For forty years I led you in the wilderness, yet your clothes and sandals did not wear out.
Parallel translations
- WEB I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not grown old on you, and your shoes have not grown old on your feet.
- KJV And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.
- NKJV And I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn out on your feet.
- NASB And I have led you in the wilderness for forty years; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandal has not worn out on your foot.
- NLT For forty years I led you through the wilderness, yet your clothes and sandals did not wear out.
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
For forty years God sustained them so their clothes and sandals never wore out. His faithful provision in the wilderness should evoke trust.
Overview
Moses points to God's miraculous care during the wilderness years, preserving even their clothing and footwear. This sustained provision testified to God's covenant faithfulness day by day. It reminds believers that the God who provides for every need in the long journey is worthy of wholehearted trust, as Christ later taught his disciples not to be anxious.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Deut 8:4Your clothing did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.
- Neh 9:21For forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.
- Deut 8:2Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.
- Deut 1:3In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the LORD had commanded him concerning them.
- Matt 6:31–32Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
- Matt 10:10Take no bag for the road, or second tunic, or sandals, or staff; for the worker is worthy of his provisions.
- Josh 9:13These wineskins were new when we filled them, but look, they are cracked. And these clothes and sandals are worn out from our very long journey.”
- Josh 9:5They put worn, patched sandals on their feet and threadbare clothing on their bodies, and their whole supply of bread was dry and moldy.
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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 29:5 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.