“Since you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a cheerful heart, in gratitude for the abundance of all things,
Parallel translations
- WEB Because you didn’t serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things;
- KJV Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;
- BSB Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance,
- ESV Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things,
- NKJV “Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything,
- NLT If you do not serve the Lord your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received,
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
Israel is judged because they did not serve God with joy and gladness amid abundance.
Overview
Strikingly, the root sin named here is joyless service even in the midst of plenty. God desires not grudging obedience but glad-hearted worship. This reveals that true faithfulness flows from a heart that delights in God, a theme fulfilled in the joyful obedience the gospel produces.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Deut 16:11You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God: you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are among you, in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there.
- Neh 9:35–37For they have not served you in their kingdom, and in your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land which you gave before them. They did not turn from their wicked works.
- 1 Tim 6:17–19Charge those who are rich in this present world that they not be haughty, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy;
- Deut 12:7–12There you shall eat before Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which Yahweh your God has blessed you.
- Deut 32:13–15He made him ride on the high places of the earth. He ate the increase of the field. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, oil out of the flinty rock;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 28:47 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.