25 “When you father children and have [a]grandchildren, and you grow old in the land, and you (A)act corruptly, and (B)make [b]an idol in the form of anything, and (C)do what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger, 26 I (D)call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that you will (E)certainly perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to take possession of it. You will not [c]live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 The Lord will (F)scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord drives you. 28 (G)There you will serve gods, the work of human hands, (H)wood and stone, (I)which neither see nor hear, nor eat nor smell anything. 29 (J)But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him (K)with all your heart and all your soul. 30 When you (L)are in distress and all these things happen to you, (M)in the latter days (N)you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice. 31 For the Lord your God is a (O)compassionate God; (P)He will not abandon you nor (Q)destroy you, nor (R)forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 4:25 Lit children’s children
  2. Deuteronomy 4:25 Or a carved image
  3. Deuteronomy 4:26 Lit prolong your days

Warnings and teachings about future disobedience

25 Once you have had children and grandchildren and have grown old on the land, if you ruin things by making an idol, in any form whatsoever, and do what is evil in the eyes of the Lord your God and anger him, 26 I call heaven and earth as my witnesses against you today: You will definitely disappear—and quickly—from the land that you are crossing over the Jordan River to possess. You won’t extend your time there but will instead be totally destroyed. 27 The Lord will scatter you among the nations. Only a very few of you will survive in the countries where the Lord will drag you. 28 There you will worship other[a] gods, made of wood and stone by human hands—gods that cannot see, listen, eat, or smell. 29 You will seek the Lord your God from there, and you will find him[b] if you seek him with all your heart and with all your being. 30 In your distress, when all these things happen to you in the future, you will return to the Lord your God and you will obey his voice, 31 because the Lord your God is a compassionate God. He won’t let you go, he won’t destroy you, and he won’t forget the covenant that he swore to your ancestors.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 4:28 LXX; MT lacks other.
  2. Deuteronomy 4:29 Heb lacks him.