^29:18Beware 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.¹⁸^29:19When such a person¹⁹ hears the words of this oath he secretly²⁰ blesses himself²¹ and says, “I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit.”²² This will destroy²³ the watered ground with the parched.²⁴^29:20The Lord will be unwilling to forgive him, and his intense anger²⁵ will rage²⁶ against that man; all the curses²⁷ written in this scroll will fall upon him²⁸ and the Lord will obliterate his name from memory.²⁹

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Footnotes

18 Heb “yielding fruit poisonous and wormwood.” The Hebrew noun לַעֲנָה (la’anah) literally means “wormwood” (so , , , ), but is used figuratively for anything extremely bitter, thus here “fruit poisonous and bitter.”
19 Heb “he”; the referent (the subject of the warning in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 Heb “in his heart.”
21 Or “invokes a blessing on himself.” A formalized word of blessing is in view, the content of which appears later in the verse.
22 Heb “heart.”
23 Heb “thus destroying.” For stylistic reasons the translation begins a new sentence here.
24 Heb “the watered with the parched.” The word “ground” is implied. The exact meaning of the phrase is uncertain although it appears to be figurative. This appears to be a proverbial observation employing a figure of speech (a merism) suggesting totality. That is, the Israelite who violates the letter and even spirit of the covenant will harm not only himself but everything he touches—“the watered and the parched.” Cf. “you will cause the rest of Israel to be punished along with you.”
25 Heb “the wrath of the Lord and his zeal.” The expression is a hendiadys, a figure in which the second noun becomes adjectival to the first.
26 Heb “smoke,” or “smolder.”
27 Heb “the entire oath.”
28 Or “will lie in wait against him.”
29 Heb “blot out his name from under the sky.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish 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, 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. The Lord will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the Lord and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and the Lord will blot out his name from under heaven.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

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 produces such bitter poison.

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. The Lord will never be willing to forgive them; his wrath and zeal will burn against them. All the curses written in this book will fall on them, and the Lord will blot out their names from under heaven.

CSBChristian 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. 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. The Lord will not be willing to forgive him. Instead, his anger and jealousy will burn against that person, and every curse written in this scroll will descend on him. The Lord will blot out his name under heaven,

NLTNew 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.

“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! The Lord will never pardon such people. Instead his anger and jealousy will burn against them. All the curses written in this book will come down on them, and the Lord will erase their names from under heaven.

LEBThe 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. And then when he hears the words of this oath, then he will assure himself in his heart, saying, ‘Safety shall be mine even though I go in the stubbornness of my heart,’ thereby destroying the well-watered land along with the parched. Yahweh will not be willing to forgive him, for by then the anger of Yahweh will smoke, and his passion against that man and all the curses written in this scroll will descend on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under heaven.

KJV 1900King 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; 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: The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven.

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