Bible Strands
Joshua 24:20
If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, He will turn and bring disaster on you and consume you, even after He has been good to you.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joshua addresses the assembled tribes of Israel at Shechem, concluding his historical review and demanding their final covenant decision. He issues this warning immediately after declaring God’s holiness and jealousy, and just before the people verbally pledge their service.
The words — The verb תַֽעַזְבוּ (ta‘azḇû) literally means “you will forsake” or “break off from,” paired with נֵכָר (nēkār), “foreignness,” to denote abandoning covenant loyalty for alien deities. The verb וְ/שָׁ֨ב (wəšāḇ) translates as “he will turn,” describing a divine reversal of prior favor into active judgment.
The thread — This covenant pattern of betrayal followed by divine reversal runs through Jeremiah 17:13, where abandoning Yahweh results in shame, and Hebrews 10:26, which warns that deliberate sin after knowing the truth leaves no remaining sacrifice.
Why it lands — The text states that past divine goodness does not prevent future judgment when covenant loyalty is broken. It requires the reader to choose exclusive allegiance to Yahweh without assuming grace operates independently of sustained obedience.
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
If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.
Cross-references
- Hebrews 10:26 If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,
- 1 Chronicles 28:9 As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.
- Jeremiah 17:13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame. All who turn away will be written in the dust, for they have abandoned the LORD, the fountain of living water.
- Ezekiel 18:24 But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, committing the same abominations as the wicked, will he live? None of the righteous acts he did will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness and sin he has committed, he will die.
- Acts 7:42 But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
- 2 Chronicles 15:2 So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
- Ezra 8:22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for an escort of soldiers and horsemen to protect us from our enemies on the road, since we had told him, “The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek Him, but His great anger is against all who forsake Him.”
- Isaiah 1:28 But rebels and sinners will together be shattered, and those who forsake the LORD will perish.
- Isaiah 63:10 But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.
- Isaiah 65:11 But you who forsake the LORD, who forget My holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,