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Deuteronomy 8:12

Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
Deuteronomy 8:12 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built fine houses, and lived in them;
  • BSB Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses in which to dwell,
  • NKJV lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them;
  • NASB otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, and you build good houses and live in them,
  • NLT For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in,

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

The warning continues: when Israel is full and dwelling in fine houses, danger lurks. Comfort can lead the heart away from God.

Overview

Moses describes the settled, prosperous life that may follow the conquest. The very success God grants can tempt the heart to complacency. This sets up the central warning of the chapter: that ease and abundance must not displace humble dependence on the LORD.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • Prov 30:9Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
  • Hos 13:5–6I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.
  • Deut 28:47Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;
  • Deut 32:15But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
  • Amos 5:11Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.
  • Eccl 2:4I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:
  • Deut 31:20For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.
  • Hag 1:4Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?
  • Jer 22:14–15That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
  • Luke 17:28Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
  • Ezek 11:3Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (8)

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 8:12YouTube · 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 8:12 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.