Deuteronomy 29:24-28

29:24 Then all the nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of anger ¹  all about?” 29:25 Then people will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 29:26 They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they did not know and that he did not permit them to worship. ²  29:27 That is why the Lord’s anger erupted against this land, bringing on it all the curses ³  written in this scroll. 29:28 So the Lord has uprooted them from their land in anger, wrath, and great rage and has deported them to another land, as is clear today.”

Deuteronomy 29:1

Narrative Interlude

29:1 (28:69) ⁴  These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb. ⁵ 

Deuteronomy 9:7

The History of Israel’s Stubbornness

9:7 Remember – don’t ever forget ⁶  – how you provoked the Lord your God in the desert; from the time you left the land of Egypt until you came to this place you were constantly rebelling against him. ⁷ 

Psalms 79:4

79:4 We have become an object of disdain to our neighbors;

those who live on our borders taunt and insult us. ⁸ 

Isaiah 26:9

26:9 I ⁹  look for ¹⁰  you during the night,

my spirit within me seeks you at dawn,

for when your judgments come upon the earth,

those who live in the world learn about justice. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 22:8-9

22:8 “‘People from other nations will pass by this city. They will ask one another, “Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?” 22:9 The answer will come back, “It is because they broke their covenant with the Lord their God and worshiped and served other gods.”

Jeremiah 22:1

22:1 The Lord told me, ¹²  “Go down ¹³  to the palace of the king of Judah. Give him a message from me there. ¹⁴ 

Colossians 1:11

1:11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of ¹⁵  all patience and steadfastness, joyfully

¹ tn Heb “this great burning of anger”; KJV “the heat of this great anger.”

² tn Heb “did not assign to them”; NASB, NRSV “had not allotted to them.”

³ tn Heb “the entire curse.”

⁴ sn Beginning with 29:1, the verse numbers through 29:29 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 29:1 ET = 28:69 HT, 29:2 ET = 29:1 HT, 29:3 ET = 29:2 HT, etc., through 29:29 ET = 29:28 HT. With 30:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

⁵ sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai (which some English versions substitute here for clarity, cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

⁶ tn By juxtaposing the positive זְכֹר (zekhor, “remember”) with the negative אַל־תִּשְׁכַּח (’al-tishÿkakh, “do not forget”), Moses makes a most emphatic plea.

⁷ tn Heb “the Lord” (likewise in the following verse with both “him” and “he”). See note on “he” in 9:3.

⁸ tn Heb “an [object of] taunting and [of] mockery to those around us.” See Ps 44:13.

⁹ tn Heb “with my soul I.” This is a figure for the speaker himself (“I”).

¹⁰ tn Or “long for, desire.” The speaker acknowledges that he is eager to see God come in judgment (see vv. 8, 9b).

¹¹ tn The translation understands צֶדֶק (tsedeq) in the sense of “justice,” but it is possible that it carries the nuance “righteousness,” in which case one might translate, “those who live in the world learn to live in a righteous manner” (cf. NCV).

¹² tn The word “me “ is not in the text. It is, however, implicit and is supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹³ sn The allusion here is to going down from the temple to the palace which was on a lower eminence. See 36:12 in its context.

¹⁴ tn Heb “And speak there this word:” The translation is intended to eliminate an awkward and lengthy sentence.

¹⁵ tn The expression “for the display of” is an attempt to convey in English the force of the Greek preposition εἰς (eis) in this context.