Deuteronomy 31:18

18 "I will certainly turn away from them on that day. I will do it because they did a very evil thing when they turned to other gods.

Deuteronomy 31:18 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 31:18

I will surely hide my face in that day
Which is repeated for the certainty of it, and that it might be taken notice of; that he was the spring and source of all their good things, their sun and their shield, who being withdrawn from them, they would be deprived of every thing that was good, and be liable to all evil; and this he would do,

for all the evils which they shall have wrought;
for all the immoralities they should be guilty of, every transgression of his law, whether of the first or second table, and especially idolatry:

in that they are turned unto other gods;
to the worship and service of them, which of all evils would be the most provoking to God; and the way of speaking suggests as if all evils were included in idolatry, and sprang from it, or were committed with it.

Deuteronomy 31:18 In-Context

16 The LORD spoke to me. He said, "You are going to join the members of your family who have already died. The people will not be faithful to me. They will soon join themselves to the strange gods that are worshiped in the land they are entering. The people will desert me. They will break the covenant I made with them.

17 "On that day I will become angry with them. I will desert them. I will turn my face away from them. And they will be destroyed. Many horrible troubles and hard times will come on them. On that day they will say, 'Trouble has come on us. Our God isn't with us!'

18 "I will certainly turn away from them on that day. I will do it because they did a very evil thing when they turned to other gods.

19 "I want you to write down a song for yourselves. Teach it to the people of Israel. Have them sing it. It will be my witness against them.

20 "I will bring them into a land that has plenty of milk and honey. I promised the land to their fathers. I took an oath when I promised it. In that land they will eat until they have had enough. They will get fat. When they do, they will turn to other gods and worship them. They will turn their backs on me. They will break my covenant.