Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Deuteronomy 8:19

in Deuteronomy 8

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.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And it shall be, if thou shalt forget Jehovah thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.

KJV

And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.

⋯

This verse in Deuteronomy 8

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

If you ever forget the LORD your God

on Deuteronomy 8:19-20

The chapter closes by putting Israel under the sentence of the nations it will displace, "so you will perish". Leviticus 18:28 had warned that the land would "vomit you out as it spewed out the nations before you", on the same ground of disobedience, whatever the descent. "I testify against you today" is the witness formula used again at 30:19, with heaven and earth as witnesses.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; 9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. The charge here given them is the same as before, to keep and do all God's commandments.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:81%@v8-10

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

God will make no more account of you, notwithstanding his covenant with you and your relation to him, than he does of them, if you will not be obedient and faithful to him." Those that follow others in sin will certainly follow them to destruction. If we do as sinners do, we must expect to fare as sinners fare.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God,....

The words behind it

20 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְהָיָ֗הand it will be

    vehayahH1961 →3559 times

  • אִם־<if>

    ʾim-H518 →1069 times

  • שָׁכֹ֤חַcertainly [if] <to forget>

    shakhoachH7911 →102 times

  • תִּשְׁכַּח֙you will forget

    tishkachH7911 →102 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • יְהוָ֣הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָGod your

    ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times

  • וְהָֽלַכְתָּ֗and you will walk

    vehalakhtaH1980 →1546 times

  • אַחֲרֵי֙after

    ʾachareiH310 →715 times

  • אֱלֹהִ֣יםgods

    ʾelohimH430 →2601 times

  • אֲחֵרִ֔יםother

    ʾacherimH312 →166 times

  • וַעֲבַדְתָּ֖םand you will serve them

    vaavadtamH5647 →288 times

  • וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִ֣יתָand you will bow down

    vehishtachavitaH7812 →172 times

  • לָהֶ֑םto <the> them

    lahem

  • הַעִדֹ֤תִיI testify

    haidotiH5749 →44 times

  • בָכֶם֙against <the> you

    vakhem

  • הַיּ֔וֹםthis day

    haiyomH3117 →2304 times

  • כִּ֥יthat

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • אָבֹ֖דcertainly <to perish>

    ʾavodH6 →184 times

  • תֹּאבֵדֽוּן׃you will perish !

    toedunH6 →184 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Jeremiah 7:6if you no longer oppress the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods to your own harm,6 worksDeuteronomy 4:26I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.5 worksDeuteronomy 6:14Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you.5 worksJeremiah 25:6Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’5 worksGalatians 5:3Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.4 worksJob 8:13Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so the hope of the godless will perish.4 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Nehemiah 13:15In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them against selling food on that day.3 worksDeuteronomy 11:16But be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside to worship and bow down to other gods,3 worksDeuteronomy 32:18You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth.3 worksIsaiah 17:10For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots and set out cuttings from exotic vines—3 worksLuke 13:5No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”2 worksDaniel 9:2in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.2 worksDeuteronomy 29:25–28And the people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.2 worksLuke 13:3No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.2 worksAmos 3:2“Only you have I known from all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”2 worksDeuteronomy 30:18–19I declare to you today that you will surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.2 worksZephaniah 3:6“I have cut off the nations; their corner towers are destroyed. I have made their streets deserted with no one to pass through. Their cities are laid waste, with no man, no inhabitant.2 worksZephaniah 1:18Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the Day of the LORD’s wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of His jealousy.” For indeed, He will make a sudden end of all who dwell on the earth.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 4:26

    I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it,…

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 32:1

      Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

    • Micah 6:2

      Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment, you enduring foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against His people, and He will argue it against Israel:

    • Jeremiah 22:29

      O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!

  • Through

    Daniel 9:2

    in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 29:10

      For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place.

    • Jeremiah 25:11–12

      And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

    • 2 Chronicles 36:21

      So the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation, until seventy years were completed, in fulfillment of the word of the LORD through Jeremiah.

  • Through

    Luke 13:3

    No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.

    it leads to

    • Acts 3:19

      Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,

    • Matthew 3:2

      and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Where this verse is studied

About Deuteronomy

Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846. Public domain.
Moses Viewing the Promised Land, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846. Public domain.
Deuteronomy: the study guide →Read Deuteronomy 8 →

This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Deuteronomy 8 →