Deuteronomy 4:30-31

4:30 In your distress when all these things happen to you in the latter days, ¹  if you return to the Lord your God and obey him ²  4:31 (for he ³  is a merciful God), he will not let you down ⁴  or destroy you, for he cannot ⁵  forget the covenant with your ancestors that he confirmed by oath to them.

¹ sn The phrase is not used here in a technical sense for the eschaton, but rather refers to a future time when Israel will be punished for its sin and experience exile. See Deut 31:29.

² tn Heb “hear his voice.” The expression is an idiom meaning “obey,” occurring in Deut 8:20; 9:23; 13:18; 21:18, 20; 26:14, 17; 27:10; 28:1-2, 15, 45, 62; 30:2, 8, 10, 20.

³ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 4:3.

⁴ tn Heb “he will not drop you,” i.e., “will not abandon you” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

⁵ tn Or “will not.” The translation understands the imperfect verbal form to have an added nuance of capability here.