Bible Strands
Numbers 32:15
For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave this people in the wilderness, and you will be the cause of their destruction.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses speaks to the tribes of Reuben and Gad at the eastern border of Canaan, immediately after condemning their potential rebellion as a repetition of their fathers' failure. He issues this warning before they formally propose settling in the Transjordan region.
The words — The Hebrew תְּשׁוּבוּן (te.shuvun) means "you will turn back," paired with וְיָסֹף (ve.yasof), "and He will add," to establish a conditional reversal of divine guidance.
The thread — The text states that disobedience triggers repeated divine abandonment, a pattern explicitly outlined in Leviticus 26:14 and mirrored in 2 Chronicles 15:2 where covenant loyalty dictates God's presence.
Why it lands — The passage demands immediate compliance with God's commands over personal territorial ambition, stating plainly that spiritual apostasy directly produces communal ruin.
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
For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this people.
Cross-references
- 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.
- 1 Corinthians 8:11 So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge.
- Leviticus 26:14 If, however, you fail to obey Me and to carry out all these commandments,
- Numbers 14:30 Surely none of you will enter the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
- Deuteronomy 28:15 If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
- 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,
- Joshua 22:16 “This is what the whole congregation of the LORD says: ‘What is this breach of faith you have committed today against the God of Israel by turning away from the LORD and building for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel against the LORD this day?
- 2 Chronicles 7:19 But if you turn away and forsake the statutes and commandments I have set before you, and if you go off to serve and worship other gods,
- Matthew 18:7 Woe to the world for the causes of sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!
- Romans 14:15 If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died.