²³ Be careful not to forget the covenant^(A) of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol^(B) in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. ²⁴ For the Lord your God is a consuming fire,^(C) a jealous God.^(D)

²⁵ After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt^(E) and make any kind of idol,^(F) doing evil^(G) in the eyes of the Lord your God and arousing his anger, ²⁶ I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses^(H) against you^(I) this day that you will quickly perish^(J) from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed.

¹⁹ If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods^(A) and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.^{(B) 20} Like the nations^(C) the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.^(D)

¹⁶ Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.^{(A) 17} Then the Lord’s anger^(B) will burn against you, and he will shut up^(C) the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce,^(D) and you will soon perish^(E) from the good land the Lord is giving you.

²⁸ the curse if you disobey^(A) the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods,^(B) which you have not known.

¹⁸ Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns^(A) away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.^(B)

¹⁹ When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessing^(C) on themselves, thinking, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,”^(D) they will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. ²⁰ The Lord will never be willing to forgive^(E) them; his wrath and zeal^(F) will burn^(G) against them. All the curses written in this book will fall on them, and the Lord will blot^(H) out their names from under heaven. ²¹ The Lord will single them out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster,^(I) according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law.^(J)

²² Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it.^{(K) 23} The whole land will be a burning waste^(L) of salt^(M) and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,^(N) Admah and Zeboyim, which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger.^{(O) 24} All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land?^(P) Why this fierce, burning anger?”

²⁵ And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.^{(Q) 26} They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. ²⁷ Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against this land, so that he brought on it all the curses written in this book.^{(R) 28} In furious anger and in great wrath^(S) the Lord uprooted^(T) them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.”

¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, ¹⁸ I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed.^(A) You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

Israel Exiled Because of Sin

⁷ All this took place because the Israelites had sinned^(A) against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt^(B) from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods ⁸ and followed the practices of the nations^(C) the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. ⁹ The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city^(D) they built themselves high places in all their towns. ¹⁰ They set up sacred stones^(E) and Asherah poles^(F) on every high hill and under every spreading tree.^{(G) 11} At every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the Lord had driven out before them had done. They did wicked things that aroused the Lord’s anger. ¹² They worshiped idols,^(H) though the Lord had said, “You shall not do this.”^{[a] 13} The Lord warned^(I) Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers:^(J) “Turn from your evil ways.^(K) Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.”^(L)

¹⁴ But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked^(M) as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God. ¹⁵ They rejected his decrees and the covenant^(N) he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols^(O) and themselves became worthless.^(P) They imitated the nations^(Q) around them although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.”

¹⁶ They forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves,^(R) and an Asherah^(S) pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts,^(T) and they worshiped Baal.^{(U) 17} They sacrificed^(V) their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens^(W) and sold^(X) themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.

¹⁸ So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence.^(Y) Only the tribe of Judah was left,