Deuteronomy 4:26

26 I have caused to testify against you this day the heavens and the earth, that ye do perish utterly hastily from off the land whither ye are passing over the Jordan to possess it; ye do not prolong days upon it, but are utterly destroyed;

Deuteronomy 4:26 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 4:26

I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day
Should they be guilty of such a sin, since they were so strongly and publicly cautioned against it; and even the heaven and the earth were called upon as witnesses of the law being set before them, which so expressly forbids it, ( Deuteronomy 30:19 )

that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto you go
over Jordan to possess it;
though they were now about to go over Jordan and inherit the land of Canaan, yet they would not enjoy it long, but be taken and carried captive out of it; as the ten tribes were by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, and the two tribes by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and both for their idolatry and other crimes.

Deuteronomy 4:26 In-Context

24 for Jehovah thy God is a fire consuming -- a zealous God.

25 `When thou begettest sons and sons' sons, and ye have become old in the land, and have done corruptly, and have made a graven image, a similitude of anything, and have done the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, to provoke Him to anger: --

26 I have caused to testify against you this day the heavens and the earth, that ye do perish utterly hastily from off the land whither ye are passing over the Jordan to possess it; ye do not prolong days upon it, but are utterly destroyed;

27 and Jehovah hath scattered you among the peoples, and ye have been left few in number among the nations, whither Jehovah leadeth you,

28 and ye have served there gods, work of man's hands, wood and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.