Deuteronomy 29:19
New International Version
When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessing on themselves, thinking, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,” they will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.

New Living Translation
“Those who hear the warnings of this curse should not congratulate themselves, thinking, ‘I am safe, even though I am following the desires of my own stubborn heart.’ This would lead to utter ruin!

English Standard Version
one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’ This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike.

Berean Standard Bible
because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.

King James Bible
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 imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:

New King James Version
and so it may not happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace, even though I follow the dictates of my heart’—as though the drunkard could be included with the sober.

New American Standard Bible
And it shall be when he hears the words of this curse, that he will consider himself fortunate in his heart, saying, ‘I will do well though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart in order to destroy the watered land along with the dry.’

NASB 1995
“It shall be when he hears the words of this curse, that he will boast, saying, ‘I have peace though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart in order to destroy the watered land with the dry.’

NASB 1977
“And it shall be when he hears the words of this curse, that he will boast, saying, ‘I have peace though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart in order to destroy the watered land with the dry.’

Legacy Standard Bible
And it will be when he hears the words of this curse, that he will bless himself in his heart, saying, ‘I have peace though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart in order to sweep away the watered land with the dry.’

Amplified Bible
It will happen that when he (a renegade) hears the words of this oath, and he imagines himself as blessed, saying, ‘I will have peace and safety even though I walk within the stubbornness of my heart [rejecting God and His law], in order that the watered land dwindles away along with the dry [destroying everything],’

Christian Standard Bible
When someone hears the words of this oath, he may consider himself exempt, thinking, ‘I will have peace even though I follow my own stubborn heart.’ This will lead to the destruction of the well-watered land as well as the dry land.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
When someone hears the words of this oath, he may consider himself exempt, thinking, ‘I will have peace even though I follow my own stubborn heart.’ This will lead to the destruction of the well-watered land as well as the dry land.

American Standard Version
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, to destroy the moist with the dry.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And when he hears the word of this oath, he will reason in his heart and will say, “I shall have peace; in the desire of my heart I shall go that I may add drunkenness to thirst”;

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And it shall be if one shall hear the words of this curse, and shall flatter himself in his heart, saying, Let good happen to me, for I will walk in the error of my heart, lest the sinner destroy the guiltless with him:

Contemporary English Version
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.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And when he shall hear the words of this oath, he should bless himself in his heart saying: I shall have peace, and will walk on in the naughtiness of my heart: and the drunken may consume the thirsty,

English Revised Version
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 mine heart, to destroy the moist with the dry:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Someone may hear the conditions of this promise. He may think that he is so blessed that he can say, "I'll be safe even if I go my own stubborn way. After all, [the LORD would never] sweep away well-watered ground along with dry ground."

Good News Translation
Make sure that there is no one here today who hears these solemn demands and yet convinces himself that all will be well with him, even if he stubbornly goes his own way. That would destroy all of you, good and evil alike.

International Standard Version
because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he will bless himself and say: 'I will have a peaceful life, even though I'm determined to be stubborn.' By doing this he will be sweeping away both watered and parched ground alike.'

JPS Tanakh 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';

Literal Standard Version
and it has been, in his hearing the words of this oath, that he has blessed himself in his heart, saying, I have peace, though I go on in the stubbornness of my heart—in order to sweep away the watered with the thirsty.

Majority Standard Bible
because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.

New American Bible
if any such persons, after hearing the words of this curse, should congratulate themselves, saying in their hearts, “I am safe, even though I walk in stubbornness of heart,” thereby sweeping away moist and dry alike,

NET Bible
When such a person hears the words of this oath he secretly blesses himself and says, "I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit." This will destroy the watered ground with the parched.

New Revised Standard Version
All who hear the words of this oath and bless themselves, thinking in their hearts, “We are safe even though we go our own stubborn ways” (thus bringing disaster on moist and dry alike) —

New Heart English Bible
and it happen, when he hears 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, to destroy the moist with the dry."

Webster's Bible Translation
And it should come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he should bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:

World English Bible
and it happen, when he hears 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,” to destroy the moist with the dry.

Young's Literal Translation
'And it hath been, in his hearing the words of this oath, and he hath blessed himself in his heart, saying, I have peace, though in the stubbornness of my heart I go on, in order to end the fulness with the thirst.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Covenant in Moab
18Make 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, 19 because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. 20The LORD will never be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse written in this book will fall upon him. The LORD will blot out his name from under heaven…

Cross References
Deuteronomy 29:18
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,

Deuteronomy 29:20
The LORD will never be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse written in this book will fall upon him. The LORD will blot out his name from under heaven

Psalm 36:2
For his eyes are too full of conceit to detect or hate his own sin.

Psalm 49:18
Though in his lifetime he blesses his soul--and men praise you when you prosper--

Jeremiah 7:24
Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.

Jeremiah 18:12
But they will reply, 'It is hopeless. We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.'"

Jeremiah 36:29
You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah that this is what the LORD says: You have burned the scroll and said, 'Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon would surely come and destroy this land and deprive it of man and beast?'


Treasury of Scripture

And it come to pass, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:

this curse

Deuteronomy 29:12
That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the LORD thy God, and into his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day:

Genesis 2:17
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

that he bless

Deuteronomy 17:2
If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant,

Numbers 15:30,39
But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people…

Psalm 10:4-6,11
The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts…

though I walk

Numbers 15:30
But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

Ecclesiastes 11:9
Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

Romans 1:21
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

imagination.

Jeremiah 3:17
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.

Jeremiah 7:24
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

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Deuteronomy 29
1. Moses exhorts them to obedience, reminding of the works they had seen
10. All are presented before the Lord to enter into his covenant
18. The great wrath on him who flatters himself in his wickedness
29. Secret things belong unto God














(19) The imagination.--Rather the "stubbornness" or "obstinacy." The word is only found here and in Psalm 81:12 outside the writings of Jeremiah, who uses it eight times.

To add drunkenness to thirst--i.e., the indulgence of the desire to the desire itself; to add sin to temptation. The LXX. have a strange paraphrase, "So that the sinner shall not involve the righteous with him in destruction." The thought seems to be that, perhaps, one idolater would not make so much difference to Israel. He would never involve the whole nation in destruction. The drunkard could not be the ruin of the thirsty, so to speak, and, therefore, he might do as he pleased, and might, in fact, escape punishment, being protected by the general prosperity of Israel. The quotation in the Epistle to the Hebrews meets this mistaken view admirably: "Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled." The Targums render "to add sins of infirmity to sins of presumption," a rendering which partly explains that of the LXX.

Verse 19. - That he bless himself in his heart; - congratulate himself - saying, I shall have peace - i.e., all shall be well with me - though - rather, for - I walk in the imagination of mine heart; literally, in the firmness or hardness of my heart, (שְׁרִירוּת, from שָׁרַר, to twist together, to be tough or firm); the word is always used in a bad sense in Hebrew, though not in Aramaic (cf. Psalm 81:13 [12]; Jeremiah 3:17; Jeremiah 7:24; Jeremiah 9:13 [14]; 11:8). To add drunkenness to thirst; a proverbial expression, of which very different explanations have been given. It is now generally admitted that the verb (סְפות) cannot be taken here in the sense of "add," but has its proper sense of pouring out, pouring away, destroying. The word rendered "drunkenness" (רָוֶת, from רָוָה, to be sated with moisture, to be drenched) means rather "sated, drenched, well-watered;" and the word rendered "thirst" (צְמֵאָה, from צָמֵא, to thirst) is properly thirsty, and is used of dry land (Isaiah 44:3); both are adjectives, and a substantive is to be supplied. Some supply נֶפֶשׁ, soul or person; others, אֶרֶץ, land. The former render, "The full [soul] with the thirsty" (Gesenius); or, "Them that are sated with them that are thirsty," i.e. as well those who have imbibed the poison as those who thirst for it (Knobel); or "That the sated [soul] may destroy the thirsty," i.e. that the impious one, restrained by no law and, as it were, drunk with crime, may corrupt others, also prone to evil, and bring on them destruction (Maurer). Those who supply "land," render "To destroy the well-watered [land] with the dry." This last seems the preferable rendering; but the general meaning is the same in either case, viz. that the effect of such hardness of heart would be to destroy one and all. "The Orientals are fond of such bipartite forms of expressing the whole (cf. Gesenius, 'Thes.,' p. 1008)" (Knobel; cf. Deuteronomy 32:36).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
because when such a person hears
בְּשָׁמְעוֹ֩ (bə·šā·mə·‘ōw)
Preposition-b | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 8085: To hear intelligently

the words
דִּבְרֵ֨י (diḇ·rê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1697: A word, a matter, thing, a cause

of this
הַזֹּ֗את (haz·zōṯ)
Article | Pronoun - feminine singular
Strong's 2063: Hereby in it, likewise, the one other, same, she, so much, such deed, that,

oath,
הָֽאָלָ֜ה (hā·’ā·lāh)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 423: An imprecation

he may invoke a blessing
וְהִתְבָּרֵ֨ךְ (wə·hiṯ·bā·rêḵ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hitpael - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1288: To kneel, to bless God, man, to curse

on himself,
בִּלְבָב֤וֹ (bil·ḇā·ḇōw)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3824: Inner man, mind, will, heart

saying,
לֵאמֹר֙ (lê·mōr)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 559: To utter, say

‘I will have
וְהָיָ֡ה (wə·hā·yāh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

peace,
שָׁל֣וֹם (šā·lō·wm)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7965: Safe, well, happy, friendly, welfare, health, prosperity, peace

even though
כִּ֛י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

I walk
אֵלֵ֑ךְ (’ê·lêḵ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

in the stubbornness
בִּשְׁרִר֥וּת (biš·ri·rūṯ)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 8307: Firmness, stubbornness

of my own heart.’
לִבִּ֖י (lib·bî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 3820: The heart, the feelings, the will, the intellect, centre

This will bring disaster
סְפ֥וֹת (sə·p̄ō·wṯ)
Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 5595: To sweep or snatch away, catch up

on the watered [land]
הָרָוָ֖ה (hā·rā·wāh)
Article | Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 7302: Watered

as well as
אֶת־ (’eṯ-)
Direct object marker
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

the dry.
הַצְּמֵאָֽה׃ (haṣ·ṣə·mê·’āh)
Article | Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 6771: Thirsty


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OT Law: Deuteronomy 29:19 And it happen when he hears (Deut. De Du)
Deuteronomy 29:18
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