Deuteronomy 4:26

English Standard Version

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
I call heaven and eretz to witness against you this day, that you shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto you go over the Yarden to possess it; you shall not prolong your days on it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

King James Version
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

Lexham English Bible
I call to witness against you today the heaven and the earth, that you will perish soon and completely from the land that you are crossing the Jordan into it to take possession of it; you will not live long on it, but you will be completely destroyed.

New Century Version
If you do, I ask heaven and earth to speak against you this day that you will quickly be removed from this land that you are crossing the Jordan River to take. You will not live there long after that, but you will be completely destroyed.

New English Translation
I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that you will surely and swiftly be removed from the very land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there because you will surely be annihilated.

Amplified Bible
I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You shall not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed.

New American Standard Bible
I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that you will certainly perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to take possession of it. You will not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed.

Geneva Bible (1587)
I call heauen and earth to record against you this day, that ye shall shortly perish from the land, whereunto ye goe ouer Iorden to possesse it: ye shall not prolong your dayes therein, but shall vtterly be destroyed.

Legacy Standard Bible
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not prolong your days on it, but will be utterly destroyed.

Complete Jewish Bible
I call on the sky and the earth to witness against you today that you will quickly disappear from the land that you are crossing the Yarden to possess. You will not prolong your days there but will be completely destroyed.

Darby Translation
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye pass over the Jordan to possess it: ye shall not prolong your days on it, but shall be utterly destroyed.

Easy-to-Read Version
So I am warning you now. Heaven and earth are my witnesses! If you do such an evil thing, you will quickly be destroyed! You are crossing the Jordan River now to take that land. But if you make any idols, you will not live there very long. No, you will be destroyed completely!

George Lamsa Translation
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you shall soon utterly perish from off the land which you are going across the Jordan to possess; you shall not live long upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

Good News Translation
I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that, if you disobey me, you will soon disappear from the land. You will not live very long in the land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy. You will be completely destroyed.

Christian Standard Bible®
I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that you will quickly perish from the land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not live long there, but you will certainly be destroyed.

Literal Translation
I call the heavens and the earth to witness against you today that you shall soon utterly perish from off the land to which you go over the Jordan to possess it; you shall not prolong your days on it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
I call heauen and earth to recorde ouer you this daie, that ye shall shortly perishe fro the londe, in to ye which ye go ouer Iordane to possesse it. Ye shal not dwell longe therin, but shal vtterly be destroyed.

American Standard Version
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over the Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

Bible in Basic English
May heaven and earth be my witnesses against you today, that destruction will quickly overtake you, cutting you off from that land which you are going over Jordan to take; your days will not be long in that land, but you will come to a complete end.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
I call heauen and earth to recorde agaynst you this day, that ye shall shortly perishe from of ye lande whervnto you go ouer Iordane to possesse it: Ye shall not prolong your dayes therin, but shall vtterly be destroyed:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over the Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

King James Version (1611)
I call heauen and earth to witnesse against you this day, that ye shall soone vtterly perish from off the land whereunto you goe ouer Iordan, to possesse it: yee shall not prolong your dayes vpon it, but shall vtterly bee destroyed.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
I call heaven and earth this day to witness against you, that ye shall surely perish from off the land, into which ye go across Jordan to inherit it there; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall be utterly cut off.

English Revised Version
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

Berean Standard Bible
I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Y clepe witnesses to dai heuene and erthe, `that is, ech resonable creature beynge in heuene and in erthe, that ye schulen perische soone fro the lond, which ye schulen welde, whanne ye han passid Jordan; ye schulen not dwelle long tyme therynne, but the Lord schal do awey you,

Young's Literal Translation
I have caused to testify against you this day the heavens and the earth, that ye do perish utterly hastily from off the land whither ye are passing over the Jordan to possess it; ye do not prolong days upon it, but are utterly destroyed;

Update Bible Version
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you shall soon completely perish from off the land to where you go over the Jordan to possess it; you shall not prolong your days on it, but shall be completely destroyed.

Webster's Bible Translation
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from the land to which ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong [your] days upon it, but shall be utterly destroyed.

World English Bible
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto you go over the Jordan to possess it; you shall not prolong your days on it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

New King James Version
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed.

New Living Translation
"Today I call on heaven and earth as witnesses against you. If you break my covenant, you will quickly disappear from the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. You will live there only a short time; then you will be utterly destroyed.

New Life Bible
I call heaven and earth to speak against you this day. You will soon be destroyed from the land you are crossing the Jordan to have for your own. You will not live long on it, but will all be destroyed.

New Revised Standard
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to occupy; you will not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
I take both the heavens and the earth to witness against you to-day, that ye shall, perish, speed, from off the land which ye are passing over the Jordan to possess, - ye shall not prolong your days thereupon; for, ye shall surely be laid waste;

Douay-Rheims Bible
I call this day heaven and earth to witness, that you shall quickly perish out of the land, which, when you have passed over the Jordan, you shall possess. You shall not dwell therein long, but the Lord will destroy you,

Revised Standard Version
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you are going over the Jordan to possess; you will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed.

Contextual Overview

¹ "And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord , the God of your fathers, is giving you. ² You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. ³ Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. ⁴ But you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today. ⁵ See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. ⁶ Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' ⁷ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? ⁸ And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today? ⁹ "Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children— ¹⁰ how on the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.'

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I call heaven: A most solemn method of adjuration, in use among all the nations in the world; God and man being called upon to bear testimony to the truth of what was spoken, that if there was any flaw or insincerity it might be detected, and if any crime, it might not go unpunished. Such appeals to God shew at once the origin and use of oaths. Deuteronomy 30:18, Deuteronomy 30:19, Deuteronomy 31:28, Deuteronomy 32:1, Isaiah 1:2, Jeremiah 2:12, Jeremiah 6:19, Jeremiah 22:29, Ezekiel 36:4, Micah 1:2, Micah 6:2

ye shall: Deuteronomy 29:28, Leviticus 18:28, Leviticus 26:31-35, Joshua 23:16, Isaiah 6:11, Isaiah 24:1-3, Jeremiah 44:22, Ezekiel 33:28, Luke 21:24

Reciprocal: Exodus 20:12 - that thy Deuteronomy 8:19 - I testify against Deuteronomy 11:17 - ye perish Deuteronomy 28:20 - until thou be Joshua 23:13 - until ye perish Joshua 24:27 - General 1 Kings 8:46 - unto the land 1 Kings 9:7 - will I cut 1 Kings 14:15 - this good land 2 Kings 15:29 - carried them 2 Kings 17:13 - all 2 Kings 21:14 - deliver 2 Kings 24:3 - remove them 2 Kings 25:21 - So Judah 1 Chronicles 28:8 - in the audience 2 Chronicles 6:36 - thou be angry Nehemiah 9:29 - testifiedst Psalms 106:27 - to scatter Isaiah 34:1 - let the Jeremiah 16:13 - will I Jeremiah 17:4 - shalt Jeremiah 28:8 - prophesied Jeremiah 32:24 - what Jeremiah 52:27 - Thus Ezekiel 33:26 - and shall Daniel 9:27 - that determined Hosea 9:3 - shall not Micah 2:10 - and Micah 6:1 - contend Mark 12:9 - he will

Cross-References

Genesis 4:14
Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."

Genesis 4:15
Then the Lord said to him, "Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.

Genesis 4:17
Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch.

Genesis 4:18
To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech.

Genesis 12:8
From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord .

Genesis 26:25
So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants dug a well.

1 Kings 18:24
And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord , and the God who answers by fire, he is God." And all the people answered, "It is well spoken."

Psalms 116:17
I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord .

Isaiah 44:5
This one will say, ‘I am the Lord 's,' another will call on the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord 's,' and name himself by the name of Israel."

Isaiah 48:1
Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who came from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the Lord and confess the God of Israel, but not in truth or right.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day,.... Should they be guilty of such a sin, since they were so strongly and publicly cautioned against it; and even the heaven and the earth were called upon as witnesses of the law being set before them, which so expressly forbids it, Deuteronomy 30:19

that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto you go over Jordan to possess it; though they were now about to go over Jordan and inherit the land of Canaan, yet they would not enjoy it long, but be taken and carried captive out of it; as the ten tribes were by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, and the two tribes by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and both for their idolatry and other crimes.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Compare with these verses Leviticus 26:33-40, and Deuteronomy 28:64 ff.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Deuteronomy 4:26. I call heaven and earth to witness against you — A most solemn method of adjuration, in use among all nations in the world. So Virgil, AEn., lib. xii., ver. 176, c.

Tum pius AEneas stricto sic ense precatur:

Esto nunc Sol testis et haec mihi terra vocanti -

Fontesque fluviosque voco, quaeque aetheris alti

Relllgio, et quae caeruleo sunt numina ponto, &c.

"Then the great Trojan prince unsheathed his sword,

And thus, with lifted hands, the gods adored:

Thou land for which I wage this war, and thou

Great source of day, be witness to my vow! -

Almighty king of heaven and queen of air,

Propitious now and reconciled by prayer, -

Ye springs, ye floods, ye various powers who lie

Beneath the deep, or tread the golden sky, -

HEAR and ATTEST!" PITT.

God and man being called upon to bear testimony to the truth of what was spoken, that if there was any flaw or insincerity, it might be detected and if any crime, it might not go unpunished. Such appeals to God, for such purposes, show at once both the origin and use of oaths. Deuteronomy 6:13.