If you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.
Parallel translations
- WEB It shall be, if you shall forget Yahweh your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you today that you shall surely perish.
- KJV And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.
- NKJV Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.
- NASB And it shall come about, if you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and serve and worship them, I testify against you today that you will certainly perish.
- NLT “But I assure you of this: If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed.
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
If Israel forgets God and follows other gods, Moses solemnly warns they will surely perish. Idolatry brings certain ruin.
Overview
Moses issues a grave warning: forgetting God leads to idolatry, and idolatry leads to destruction. The covenant carries blessings for faithfulness and curses for apostasy. This sober word underscores the seriousness of unbelief and points to the salvation from perishing offered to all who hold fast to the true God in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Deut 4:26I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.
- Deut 29:25–28And the people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.
- Luke 13:3No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
- Luke 13:5No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
- Amos 3:2“Only you have I known from all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”
- Zeph 1:18Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the Day of the LORD’s wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of His jealousy.” For indeed, He will make a sudden end of all who dwell on the earth.
- Dan 9:2in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.
- Luke 12:47–48That servant who knows his master’s will but does not get ready or follow his instructions will be beaten with many blows.
- Zeph 3:6“I have cut off the nations; their corner towers are destroyed. I have made their streets deserted with no one to pass through. Their cities are laid waste, with no man, no inhabitant.
- Deut 30:18–19I declare to you today that you will surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.
- Josh 23:13know for sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become for you a snare and a trap, a scourge in your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that the LORD your God has given you.
- 1 Sam 12:25But if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”
- Deut 28:58–68If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God—
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
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 8:19 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.