25 After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt(A) and make any kind of idol,(B) doing evil(C) in the eyes of the Lord your God and arousing his anger, 26 I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses(D) against you(E) this day that you will quickly perish(F) from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed. 27 The Lord will scatter(G) you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive(H) among the nations to which the Lord will drive you. 28 There you will worship man-made gods(I) of wood and stone,(J) which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.(K) 29 But if from there you seek(L) the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart(M) and with all your soul.(N) 30 When you are in distress(O) and all these things have happened to you, then in later days(P) you will return(Q) to the Lord your God and obey him. 31 For the Lord your God is a merciful(R) God; he will not abandon(S) or destroy(T) you or forget(U) the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.

Read full chapter

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.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

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