Deuteronomy 29:18

Easy-to-Read Version

Be sure that there is no man, woman, family or tribe here today who turns away from the Lord our God. No one should go and serve the gods of the other nations. People who do that are like a plant that grows bitter and poisonous fruit.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Be sure there is no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit.

Hebrew Names Version
lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from the LORD our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood;

King James Version
Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;

Lexham English Bible
so that there is not among you a man or a woman or a clan or a tribe whose heart turns today from being with Yahweh our God to go to serve the gods of these nations, so that there is not among you a root sprouting poison and wormwood.

English Standard Version
Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit,

New Century Version
Make sure no man, woman, family group, or tribe among you leaves the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. They would be to you like a plant that grows bitter, poisonous fruit.

New English Translation
Beware that the heart of no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you turns away from the Lord our God today to pursue and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit.

Amplified Bible
so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go and serve the [false] gods of these nations; so that there will not be among you a root [of idolatry] bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood (bitterness).

New American Standard Bible
so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; that there will not be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood.

Geneva Bible (1587)
That there should not be among you man nor woman, nor familie, nor tribe, which should turne his heart away this day from the Lorde our God, to goe and serue the gods of these nations, and that there shoulde not be among you any roote that bringeth forth gall & wormewood,

Legacy Standard Bible
lest there be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood.

Contemporary English Version
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.

Complete Jewish Bible
If there is such a person, when he hears the words of this curse, he will bless himself secretly, saying to himself, ‘I will be all right, even though I will stubbornly keep doing whatever I feel like doing; so that I, although "dry," [sinful,] will be added to the "watered" [righteous].'

Darby Translation
lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from Jehovah our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood,

George Lamsa Translation
Perhaps there is among you a man or woman or family or tribe whose heart turns away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; or perhaps there is among you a root that springs up and bears poison and wormwood;

Good News Translation
Make sure that no man, woman, family, or tribe standing here today turns from the Lord our God to worship the gods of other nations. This would be like a root that grows to be a bitter and poisonous plant.

Literal Translation
that there not be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away today from Jehovah our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you today a root that bears gall and wormwood;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Lest there be amoge you man or woman, or an housholde, or a trybe, which turneth awaye his hert this daye from the LORDE oure God, to go and to serue ye goddes of these nacions: and lest there be amonge you some rote, that beareth gall & wormwodd:

American Standard Version
lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from Jehovah our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;

Bible in Basic English
So that there may not be among you any man or woman or family or tribe whose heart is turned away from the Lord our God today, to go after other gods and give them worship; or any root among you whose fruit is poison and bitter sorrow;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Lest there be among you man or woman, kinrede or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lorde our God, to go and serue the gods of these nations: and lest there be among you some roote that beareth gall and wormewood.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
and it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying: 'I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart--that the watered be swept away with the dry';

King James Version (1611)
Lest there should be among you man or woman, or familie, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day fro the Lord our God, to goe and serue the gods of these nations: lest there should bee among you a root that beareth gall and wormewood,

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Lest there be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart has turned aside from the Lord your God, having gone to serve the gods of these nations; lest there be in you a root springing up with gall and bitterness.

English Revised Version
lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;

Berean Standard Bible
Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure there is no root among you that bears such poisonous and bitter fruit,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Lest perauenture among you be man ether womman, meyne ether lynage, whos herte is turned away to dai fro youre Lord God, that he go, and serue the goddis of tho folkis; and a roote buriounnynge galle and bitternesse be among you;

Young's Literal Translation
lest there be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart is turning to-day from Jehovah our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations, lest there be in you a root fruitful of gall and wormwood:

Update Bible Version
or else if there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; and if there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood;

Webster's Bible Translation
Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go [and] serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;

World English Bible
lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood;

New King James Version
so that there may not be among you man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations, and that there may not be among you a root bearing bitterness or wormwood;

New Living Translation
I am making this covenant with you so that no one among you—no man, woman, clan, or tribe—will turn away from the Lord our God to worship these gods of other nations, and so that no root among you bears bitter and poisonous fruit.

New Life Bible
Be careful not to have any man or woman or family or group among you whose heart turns away from the Lord our God today to go and worship the gods of those nations. Do not let there be a root among you giving poison fruit and bad-tasting plants.

New Revised Standard
It may be that there is among you a man or woman, or a family or tribe, whose heart is already turning away from the Lord our God to serve the gods of those nations. It may be that there is among you a root sprouting poisonous and bitter growth.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Lest there be among you - a man or a woman or a family or a tribe, whose heart is turning to-day, from Yahweh our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations, - lest there be among you a root fruitful of poison and wormwood;

Douay-Rheims Bible
Lest perhaps there should be among you a man or a woman, a family or a tribe, whose heart is turned away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations: and there should be among you a root bringing forth gall and bitterness.

Revised Standard Version
Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from the LORD our God to go and serve the gods of those nations; lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations; that there will not be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood.

Contextual Overview

¹⁰ "Today all of you are standing here before the Lord your God. Your leaders, your officials, your elders, and all the other men are here. ¹¹ Your wives and children are here and also the foreigners living among you—the people who cut your wood and bring you water. ¹² You are all here to enter into an agreement with the Lord your God. The Lord your God is making this agreement with you today. ¹³ With this agreement he is making you his own special people, and he himself will become your God. He told you this. He promised this to your ancestors—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ¹⁴ The Lord is making this agreement with its promises with you people, but not only with you. ¹⁵ Yes, he is making this agreement with all of you who stand here with us today before the Lord our God. But this agreement is also for our descendants who are not here with us today. ¹⁶ You remember how we lived in the land of Egypt. And you remember how we traveled through the countries that were on our way here. ¹⁷ You saw their hated things—the idols they had made from wood, stone, silver, and gold. ¹⁸ Be sure that there is no man, woman, family or tribe here today who turns away from the Lord our God. No one should go and serve the gods of the other nations. People who do that are like a plant that grows bitter and poisonous fruit. ¹⁹ "Some people might hear these curses and comfort themselves by saying, ‘I will continue doing what I want. Nothing bad will happen to me.' But that attitude will bring total disaster.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

among you man: Deuteronomy 11:16, Deuteronomy 11:17, Deuteronomy 13:1-15, Deuteronomy 17:2-7, Hebrews 3:12

among you a root: Jeremiah 9:15, Hosea 10:4, Amos 6:12, Acts 8:23, Hebrews 12:15

gall and wormwood: or, a poisonful herb, Heb. rosh

Reciprocal: Numbers 5:18 - the bitter water Deuteronomy 30:1 - the blessing Deuteronomy 30:17 - if thine Deuteronomy 31:29 - and evil Deuteronomy 32:32 - their grapes Joshua 24:15 - or the gods Judges 2:12 - forsook 2 Kings 22:16 - all the words 2 Chronicles 15:13 - whether small 2 Chronicles 34:21 - great 2 Chronicles 36:17 - who slew Psalms 69:24 - Pour Proverbs 14:34 - but Isaiah 34:5 - the people Jeremiah 26:4 - If Jeremiah 28:8 - prophesied Jeremiah 36:7 - for Lamentations 1:5 - for Lamentations 2:17 - done Ezekiel 33:26 - and shall Daniel 9:27 - that determined Amos 5:7 - turn Revelation 8:11 - Wormwood

Cross-References

Genesis 29:16
Now Laban had two daughters. The older was Leah and the younger was Rachel.

Genesis 29:17
Leah's eyes were gentle, but Rachel was beautiful.

Genesis 29:20
So Jacob stayed and worked for Laban for seven years. But it seemed like a very short time because he loved Rachel very much.

Genesis 29:30
So Jacob had sexual relations with Rachel also. And Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. Jacob worked for Laban for another seven years.

Genesis 31:41
I worked 20 years like a slave for you. For the first 14 years I worked to win your two daughters. The last six years I worked to earn your animals. And during that time you changed my pay ten times.

Genesis 34:12
I will give you any gift you want if you will only allow me to marry Dinah. I will give you anything you ask, but let me marry her."

2 Samuel 3:14
David sent messengers to Saul's son Ish Bosheth. David said, "Give me my wife Michal. She was promised to me. I killed 100 Philistines to get her."

Hosea 3:2
So I bought Gomer back for 6 ounces of silver and 9 bushels of barley.

Hosea 12:12
"Jacob ran away to the land of Aram. There Israel worked for a wife. He kept sheep to get another wife.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Lest there should be among you man or woman, or family, or tribe,.... These words stand in connection with Deuteronomy 29:15, with

Deuteronomy 29:16 being in a parenthesis, as may be observed, and show the design of this solemn appearance of the people, and their entering afresh into covenant; which was to prevent their falling into idolatry, and preserve them from it, whether a single person of either sex, or a whole family, or even a tribe, which might be in danger of being infected with it, and so all the people:

whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go [and] serve the gods of those nations; whose heart is enticed and drawn aside at the remembrance of the idols he has seen worshipped by others; and is looking off from the Lord God, his faith in him being weakened, his fear of him removed, and his affections for him lessened; and is looking towards the idols of the nations, with a hankering mind to serve and worship them:

lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood: the word "rosh", which we render "gall", signifies, according to Jarchi, a bitter herb, which better suits with a root than gall, and is elsewhere by us rendered "hemlock", Hosea 10:4; and is by him very rightly interpreted of a wicked man among them; for not a principle of immorality, or heresy, rooted in the mind, productive of bitter fruits, or evil actions, is meant; but a bad man, particularly an idolater, who is rooted in idolatry, and is guilty of and commits abominable actions; the issue of which will be bitterness and death, if not recovered; which agrees with what the apostle says, Hebrews 12:15; who manifestly alludes to this passage; see the Apocrypha:

"In those days went there out of Israel wicked men, who persuaded many, saying, Let us go and make a covenant with the heathen that are round about us: for since we departed from them we have had much sorrow.'' (1 Maccabees 1:11)

and is confirmed by what follows.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The word here and in Deuteronomy 32:32 rendered “gall,” is in Hosea 10:4 translated “hemlock.” It is the name of a plant of intense bitterness, and of quick growth; and is therefore repeatedly used in conjunction with “wormwood” (compare Jeremiah 9:15; Lamentations 3:19; Amos 6:12), to express figuratively the nature and effects of sin (compare the marginal references.). The herb is probably the poppy. Hence, the “water” (i. e. juice) “of gall” Jeremiah 8:14; Jeremiah 23:15 would be opium. This would explain its employment in the stupefying drink given to criminals at the time of execution (compare Psalms 69:21; Matthew 27:34), and the use of the word as synonymous with poison (compare Deuteronomy 32:33; Job 20:16).

Wormwood - is the plant “absinthium.” It is used to denote metaphorically the distress and trouble which result from sin.

“The root that beareth gall and wormwood,” means in this place any person lurking among them who is tainted with apostasy.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Deuteronomy 29:18. A root that beareth gall and wormwood — That is, as the apostle expresses it, Hebrews 3:12, An evil heart of unbelief departing from the living God; for to this place he evidently refers. It may also signify false doctrines, or idolatrous persons among themselves.