But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out.
Parallel translations
- WEB “But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Yahweh; and be sure your sin will find you out.
- KJV But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.
- BSB But if you do not do this, you will certainly sin against the LORD—and be assured that your sin will find you out.
- NASB But if you do not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure that your sin will find you out.
- NLT But if you fail to keep your word, then you will have sinned against the Lord, and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.
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
But if they fail to keep their word, Moses warns, they sin against the LORD and their sin will find them out. Broken vows before God carry inescapable consequences.
Overview
Moses delivers the sober counterpart: failure to fulfill the pledge would be sin against the LORD Himself, and that sin would surely be exposed. The proverb-like warning that sin will find you out affirms God's omniscience and justice; nothing hidden escapes Him. It points to the universal accountability of all people before God, from which only the atonement of Christ provides refuge.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Isa 59:12For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them:
- Prov 13:21Misfortune pursues sinners, but prosperity rewards the righteous.
- Gen 44:16Judah said, “What will we tell my lord? What will we speak? Or how will we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. Behold, we are my lord’s slaves, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found.”
- Ps 90:8You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.
- 1 Cor 4:5Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God.
- Rom 2:9oppression and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
- Gen 4:7If you do well, won’t it be lifted up? If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it.”
- Deut 28:15–68But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come on you, and overtake you.
- Isa 3:11Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them; for the deeds of his hands will be paid back to him.
- Isa 59:1–2Behold, Yahweh’s hand is not shortened, that it can’t save; nor his ear dull, that it can’t hear.
- Ps 140:11An evil speaker won’t be established in the earth. Evil will hunt the violent man to overthrow him.
- Ps 139:11If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me; the light around me will be night”;
- Lev 26:14–46“‘But if you will not listen to me, and will not do all these commandments;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 32:23 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.