Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 11:16
But be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside to worship and bow down to other gods,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses the Israelites on the threshold of the Promised Land, framing covenant obedience in terms of immediate material blessing and impending judgment.
The words — פֶּ֥ן (pen) = lest and יִפְתֶּ֖ה (yif.Teh) = it should be deceived form a warning structure that precedes the command to avoid foreign worship.
The thread — This warning echoes in Job 31:27, Hebrews 3:12, and Hebrews 2:1, where internal deception and spiritual drifting demand vigilant attention.
Why it lands — The text commands readers to guard against internal enticement that leads to idolatry, requiring active resistance before the warning of divine wrath in Deuteronomy 11:17 takes effect.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
Cross-references
- Job 31:27 so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,
- Hebrews 3:12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.
- Hebrews 2:1 We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
- Deuteronomy 29:18 Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure there is no root among you that bears such poisonous and bitter fruit,
- James 1:26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.
- Deuteronomy 4:23 Be careful that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God that He made with you; do not make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything He has forbidden you.
- Deuteronomy 8:19 If you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.
- Deuteronomy 30:17 But if your heart turns away and you do not listen, but are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them,
- Isaiah 44:20 He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”
- Luke 21:34 But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.