Deuteronomy 7:4
New International Version
for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the LORD’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.

New Living Translation
for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you.

English Standard Version
for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.

Berean Standard Bible
because they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you.

King James Bible
For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

New King James Version
For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.

New American Standard Bible
For they will turn your sons away from following Me, and they will serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you.

NASB 1995
“For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you.

NASB 1977
“For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and He will quickly destroy you.

Legacy Standard Bible
For they will turn your sons away from following Me, and they will serve other gods; then the anger of Yahweh will be kindled against you, and He will quickly destroy you.

Amplified Bible
for they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled and burn against you and He will quickly destroy you.

Christian Standard Bible
because they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the LORD’s anger will burn against you, and he will swiftly destroy you.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
because they will turn your sons away from Me to worship other gods. Then the LORD’s anger will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you.

American Standard Version
For he will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of Jehovah be kindled against you, and he will destroy thee quickly.

Contemporary English Version
If you do, those people will lead your descendants to worship other gods and to turn their backs on the LORD. That will make him very angry, and he will quickly destroy Israel.

English Revised Version
For he will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and he will destroy thee quickly.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
These people will turn your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the LORD will get very angry with you and will quickly destroy you.

Good News Translation
because then they would lead your children away from the LORD to worship other gods. If that happens, the LORD will be angry with you and destroy you at once.

International Standard Version
because they will turn your children from me to serve other gods so that the LORD's anger blazes against you and swiftly destroys you by fire.

Majority Standard Bible
because they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you.

NET Bible
for they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will erupt against you and he will quickly destroy you.

New Heart English Bible
For he will turn away your son from following me, that he may serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.

Webster's Bible Translation
For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

World English Bible
For that would turn away your sons from following me, that they may serve other gods. So Yahweh’s anger would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
for he turns aside your son from after Me, and they have served other gods; and the anger of YHWH has burned against you and has destroyed you quickly.

Young's Literal Translation
for he doth turn aside thy son from after Me, and they have served other gods, and the anger of Jehovah hath burned against you, and hath destroyed thee hastily.

Smith's Literal Translation
For he will turn away thy son from after me and they served other gods: and the anger of Jehovah kindled against you and he destroyed thee suddenly.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
For she will turn away thy son from following me, that he may rather serve strange gods, and the wrath of the Lord will be kindled, and will quickly destroy thee.

Catholic Public Domain Version
For she will seduce your son, so that he will not follow me, and so that he will instead serve foreign gods. And the fury of the Lord will be enraged, and he will quickly destroy you.

New American Bible
For they would turn your sons from following me to serving other gods, and then the anger of the LORD would flare up against you and he would quickly destroy you.

New Revised Standard Version
for that would turn away your children from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
That they may not turn away your sons from following me, and serve other gods; and then the anger of the LORD would kindle against you and destroy you quickly.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
That they will not turn your children away from me and serve other gods and the wrath of LORD JEHOVAH would be hot upon you and he would destroy you quickly.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
For he will turn away thy son from following Me, that they may serve other gods; so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and He will destroy thee quickly.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
For he will draw away thy son from me, and he will serve other gods; and the Lord will be very angry with you, and will soon utterly destroy thee.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Casting out the Nations
3Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4because they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you. 5Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.…

Cross References
Exodus 34:16
And when you take some of their daughters as brides for your sons, their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to do the same.

Joshua 23:12-13
For if you turn away and cling to the rest of these nations that remain among you, and if you intermarry and associate with them, / know for sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become for you a snare and a trap, a scourge in your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that the LORD your God has given you.

Judges 2:12-13
Thus they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed after various gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down to them and provoked the LORD to anger, / for they forsook Him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

1 Kings 11:2-4
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. / He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines—and his wives turned his heart away. / For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.

Nehemiah 13:26-27
Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations, and he was loved by his God, who made him king over all Israel—yet foreign women drew him into sin. / Must we now hear that you too are doing all this terrible evil and acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?”

2 Corinthians 6:14-15
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? / What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

1 Corinthians 7:39
A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord.

1 Corinthians 10:20-21
No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons. / You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too.

2 Kings 17:15-17
They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate. / They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal. / They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire and practiced divination and soothsaying. They devoted themselves to doing evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

Ezra 9:12
Now, therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Never seek their peace or prosperity, so that you may be strong and may eat the good things of the land, leaving it as an inheritance to your sons forever.’

Malachi 2:11
Judah has broken faith; an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the LORD’s beloved sanctuary by marrying the daughter of a foreign god.

1 Corinthians 5:9-11
I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. / I was not including the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. / But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

2 Corinthians 11:3
I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.

1 John 5:21
Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

1 Timothy 4:1
Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,


Treasury of Scripture

For they will turn away your son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy you suddenly.

so will

Deuteronomy 6:15
(For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

Deuteronomy 32:16,17
They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger…

Exodus 20:5
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Jump to Previous
Anger Burn Burned Destroy Destroyed Hastily Kindled Lord's Moved Quickly Serve Served Suddenly Turn Turned Worship Wrath
Jump to Next
Anger Burn Burned Destroy Destroyed Hastily Kindled Lord's Moved Quickly Serve Served Suddenly Turn Turned Worship Wrath
Deuteronomy 7
1. All communion with the nations is forbidden
5. for fear of idolatry,
6. for the holiness of the people,
9. for the nature of God in his mercy and justice,
17. and for the assuredness of victory which God will give over them.














For they will turn your sons away
This phrase highlights the potential influence of foreign nations on the Israelites. The Hebrew root for "turn away" is "סוּר" (sur), which means to turn aside or depart. Historically, the Israelites were surrounded by nations with different religious practices, and God warned them of the spiritual dangers of intermingling. The phrase underscores the importance of maintaining a pure devotion to God, as external influences can lead to a departure from faith.

from following Me
The phrase "from following Me" emphasizes the personal relationship between God and His people. The Hebrew word for "following" is "אַחֲרֵי" (acharei), which implies a pursuit or a journey after someone. This reflects the covenantal relationship where the Israelites are called to walk in God's ways. The historical context shows that deviation from this path often led to spiritual and national decline.

to serve other gods
"To serve other gods" is a direct reference to idolatry, which was a constant temptation for Israel. The Hebrew word for "serve" is "עָבַד" (avad), meaning to work or worship. This phrase warns against the allure of pagan worship practices that were prevalent in the ancient Near East. Serving other gods was not just a religious act but a betrayal of the exclusive covenant with Yahweh.

Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you
This phrase conveys the seriousness of idolatry and its consequences. The Hebrew word for "anger" is "אַף" (aph), which can also mean nostril or face, symbolizing the intensity of God's wrath. The imagery of burning suggests a consuming, righteous indignation. Historically, this reflects the covenantal curses outlined in Deuteronomy, where disobedience leads to divine judgment.

and He will swiftly destroy you
The phrase "He will swiftly destroy you" serves as a stark warning of the consequences of turning away from God. The Hebrew root for "destroy" is "שָׁמַד" (shamad), meaning to annihilate or exterminate. The adverb "swiftly" indicates the immediacy and certainty of God's judgment. This reflects the historical reality that Israel's survival depended on their faithfulness to God, as seen in their eventual exile due to persistent idolatry.

Verse 4. - From following me; literally, from after me, i.e. from being my servant and worshipper. Suddenly; rather, speedily (מהֵר, infin., of מָהַר, to be quick, to hasten, used as an adverb).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
because
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

they will turn your sons
בִּנְךָ֙ (bin·ḵā)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 1121: A son

away
יָסִ֤יר (yā·sîr)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5493: To turn aside

from following Me
מֵֽאַחֲרַ֔י (mê·’a·ḥă·ray)
Preposition-m | first person common singular
Strong's 310: The hind or following part

to serve
וְעָבְד֖וּ (wə·‘ā·ḇə·ḏū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 5647: To work, to serve, till, enslave

other
אֲחֵרִ֑ים (’ă·ḥê·rîm)
Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 312: Hinder, next, other

gods.
אֱלֹהִ֣ים (’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

Then the anger
אַף־ (’ap̄-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 639: The nose, nostril, the face, a person, ire

of the LORD
יְהוָה֙ (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

will burn against you,
וְחָרָ֤ה (wə·ḥā·rāh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 2734: To glow, grow warm, to blaze up, of anger, zeal, jealousy

and He will swiftly
מַהֵֽר׃ (ma·hêr)
Adverb
Strong's 4118: Hastening, speedy, swift

destroy you.
וְהִשְׁמִידְךָ֖ (wə·hiš·mî·ḏə·ḵā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular | second person masculine singular
Strong's 8045: To be exterminated or destroyed


Links
Deuteronomy 7:4 NIV
Deuteronomy 7:4 NLT
Deuteronomy 7:4 ESV
Deuteronomy 7:4 NASB
Deuteronomy 7:4 KJV

Deuteronomy 7:4 BibleApps.com
Deuteronomy 7:4 Biblia Paralela
Deuteronomy 7:4 Chinese Bible
Deuteronomy 7:4 French Bible
Deuteronomy 7:4 Catholic Bible

OT Law: Deuteronomy 7:4 For he will turn away your son (Deut. De Du)
Deuteronomy 7:3
Top of Page
Top of Page