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25 Even after you have ·lived [grown old; or become complacent] in the land a long time and have had children and grandchildren, don’t ·do evil things [ruin/destroy/spoil/corrupt yourselves]. Don’t make any kind of idol, and don’t do what ·the Lord your God says is evil [L what is evil/wrong in the eyes of the Lord your God], because that will make him angry. 26 If you do, I ask heaven and earth to ·speak [witness] against you this day that you will quickly be removed from this land that you are crossing the Jordan River to ·take [possess]. You will not live there long after that, but you will be completely destroyed. 27 The Lord will scatter you among the other nations. Only a few of you will be left alive, and those few will be in other nations where the Lord will ·send [lead] you. 28 There you will ·worship [serve] gods made by ·people [L human hands], gods made of wood and stone, that cannot see, hear, eat, or smell. 29 But even there you can look for the Lord your God, and you will find him if you look for him with ·your whole being [L all your heart/mind and all your inner being]. 30 It will be ·hard [distressful] when all these things happen to you. But after that you will come back to the Lord your God and ·obey [hear] him, 31 because the Lord your God is a merciful God [Ex. 34:6; 2 Chr. 30:9; Neh. 9:31; Ps. 111:4; Joel 2:3]. He will not ·leave [fail] you or ·destroy [ruin; spoil] you. He will not forget the ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty] with your ·ancestors [fathers], which he ·swore [promised] to them.

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25 “When you become the father of children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, then if you corrupt yourselves by making a carved or sculpted image in the form of anything [for the purpose of worship], and do evil [things] in the sight of the Lord your God, provoking Him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You shall not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 The Lord will scatter and disperse you among the peoples (pagan nations), and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord drives you. 28 And there you will serve [false and foreign] gods, the work of human hands, [lifeless images of] wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell [the offerings of food given to them]. 29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. 30 When you are in distress and tribulation and all these things come on you, in the latter days you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice. 31 For the Lord your God is a merciful and compassionate God; He will not fail you, nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.

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