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Deuteronomy 4:30

When you are in oppression, and all these things have come on you, in the latter days you shall return to Yahweh your God, and listen to his voice.
Deuteronomy 4:30 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;
  • BSB When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice.
  • NKJV When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice
  • NASB When you are in distress and all these things happen to you, in the latter days you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice.
  • NLT “In the distant future, when you are suffering all these things, you will finally return to the Lord your God and listen to what he tells you.

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

In distress in the latter days, Israel will turn back to God and obey his voice. Affliction is meant to drive God's people to repentance.

Overview

Moses foresees that the very troubles brought by sin will become the means of Israel's return to God. The phrase 'latter days' points to a future, even messianic, horizon of restoration. This pattern, that God uses suffering to recall his wayward people, runs through Scripture and finds its deepest answer in Christ, who calls sinners to repentance and gives the new heart to obey.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 22

  • Joel 2:12–13“Yet even now,” says Yahweh, “turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.”
  • Jer 23:20Yahweh’s anger shall not return, until he has executed, and until he has performed the intents of his heart. In the latter days, you will understand it perfectly.
  • Hos 3:5Afterward the children of Israel shall return, and seek Yahweh their God, and David their king, and shall come with trembling to Yahweh and to his blessings in the last days.
  • Deut 31:29For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will happen to you in the latter days; because you will do that which is evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.”
  • Jer 7:23but this thing I commanded them, saying, ‘Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’
  • Gen 49:1Jacob called to his sons, and said: “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which will happen to you in the days to come.
  • Isa 1:19If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;
  • Num 24:20He looked at Amalek, and took up his parable, and said, “Amalek was the first of the nations, But his latter end shall come to destruction.”
  • 2 Chr 6:36–39“If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn’t sin), and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to a land far off or near;
  • Acts 26:20but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.
  • Hos 14:2–3Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Tell him, “Forgive all our sins, and accept that which is good: so we offer our lips like bulls.
  • 1 Kgs 8:46–53If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn’t sin), and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near;
  • Dan 9:11–19Yes, all Israel have transgressed your law, turning aside, that they should not obey your voice: therefore the curse and the oath written in the law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us; for we have sinned against him.
  • Acts 3:19“Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord,
  • Deut 30:10if you will obey Yahweh your God’s voice, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law; if you turn to Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul.
  • Zech 6:15Those who are far off shall come and build in Yahweh’s temple; and you shall know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me to you. This will happen, if you will diligently obey Yahweh your God’s voice.”’”
  • Deut 31:17Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come on them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Haven’t these evils come on us because our God is not among us?’
  • Heb 1:2has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.
  • Exod 18:8Moses told his father-in-law all that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships that had come on them on the way, and how Yahweh delivered them.
  • Dan 10:14Now I have come to make you understand what shall happen to your people in the latter days; for the vision is yet for many days:
  • Lam 3:40Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Yahweh.
  • Heb 5:9Having been made perfect, he became to all of those who obey him the author of eternal salvation,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Deuteronomy videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Deuteronomy 4:30YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on DeuteronomyMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 4:30 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.