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

25 “When you have had children and children’s children and become complacent in the land, if you act corruptly by making an idol in the form of anything, thus doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God and provoking him to anger,(A) 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to occupy; you will not live long on it but will be utterly destroyed.(B) 27 The Lord will scatter you among the peoples; only a few of you will be left among the nations where the Lord will lead you.(C) 28 There you will serve gods made by human hands, objects of wood and stone that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.(D) 29 From there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and soul.(E) 30 In your distress, when all these things have happened to you in time to come, you will return to the Lord your God and heed him. 31 Because the Lord your God is a merciful God, he will neither abandon you nor destroy you; he will not forget the covenant with your ancestors that he swore to them.(F)

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