Deuteronomy 32:18-25
Contemporary English Version
18 You turned away
from God, your Creator;
you forgot the Mighty Rock,[a]
the source of your life.
19 You were the Lord's children,
but you made him angry.
Then he rejected you 20 and said,
“You are unfaithful
and can't be trusted.
So I won't answer your prayers;
I'll just watch and see
what happens to you.
21 (A) You worshiped worthless idols,
and made me jealous
and angry!
Now I will send a cruel[b]
and worthless nation
to make you jealous and angry.
22 “My people, I will breathe out fire
that sends you down
to the world of the dead.
It will scorch your farmlands
and burn deep down
under the mountains.
23 I'll send disaster after disaster
to strike you like arrows.
24 You'll be struck by starvation
and deadly diseases,
by the fangs of wild animals
and poisonous snakes.
25 Young and old alike
will be killed in the streets
and terrified at home.
Deuteronomy 32:18-25
Common English Bible
18 You deserted[a] the rock that sired you;
you forgot the God who gave birth to you!
19 The Lord saw this and rejected
out of aggravation his sons and his daughters.[b]
20 He said: I will hide my face from them—
I will see what becomes of them—
because they are a confused generation;
they are children lacking loyalty.
21 They provoked me with “no-gods,”
aggravated me with their pieces of junk.
So I am going to provoke them with “No-People,”
aggravate them with a nation of fools.
22 A fire burns in me—
it will blaze to the depths of the grave;[c]
it will destroy the land and its crops;
it will blacken the base of the mountains.
23 I’ll throw[d] on them disaster after disaster;
I’ll destroy them with my arrows:
24 devastating hunger, consuming plague, bitter sickness.
I’ll send animal fangs after them,
venom from dust crawlers too.
25 Outside, in the streets, the sword will bereave!
Inside, in the safest room, there will be terror
for young men and women,
nursing baby and senior citizen.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 32:18 LXX, Vulg; Heb uncertain
- Deuteronomy 32:19 Or, following LXX, DSS (4QPhyln), and correcting the Lord saw this and was jealous; he spurned his sons and daughters.
- Deuteronomy 32:22 Heb Sheol
- Deuteronomy 32:23 LXX
Deuteronomy 32:18-25
New Life Version
18 You did not think of the Rock Who gave you birth. You forgot the God Who gave you birth.
19 “The Lord saw this, and hated them. His sons and daughters made Him angry. 20 Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them. I will see what their end will be. For they are a sinful people, children who are not faithful. 21 They have made Me jealous with what is not God. They have made Me angry with their false gods. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people. I will make them angry with a foolish nation. 22 For a fire is started by My anger. It burns to the very bottom of the place of the dead. It burns up the earth and all that grows on the earth. It burns the base of the mountains.
23 ‘I will send much trouble upon them. I will use My arrows against them. 24 They will be wasted with hunger. They will be destroyed by burning heat and disease. I will send the teeth of wild animals against them, with the poison of things moving in the dust. 25 The sword will bring death in the street, and bring fear in the homes. It will destroy both young man and young woman, the baby and the man with white hair.
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Deuteronomy 32:18-25
Easy-to-Read Version
18 You people left the Rock who made you;
you forgot the God who gave you life.
19 “The Lord saw this and became upset.
His sons and daughters made him angry!
20 So he said, ‘I will turn away from them,
then let’s see what happens!
They are a rebellious people.
They are like children who will not learn their lessons.
21 They made me jealous with things that are not really gods.
They made me angry with their worthless idols.
So I will use people who are not really a nation to make them jealous.
I will use a worthless[a] nation to make them angry.
22 My anger will burn like a fire,
burning down to the deepest grave,
burning the earth and all it produces,
burning deep down below the mountains.
23 “‘I will bring troubles to the Israelites.
I will shoot all my arrows at them.
24 They will become thin from hunger.
Terrible diseases will destroy them.
I will send wild animals against them.
Poisonous snakes and lizards will bite them.
25 In the streets, soldiers will kill them.
In their houses, terrible things will happen.
Soldiers will kill young men and women.
They will kill babies and old people.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 32:21 worthless Literally, “foolish,” used as a wordplay because in Hebrew it sounds like the word “worthless” used earlier in this verse.
Deuteronomy 32:18-25
New King James Version
19 “And(C) when the Lord saw it, He spurned them,
Because of the provocation of His sons and His daughters.
20 And He said: ‘I will hide My face from them,
I will see what their end will be,
For they are a perverse generation,
(D)Children in whom is no faith.
21 (E)They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God;
They have moved Me to anger (F)by their [a]foolish idols.
But (G)I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation;
I will move them to anger by a foolish nation.
22 For (H)a fire is kindled in My anger,
And shall burn to the [b]lowest [c]hell;
It shall consume the earth with her increase,
And set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23 ‘I will (I)heap disasters on them;
(J)I will spend My arrows on them.
24 They shall be wasted with hunger,
Devoured by pestilence and bitter destruction;
I will also send against them the (K)teeth of beasts,
With the poison of serpents of the dust.
25 The sword shall destroy outside;
There shall be terror within
For the young man and virgin,
The nursing child with the man of gray hairs.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 32:21 foolishness, lit. vanities
- Deuteronomy 32:22 lowest part of
- Deuteronomy 32:22 Or Sheol
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Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
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Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
