But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.
Parallel translations
- WEB But if you indeed listen to his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries.
- KJV But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.
- BSB But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.
- NASB But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.
- NLT But if you are careful to obey him, following all my instructions, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will oppose those who oppose 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
If Israel truly obeys God's voice, He will oppose their enemies and fight on their behalf. Obedience aligns God's people with His protective power.
Overview
This conditional promise binds blessing to wholehearted obedience: as Israel listens and does all God commands, He becomes the foe of their foes. It reflects the covenant pattern of Sinai, where loyalty to God brings His active defense. National security flowed not from military might but from faithful obedience. The deeper lesson is that fellowship with God secures His help, a truth fulfilled as Christ wars against the enemies of His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Gen 12:3I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
- Deut 30:7Yahweh your God will put all these curses on your enemies, and on those who hate you, who persecuted you.
- Zech 2:8For Yahweh of Armies says: ‘For honor he has sent me to the nations which plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye.
- Jer 30:20Their children also shall be as before, and their congregation shall be established before me. I will punish all who oppress them.
- Acts 9:4–5He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
- Num 24:9He couched, he lay down as a lion, as a lioness; who shall rouse him up? Everyone who blesses you is blessed. Everyone who curses you is cursed.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 23:22 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.