20. But the Lord brought you out of Egypt, which tested you like a furnace for melting iron, and he made you his very own people, as you are now.
21. The Lord was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I would not cross the Jordan River to go into the good land the Lord your God is giving you as your own.
22. I will die here in this land and not cross the Jordan, but you will soon go across and take that good land.
23. Be careful. Don’t forget the Agreement of the Lord your God that he made with you, and don’t make any idols for yourselves, as the Lord your God has commanded you not to do.
24. The Lord your God is a jealous God, like a fire that burns things up.
25. Even after you have lived in the land a long time and have had children and grandchildren, don’t do evil things. Don’t make any kind of idol, and don’t do what the Lord your God says is evil, because that will make him angry.
26. 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.
27. The Lord will scatter you among the other nations. Only a few of you will be left alive, and those few will be in other nations where the Lord will send you.
28. There you will worship gods made by people, gods made of wood and stone, that cannot see, hear, eat, or smell.
29. But even there you can look for the Lord your God, and you will find him if you look for him with your whole being.
30. It will be hard when all these things happen to you. But after that you will come back to the Lord your God and obey him,
31. because the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you. He will not forget the Agreement with your ancestors, which he swore to them.