“But if you turn away and abandon My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them,
Parallel translations
- WEB But if you turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;
- KJV But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;
- BSB But if you turn away and forsake the statutes and commandments I have set before you, and if you go off to serve and worship other gods,
- NKJV “But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them,
- NLT “But if you or your descendants abandon me and disobey the decrees and commands I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God warns that if they turn away to serve other gods, judgment will follow. It states the somber alternative to covenant faithfulness.
Overview
The warning shifts to the consequences of apostasy: forsaking God's statutes and worshiping idols. Idolatry is the great covenant betrayal that breaks fellowship with God. This sober word foreshadows the very sins that would later bring exile, highlighting humanity's need for a Savior who keeps covenant perfectly.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Lev 26:14“‘But if you will not listen to me, and will not do all these commandments;
- Deut 28:15But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come on you, and overtake you.
- Lev 26:33–46I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you. Your land will be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.
- 1 Chr 28:9You, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Yahweh searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.
- Deut 4:23–27Be careful, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he made with you, and make yourselves an engraved image in the form of anything which Yahweh your God has forbidden you.
- 1 Kgs 9:6–7But if you turn away from following me, you or your children, and not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them;
- Deut 28:36–68Yahweh will bring you, and your king whom you will set over yourselves, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers. There you will serve other gods of wood and stone.
- 1 Kgs 11:4–8When Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Yahweh his God, as the heart of David his father was.
- 1 Sam 12:25But if you keep doing evil, you will be consumed, both you and your king.”
- Josh 23:15–16It shall happen that as all the good things have come on you of which Yahweh your God spoke to you, so Yahweh will bring on you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you,
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Christ at the center
Temple, priesthood, and the repeated need for a faithful king who seeks the LORD all point past every imperfect reign to the King and Temple who finally and fully dwell with God's people.
How 2 Chronicles 7:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.