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,

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the Israelites on the plains of Moab at the threshold of the Promised Land, framing the immediate choice between covenant obedience and rebellion.

The words — The passage centers on יִפְנֶה (yifneh, "it will turn away") describing the heart's departure from God, and נִדַּחְתָּ (nidachta, "you will be drawn aside") indicating a passive pulling toward foreign worship.

The thread — This trajectory of a turned heart and diverted worship runs through Proverbs 1:32, 2 Timothy 4:4, and Hebrews 3:12.

Why it lands — The text states that refusing to listen and bowing to other gods directly triggers the perishance declared in the surrounding verses.

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

וְאִם־ve./'im-and/ if יִפְנֶ֥הyif.Nehit will turn away לְבָבְךָ֖le.va.ve./Khaheart/ your וְלֹ֣אve./Lo'and/ not תִשְׁמָ֑עtish.Ma'you will listen וְנִדַּחְתָּ֗ve./ni.dach.Taand/ you will be drawn aside וְהִֽשְׁתַּחֲוִ֛יתָve./hish.ta.cha.Vi.taand/ you will bow down לֵאלֹהִ֥יםle./lo.Himto/ gods אֲחֵרִ֖ים'a.che.Rimother וַעֲבַדְתָּֽם׃va./'a.vad.Ta/mand/ you will serve/ them

King James Version

But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;

Cross-references

Proverbs 1:32 For the waywardness of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.
2 Timothy 4:4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
Hebrews 3:12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.
Deuteronomy 17:17 He must not take many wives for himself, lest his heart go astray. He must not accumulate for himself large amounts of silver and gold.
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,
1 Samuel 12:25 But if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”
1 Kings 11:2 These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love.
Proverbs 14:14 The backslider in heart receives the fill of his own ways, but a good man is rewarded for his ways.
John 3:19 And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.
Hebrews 12:25 See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven?