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16 For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we traveled through the midst of the nations that you traveled[a] through. 17 And you have seen their detestable things and their idols of wood and stone, silver, and gold that were among them, 18 so that there is not[b] among you a man or a woman or a clan or a tribe whose heart[c] turns today[d] from being with Yahweh our God to go to serve the gods of these nations, so that there is not among you a root sprouting poison and wormwood. 19 And then when he hears the words of this oath, then[e] he will assure himself[f] in his heart, saying,[g]Safety shall be mine even though I go in the stubbornness of my heart,’[h] thereby destroying the well-watered land along with the parched.[i] 20 Yahweh will not be willing to forgive him, for by then the anger of Yahweh will smoke, and his passion against that man and all the curses written in this scroll will descend on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under heaven. 21 And Yahweh will single him out for calamity out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in the scroll of this law.

22 “And the next generation, that is, your children who will rise up after you, and the foreigner who will come from a distant land, when[j] they will see the plagues of that land and its diseases that Yahweh has inflicted upon it, will say, 23 ‘All its land is brimstone and salt left by fire, none of its land will be sown,[k] and it will not make plants sprout out and it will not grow any vegetation; it is as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Adman and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overturned in his anger and in his wrath.’ 24 And all the nations will say, ‘Why[l] has Yahweh done such a thing[m] to this land? What caused the fierceness of this great anger?’ 25 And they will say,[n]It is because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their ancestors,[o] which he made[p] with them when he brought them out[q] from the land of Egypt. 26 And they went and served other gods and bowed down to them, gods whom they did not know them and he[r] had not allotted to them. 27 So the anger of Yahweh was kindled[s] against that land to bring upon it all the curses written in this scroll, 28 and Yahweh uprooted them from their land in anger and in wrath and in great fury, and he cast them into another land, just as it is today.’[t]

29 “The hidden things belong to Yahweh[u] our God, but the revealed things belong to us[v] to know and to our children forever,[w] in order to do all the words of this law.”

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 29:16 Or “journeyed”
  2. Deuteronomy 29:18 Literally “lest there be/develop”
  3. Deuteronomy 29:18 Literally “his heart”
  4. Deuteronomy 29:18 Literally “the day”
  5. Deuteronomy 29:19 Or “and”
  6. Deuteronomy 29:19 Literally “he will bless himself”; HALOT 160 suggests “to consider oneself fortunate”
  7. Deuteronomy 29:19 Literally “to say”
  8. Deuteronomy 29:19 Literally “Peace shall happen/be for me, although/even if in the stubbornness of my heart I go”
  9. Deuteronomy 29:19 Some translators prefer to include the last clause as a part of the words of the wicked man (NASV vs. NEB)
  10. Deuteronomy 29:22 Hebrew “and”
  11. Deuteronomy 29:23 Literally “all of its land will not be sown”
  12. Deuteronomy 29:24 Literally “On what basis
  13. Deuteronomy 29:24 Literally “so”
  14. Deuteronomy 29:25 Or “answer/respond”
  15. Deuteronomy 29:25 Or “fathers”
  16. Deuteronomy 29:25 Literally “cut”
  17. Deuteronomy 29:25 Literally “at/in his to bring them out from the land of Egypt”
  18. Deuteronomy 29:26 That is, Yahweh
  19. Deuteronomy 29:27 Literally “became hot the nose of Yahweh”
  20. Deuteronomy 29:28 Literally “as the day the this”
  21. Deuteronomy 29:29 Literally “are for Yahweh”
  22. Deuteronomy 29:29 Literally “are for us”
  23. Deuteronomy 29:29 Literally “until eternity”

16 (for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the middle of the nations through which you passed; 17 and you have seen their abominations and their idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them); 18 lest there should be among you man, woman, family, or tribe whose heart turns away today from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that produces bitter poison; 19 and it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, “I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart,” to destroy the moist with the dry. 20 Yahweh will not pardon him, but then Yahweh’s anger and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book will fall on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under the sky. 21 Yahweh will set him apart for evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law.

22 The generation to come—your children who will rise up after you, and the foreigner who will come from a far land—will say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses with which Yahweh has made it sick, 23 that all of its land is sulfur, salt, and burning, that it is not sown, doesn’t produce, nor does any grass grow in it, like the overthrow of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath. 24 Even all the nations will say, “Why has Yahweh done this to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?”

25 Then men will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, 26 and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they didn’t know and that he had not given to them. 27 Therefore Yahweh’s anger burned against this land, to bring on it all the curses that are written in this book. 28 Yahweh rooted them out of their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and thrust them into another land, as it is today.”

29 The secret things belong to Yahweh our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

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