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.
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.
- BSB For forty years I led you in the wilderness, yet your clothes and sandals did not wear out.
- 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 8:4Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.
- Neh 9:21Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.
- Deut 8:2And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
- Deut 1:3And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them;
- Matt 6:31–32Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
- Matt 10:10Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.
- Josh 9:13And these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey.
- Josh 9:5And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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
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