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17 And you have seen their abominations and their idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them.

18 Beware lest there should be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose [mind and] heart turns away this day from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a [poisonous] root that bears gall and wormwood,

19 And lest, when he hears the words of this curse and oath, he flatters and congratulates himself in his [mind and] heart, saying, I shall have peace and safety, [a]though I walk in the stubbornness of my [mind and] heart [bringing down a hurricane of destruction] and sweep away the watered land with the dry.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 29:19 It is on the strength of the Lord’s oath to be Israel’s God and so to protect them that this Israelite flatters himself into thinking he is secure, no matter how he may behave. In the history of religion such a delusion has been lamentably frequent, and persons depending upon the unlimited protection of election have presumed on this and recklessly indulged in evil (The Cambridge Bible). The Bible emphasizes the “security of the saints,” but it is equally emphatic concerning the insecurity of those in conscious and continued indifference to God (Ezek. 3:20; 18:24, 26; Gal. 6:8; James 1:21; II Pet. 1:10, 11; Rev. 22:14).

17 You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold.(A) 18 Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns(B) away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.(C)

19 When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessing(D) on themselves, thinking, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,”(E) they will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.

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