You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left few in number, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.
Parallel translations
- WEB You will be left few in number, even though you were as the stars of the sky for multitude; because you didn’t listen to Yahweh your God’s voice.
- KJV And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God.
- NKJV You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven in multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.
- NASB Then you will be left few in number, whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, because you did not obey the Lord your God.
- NLT Though you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, few of you will be left because you would not listen to the Lord your God.
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
A nation once as numerous as the stars will be reduced to a tiny remnant for disobedience. Sin reverses God's promised blessing of multiplication.
Overview
God had promised Abraham descendants like the stars (Genesis 15:5), yet disobedience would shrink the nation drastically. The cause is plainly named: 'because you didn't listen to Yahweh your God's voice.' Even so, God preserves a remnant, a thread of hope that runs through Scripture and finds its fulfillment in Christ, through whom Abraham's true offspring are multiplied.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Neh 9:23You multiplied their descendants like the stars of heaven and brought them to the land You had told their fathers to enter and possess.
- Deut 4:27Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
- Deut 10:22Your fathers went down to Egypt, seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.
- 2 Kgs 24:14He carried into exile all Jerusalem—all the commanders and mighty men of valor, all the craftsmen and metalsmiths—ten thousand captives in all. Only the poorest people of the land remained.
- Jer 42:2Jeremiah the prophet and said, “May our petition come before you; pray to the LORD your God on behalf of this entire remnant. For few of us remain of the many, as you can see with your own eyes.
- Rom 9:27–29Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved.
- Isa 24:6Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, and its inhabitants must bear the guilt; the earth’s dwellers have been burned, and only a few survive.
- Neh 7:4Now the city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not yet been rebuilt.
- Mark 13:20If the Lord had not cut short those days, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom He has chosen, He has cut them short.
- Isa 1:9Unless the LORD of Hosts had left us a few survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.
- Jer 52:28–30These are the people Nebuchadnezzar carried away: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;
- 2 Kgs 13:7Jehoahaz had no army left, except fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, because the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.
- Lev 26:22I will send wild animals against you to rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and reduce your numbers, until your roads lie desolate.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 28:62 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.