For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave this people in the wilderness, and you will be the cause of their destruction.”
Parallel translations
- WEB For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all these people.”
- KJV For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this people.
- NKJV For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”
- NASB For if you turn away from following Him, He will once more leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”
- NLT If you turn away from him like this and he abandons them again in the wilderness, you will be responsible for destroying this entire nation!”
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
Moses warns that if they turn away, God will again abandon Israel in the wilderness, and they will be the cause of the nation's ruin. Their choice carries weight for everyone.
Overview
Moses presses the danger to its conclusion: turning back from following God would bring renewed abandonment and destroy the whole people. The verse underscores how covenant faithfulness is corporate, not merely individual. It anticipates the gospel truth that perseverance matters and that the leaders and members of God's people bear responsibility for one another's steadfastness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 2 Chr 15:2So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
- 1 Cor 8:11–12So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge.
- Deut 28:15–68If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
- Deut 30:17–19But if your heart turns away and you do not listen, but are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them,
- Josh 22:16–18“This is what the whole congregation of the LORD says: ‘What is this breach of faith you have committed today against the God of Israel by turning away from the LORD and building for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel against the LORD this day?
- 2 Chr 7:19–22But if you turn away and forsake the statutes and commandments I have set before you, and if you go off to serve and worship other gods,
- Rom 14:15If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died.
- Lev 26:14–18If, however, you fail to obey Me and to carry out all these commandments,
- Num 14:30–35Surely none of you will enter the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
- Matt 18:7Woe to the world for the causes of sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!
- Rom 14:20–21Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to let his eating be a stumbling block.
- Jer 38:23All your wives and children will be brought out to the Chaldeans. And you yourself will not escape their grasp, for you will be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned down.”
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
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 32:15 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.