Deuteronomy 29:4

Contemporary English Version

He has even told you, "For forty years I, the Lord , led you through the desert, but your clothes and your sandals didn't wear out, and I gave you special food. I did these things so you would realize that I am your God." But the Lord must give you a change of heart before you truly understand what you have seen and heard.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a mind to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.

Hebrew Names Version
but the LORD has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day.

King James Version
Yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

Lexham English Bible
But Yahweh has not given to you a heart to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear, even to this day.

English Standard Version
But to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.

New Century Version
But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands; you don't really understand what you see with your eyes or hear with your ears.

New English Translation
But to this very day the Lord has not given you an understanding mind, perceptive eyes, or discerning ears!

Amplified Bible
"Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a heart and mind to understand, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.

New American Standard Bible
"Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Yet the Lord hath not giuen you an heart to perceiue, and eyes to see, & eares to heare, vnto this day.

Legacy Standard Bible
Yet to this day Yahweh has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.

Complete Jewish Bible
I led you forty years in the desert. Neither the clothes on your body nor the shoes on your feet wore out.

Darby Translation
But Jehovah hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day.

Easy-to-Read Version
But even today, you still don't understand what happened. The Lord has not let you really understand what you saw and heard.

George Lamsa Translation
Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand and eyes to see and ears to hear.

Good News Translation
But to this very day he has not let you understand what you have experienced.

Literal Translation
Yet Jehovah has not given to you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, until this day.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And yet vnto this daye hath not the LORDE geuen you an hert that vnderstondeth, eyes that se, & eares that heare.

American Standard Version
but Jehovah hath not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

Bible in Basic English
But even to this day the Lord has not given you a mind open to knowledge, or seeing eyes or hearing ears.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And yet the Lorde hath not geuen you an heart to perceaue, and eyes to see, and eares to heare, vnto this day.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.

King James Version (1611)
Yet the Lord hath not giuen you an heart to perceiue, and eyes to see, and eares to heare, vnto this day.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Yet the Lord God has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, until this day.

English Revised Version
but the LORD hath not given you an heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

Berean Standard Bible
Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a mind to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the Lord yaf not to you an herte vndurstondynge, and iyen seynge, and eeris that moun here, til in to present dai.

Young's Literal Translation
and Jehovah hath not given to you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, till this day,

Update Bible Version
but Yahweh has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day.

Webster's Bible Translation
Yet the LORD hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day.

World English Bible
but Yahweh has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day.

New King James Version
Yet the LORD has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day.

New Living Translation
But to this day the Lord has not given you minds that understand, nor eyes that see, nor ears that hear!

New Life Bible
Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to know, or eyes to see, or ears to hear.

New Revised Standard
But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
yet hath Yahweh not given onto you a heart to know, or eyes to see or ears to hear, - until this day.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Lord hath not given you a heart to understand, and eyes to see, and ears that may hear, unto this present day.

Revised Standard Version
but to this day the LORD has not given you a mind to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.

Contextual Overview

¹ So Moses finished telling the Israelites what they had to do in order to keep the agreement the Lord was making with them in Moab, which was in addition to the one the Lord had made with them at Mount Sinai. Moses called the nation of Israel together and told them: When you were in Egypt, you saw the Lord perform great miracles that caused trouble for the king, his officials, and everyone else in the country. He has even told you, "For forty years I, the Lord , led you through the desert, but your clothes and your sandals didn't wear out, and I gave you special food. I did these things so you would realize that I am your God." But the Lord must give you a change of heart before you truly understand what you have seen and heard. When we first camped here, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan attacked, but we defeated them. Then we captured their land and divided it among the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh. Moses said: Israel, the Lord has made an agreement with you, and if you keep your part, you will be successful in everything you do. Today everyone in our nation is standing here in the Lord 's presence, including leaders and officials, parents and children, and even those foreigners who cut wood and carry water for us. We are at this place of worship to promise that we will keep our part of the agreement with the Lord our God. In this agreement, the Lord promised that you would be his people and that he would be your God. He first made this promise to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and today the Lord is making this same promise to you. But it isn't just for you; it is also for your descendants. When we lived in Egypt, you saw the Egyptians worship disgusting idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold. Then as we traveled through other nations, you saw those people worship other disgusting idols. So make sure that everyone in your tribe remains faithful to the Lord and never starts worshiping gods of other nations. If even one of you worships idols, you will be like the root of a plant that produces bitter, poisonous fruit. You may be an Israelite and know all about the Lord 's agreement with us, but he won't bless you if you rebel against him. You may think you can get away with it, but you will cause the rest of Israel to be punished along with you. The Lord will be furious, and instead of forgiving you, he will separate you from the other tribes. Then he will destroy you, by piling on you all the curses in The Book of God's Law, and you will be forgotten forever. The Lord will strike your country with diseases and disasters. Your descendants and foreigners from distant countries will see that your land has become a scorching desert of salt and sulfur, where nothing is planted, nothing sprouts, and nothing grows. It will be as lifeless as the land around the cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, after the Lord became angry and destroyed them. People from other nations will ask, "Why did the Lord destroy this country? Why was he so furious?" And they will be given this answer: Our ancestors worshiped the Lord , but after he brought them out of Egypt and made an agreement with them, they rejected the agreement and decided to worship gods that had never helped them. The Lord had forbidden Israel to worship these gods, and so he became furious and punished the land with all the curses in The Book of God's Law. Then he pulled up Israel by the roots and tossed them into a foreign country, where they still are today. The Lord our God hasn't explained the present or the future, but he has commanded us to obey the laws he gave to us and our descendants. ²So Moses finished telling the Israelites what they had to do in order to keep the agreement the Lord was making with them in Moab, which was in addition to the one the Lord had made with them at Mount Sinai. Moses called the nation of Israel together and told them: When you were in Egypt, you saw the Lord perform great miracles that caused trouble for the king, his officials, and everyone else in the country. ⁴He has even told you, "For forty years I, the Lord , led you through the desert, but your clothes and your sandals didn't wear out, and I gave you special food. I did these things so you would realize that I am your God." But the Lord must give you a change of heart before you truly understand what you have seen and heard. ⁷ When we first camped here, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan attacked, but we defeated them. ⁸ Then we captured their land and divided it among the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh. ⁹ Moses said: Israel, the Lord has made an agreement with you, and if you keep your part, you will be successful in everything you do.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Deuteronomy 2:30, Proverbs 20:12, Isaiah 6:9, Isaiah 6:10, Isaiah 63:17, Ezekiel 36:26, Matthew 13:11-15, John 8:43, John 12:38-40, Acts 28:26, Acts 28:27, Romans 11:7-10, 2 Corinthians 3:15, Ephesians 4:18, 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12, 2 Timothy 2:25, James 1:13-17

Reciprocal: 2 Chronicles 20:33 - had not Psalms 106:7 - Our Psalms 141:4 - Incline not Isaiah 29:18 - the deaf Jeremiah 5:21 - O foolish Jeremiah 6:10 - their ear Ezekiel 12:2 - which Daniel 9:13 - that we Matthew 13:13 - General Mark 4:12 - That seeing Mark 8:18 - see Luke 8:10 - that seeing John 3:3 - he cannot John 12:40 - that they Romans 11:8 - eyes 2 Timothy 3:7 - learning

Cross-References

Genesis 11:31
Terah decided to move from Ur to the land of Canaan. He took along Abram and Sarai and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran. But when they came to the city of Haran, they decided to settle there instead.

Genesis 24:10
Soon after that, the servant loaded ten of Abraham's camels with valuable gifts. Then he set out for the city in northern Syria, where Abraham's brother Nahor lived.

Genesis 27:43
Now listen carefully and do what I say. Go to the home of my brother Laban in Haran

Genesis 28:10
Jacob left the town of Beersheba and started out for Haran.

Acts 7:2
Stephen answered: Friends, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he had moved to Haran.

Acts 7:4
Then Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, Abraham came and settled in this land where you now live.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive,.... They had some of them seen the above miracles with their bodily eyes, but had not discerned with the eyes of their understanding the power of God displayed in them, the goodness of God to them on whose behalf they were wrought, in order to obtain their deliverance, and the vengeance of God on the Egyptians for detaining them; so Jarchi interprets it of an heart to know the mercies of the Lord, and to cleave unto him:

and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day; to see and observe the gracious dealings of God with them, and to hearken to his voice and obey it: so the understanding heart, the seeing eye, and hearing ear, in things spiritual, are from the Lord, are special gifts of his grace, which he bestows on some, and not on others; see Proverbs 20:12. The Targum of Jonathan is,

"the Word of the Lord did not give you an heart, &c.''

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Ability to understand the things of God is the gift of God (compare 1 Corinthians 2:13-14); yet man is not guiltless if he lacks that ability. The people had it not because they had not felt their want of it, nor asked for it. Compare 2 Corinthians 3:14-15.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Deuteronomy 29:4. The Lord hath not given you a heart, c. — Some critics read this verse interrogatively: And hath not God given you a heart, c.? because they suppose that God could not reprehend them for the non-performance of a duty, when he had neither given them a mind to perceive the obligation of it, nor strength to perform it, had that obligation been known. Though this is strictly just, yet there is no need for the interrogation, as the words only imply that they had not such a heart, &c., not because God had not given them all the means of knowledge, and helps of his grace and Spirit, which were necessary but they had not made a faithful use of their advantages, and therefore they had not that wise, loving, and obedient heart which they otherwise might have had. If they had had such a heart, it would have been God's gift, for he is the author of all good and that they had not such a heart was a proof that they had grieved his Spirit, and abused the grace which he had afforded them to produce that gracious change, the want of which is here deplored. Hence God himself is represented as grieved because they were unchanged and disobedient: "O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them and with their children for ever!" See Deuteronomy 5:29, and the note there.