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 against Angering God

25 “After you’ve borne children and grandchildren, have been there for a long time in the land, have become so corrupted that you make images of any form, and have done evil in the eyes of the Lord your God, you will provoke him to anger. 26 Heaven and earth will testify against what has occurred[a] today: you’ll surely and swiftly be destroyed from the land that you are about to possess by crossing the Jordan River. You won’t live long in it, because you’ll certainly be exterminated. 27 Moreover, the Lord will scatter you among the nations, and you’ll be fewer in number in the nations where the Lord your God will drive you. 28 There you’ll serve gods made by human hands, serving[b] trees and stones that cannot see, hear, eat, nor smell. 29 If from there you will seek the Lord your God, then you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and soul. 30 In your distress, when all these things happen to you in days to come and you return to the Lord your God, then you will hear his voice. 31 For God is compassionate. The Lord your God won’t fail you. He won’t destroy you or forget the covenant that he confirmed with your ancestors.”

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 4:26 Lit. I invoke heaven and earth against you
  2. Deuteronomy 4:28 The Heb. lacks serving