18 Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you (A)a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, 19 one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’ This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike. 20 The Lord will not be willing to forgive him, but rather (B)the anger of the Lord and (C)his jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and the Lord (D)will blot out his name from under heaven. 21 And the Lord will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for calamity, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law. 22 And the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, (E)will say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which the Lord has made it sick— 23 the whole land burned out with brimstone and (F)salt, nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout, (G)an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, (H)Admah, and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger and wrath— 24 all the nations (I)will say, (J)‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger?’ 25 Then people will say, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt,

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18 Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns(A) away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.(B)

19 When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessing(C) on themselves, thinking, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,”(D) they will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. 20 The Lord will never be willing to forgive(E) them; his wrath and zeal(F) will burn(G) against them. All the curses written in this book will fall on them, and the Lord will blot(H) out their names from under heaven. 21 The Lord will single them out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster,(I) according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law.(J)

22 Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it.(K) 23 The whole land will be a burning waste(L) of salt(M) and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,(N) Admah and Zeboyim, which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger.(O) 24 All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land?(P) Why this fierce, burning anger?”

25 And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.(Q)

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18 Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;

19 And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:

20 The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven.

21 And the Lord shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law:

22 So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the Lord hath laid upon it;

23 And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:

24 Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?

25 Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:

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