If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.
Parallel translations
- WEB If you forsake Yahweh, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after he has done you good.”
- BSB If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, He will turn and bring disaster on you and consume you, even after He has been good to you.”
- NKJV If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.”
- NASB If you abandon the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and destroy you after He has done good to you.”
- NLT If you abandon the Lord and serve other gods, he will turn against you and destroy you, even though he has been so good to 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
Joshua warns that if Israel forsakes Yahweh for foreign gods, He will turn and bring harm and consume them, even after blessing them. It matters because covenant privilege does not exempt anyone from judgment for apostasy.
Overview
The warning underscores that God's past goodness does not shield the unfaithful from discipline; turning to idols invites His judgment. This sober note balances the comfort of grace with the seriousness of covenant obligation. The New Testament likewise warns the privileged not to fall away but to persevere in faith (Hebrews 10:26-31).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Heb 10:26–27For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
- Jer 17:13O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
- 1 Chr 28:9And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
- Ezek 18:24But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
- Acts 7:42Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?
- Isa 65:11–12But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number.
- 2 Chr 15:2And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
- Isa 63:10But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
- Isa 1:28And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.
- Ezra 8:22For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.
- Heb 10:38Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
- Josh 23:12–15Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Joshua — the same name as Jesus, 'the LORD saves' — leads God's people into their inheritance, a shadow of the greater Joshua who brings us into the true rest and the promised land that remains.
How Joshua 24:20 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.