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Deuteronomy 29:15-25

Listen to Deuteronomy 29:15-25
15 but with whoever is standing here with us today before the Lord our God, 1and with whoever is not here with us today.
16 “You know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed.
17 And you have seen their detestable things, their idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them.
18 Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you 2a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit,
19 one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart. ’ This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike.
20 The Lord will not be willing to forgive him, but rather 3the anger of the Lord and 4his jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and the Lord 5will blot out his name from under heaven.
21 And the Lord will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for calamity, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law.
22 And the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, 6will say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which the Lord has made it sick—
23 the whole land burned out with brimstone and 7salt, nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout, 8an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, 9Admah, and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger and wrath—
24 all the nations 10will say, 11‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger? ’
25 Then people will say, ‘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,

Deuteronomy 29:15-25 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 29

This chapter begins with an intimation of another covenant the Lord was about to make with the people of Israel, De 29:1; and, to prepare their minds to an attention to it, various things which the Lord had done for them are recited, De 29:2-9; the persons are particularly mentioned with whom the covenant would now be made, the substance of which is, that they should be his people, and he their God, De 29:10-15; and since they had seen the idols in Egypt and other countries, with which they might have been ensnared, they are cautioned against idolatry and idolaters, as being most provoking to the Lord, De 29:16-21; which would bring destruction not only on particular persons, but upon their whole land, to the amazement of posterity; who, inquiring the reason of it, will be told, it was because they forsook the covenant of God, and particularly were guilty of idolatry, which, whether privately or openly committed, would be always punished, De 29:22-29.

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Cross References 11

  • 1. 29:15 [Acts 2:39]
  • 2. 29:18 Heb. 12:15
  • 3. 29:20 Ps. 74:1
  • 4. 29:20 Ps. 79:5
  • 5. 29:20 See ch. 9:14
  • 6. 29:22 ver. 24
  • 7. 29:23 Judg. 9:45; Jer. 17:6; Ezek. 47:11; Zeph. 2:9
  • 8. 29:23 Gen. 19:24, 25; Jer. 20:16; 49:18; 50:40; 2 Pet. 2:6
  • 9. 29:23 Gen. 14:2; Hos. 11:8
  • 10. 29:24 ver. 22
  • 11. 29:24 1 Kgs. 9:8, 9; Jer. 22:8, 9
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025

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