But if your heart turns away and you do not listen, but are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them,
Parallel translations
- WEB But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
- KJV But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
- NKJV But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them,
- NASB But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but allow yourself to be led astray and you worship other gods and serve them,
- NLT “But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to 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
But a heart that turns away to idols chooses the path of death. Spiritual apostasy leads to ruin.
Overview
Moses warns of the opposite choice: a heart drawn away to worship other gods. The turning of the heart, not merely outward acts, marks the path to destruction. This underscores that the great danger is idolatry of the heart, from which the gospel rescues by binding the affections to the one true God in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 2 Tim 4:4So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
- Prov 1:32For the waywardness of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.
- Heb 3:12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.
- John 3:19–21And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.
- 1 Sam 12:25But if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”
- Prov 14:14The backslider in heart receives the fill of his own ways, but a good man is rewarded for his ways.
- Deut 17:17He must not take many wives for himself, lest his heart go astray. He must not accumulate for himself large amounts of silver and gold.
- 1 Kgs 11:2These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love.
- Heb 12:25See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven?
- Deut 29:18–28Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure there is no root among you that bears such poisonous and bitter fruit,
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 30:17 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.