewish prayer, and its first line — Deuteronomy 6:4 — confesses that the LORD is one. Here is the Hebrew with a transliteration and English meaning, and a note on why that last word, echad, is rendered carefully in more than one way.
Working with a passage of your own? Hebrew translator translates Biblical Hebrew both ways.
Prayer in Biblical Hebrew
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Transliteration
How to say it
What it means in English
Hear, Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your life, and with all your might.
The familiar wording (KJV 1611, Deuteronomy 6:4-5):
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
A few things worth knowing
- The Hebrew divine name is traditionally not pronounced as written in Jewish prayer; Adonai is normally said when reading aloud.
- Deuteronomy 6:4 can be rendered "The LORD our God, the LORD is one" or "The LORD is our God, the LORD alone." The Hebrew is compact and allows careful discussion.
- This page shows Deuteronomy 6:4-9, the first paragraph of the Shema, not the full later liturgical sequence that also includes Deuteronomy 11 and Numbers 15.
- In Torah scrolls and many printed Bibles the ayin of שְׁמַע and the dalet of אֶחָד are written oversized; read together they spell עֵד, "witness." Plain digital text can't show the enlarged letters, but the tradition is worth knowing.
What Shema means
שְׁמַע is an imperative: "hear" or "listen." In biblical Hebrew, hearing often implies attentive obedience, not merely receiving sound.
One or alone?
The word אֶחָד means one, but the whole line can be understood with several English word orders. Responsible translations try to preserve both Israel's confession of the LORD and the exclusivity of covenant loyalty.
Where this text comes from
We use Unicode/XML Leningrad Codex UXLC 2.5, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, a public-domain edition, so the wording here is stable and free to read, copy, and share. You can check the source for yourself.
More prayers and verses in their original languages
Frequently Asked Questions
- What does Shema Yisrael mean?
- It means "Hear, Israel" or "Listen, Israel."
- How do you pronounce the Shema?
- A simple pronunciation is sheh-MAH yis-rah-EL, ah-doh-NAI eh-loh-HAY-noo, ah-doh-NAI eh-KHAD.
- Is this the full Shema?
- It is Deuteronomy 6:4-9, the first paragraph. The full liturgical Shema also includes additional biblical passages.