Deuteronomy 29:16-29
New Living Translation
16 “You remember how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we traveled through the lands of enemy nations as we left. 17 You have seen their detestable practices and their idols[a] made of wood, stone, silver, and gold. 18 I am making this covenant with you so that no one among you—no man, woman, clan, or tribe—will turn away from the Lord our God to worship these gods of other nations, and so that no root among you bears bitter and poisonous fruit.
19 “Those who hear the warnings of this curse should not congratulate themselves, thinking, ‘I am safe, even though I am following the desires of my own stubborn heart.’ This would lead to utter ruin! 20 The Lord will never pardon such people. Instead his anger and jealousy will burn against them. All the curses written in this book will come down on them, and the Lord will erase their names from under heaven. 21 The Lord will separate them from all the tribes of Israel, to pour out on them all the curses of the covenant recorded in this Book of Instruction.
22 “Then the generations to come, both your own descendants and the foreigners who come from distant lands, will see the devastation of the land and the diseases the Lord inflicts on it. 23 They will exclaim, ‘The whole land is devastated by sulfur and salt. It is a wasteland with nothing planted and nothing growing, not even a blade of grass. It is like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger.’
24 “And all the surrounding nations will ask, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why was he so angry?’
25 “And the answer will be, ‘This happened because the people of the land abandoned the covenant that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 26 Instead, they turned away to serve and worship gods they had not known before, gods that were not from the Lord. 27 That is why the Lord’s anger has burned against this land, bringing down on it every curse recorded in this book. 28 In great anger and fury the Lord uprooted his people from their land and banished them to another land, where they still live today!’
29 “The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.
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- 29:17 The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung.
Deuteronomy 29:16-29
International Standard Version
Incurring the Judgment of God
16 “Now, you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we traveled through the territory of[a] other nations. 17 You have seen their detestable practices, their idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold that they had with them. 18 Be alert so there is no man, woman, family, or tribe whose heart is turning away from the Lord your God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Be alert so there will be no root among you that produces poisonous and bitter fruit,[b] 19 because when such a person[c] hears the words of this oath, he will bless himself and say:
‘I will have a peaceful life, even though I’m determined to be stubborn.’[d] By doing this he will be sweeping away both watered and parched ground alike.’
20 “The Lord won’t forgive such a person.[e] Instead, the zealous anger of the Lord will blaze against him. All the curses that were written in this book will fall on him. Then the Lord will wipe out his memory[f] from under heaven. 21 The Lord will set him apart from all the tribes of Israel for destruction,[g] according to the curses of the covenant that were written in this Book of the Law.”
A Reminder of Sodom and Gomorrah
22 “Then the generation to come—your descendants after you and the foreigners who come from afar—will see plagues and illnesses infecting the land that the Lord will inflict on it. 23 The whole land will be covered[h] with salt pits and burning sulfur, with nothing planted, nothing sprouting, and producing no vegetation—overthrown like Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, when the Lord overthrew them in his raging fury. 24 All the nations will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land? What is the meaning of this fierce and great anger?’ 25 Then they will answer themselves,[i]
‘Because they’ve abandoned the covenant of their Lord, the God of their ancestors that he had made with them when he brought them out of Egypt. 26 They followed and worshipped other gods whom they had not known and whom he did not assign to them. 27 For this reason, the anger of the Lord raged against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that were written in this book. 28 The Lord uprooted them from the land in his anger, wrath, and great fury, deporting them to another land, and that’s the way things are today.’
29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but what has been revealed belongs to us and to our children forever, so that we might observe the words of this Law.”
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- Deuteronomy 29:16 The Heb. lacks the territory of
- Deuteronomy 29:18 Lit. wormwood; i.e. bitter things
- Deuteronomy 29:19 Lit. he
- Deuteronomy 29:19 The quotation possibly ends here.
- Deuteronomy 29:20 Lit. him
- Deuteronomy 29:20 Lit. name
- Deuteronomy 29:21 Lit. evil
- Deuteronomy 29:23 The Heb. lacks will be covered
- Deuteronomy 29:25 The Heb. lacks themselves
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