Numbers 32:15
New International Version
If you turn away from following him, he will again leave all this people in the wilderness, and you will be the cause of their destruction.”

New Living Translation
If you turn away from him like this and he abandons them again in the wilderness, you will be responsible for destroying this entire nation!”

English Standard Version
For if you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.”

Berean Standard Bible
For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave this people in the wilderness, and you will be the cause of their destruction.”

King James Bible
For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this people.

New King James Version
For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”

New American Standard Bible
For if you turn away from following Him, He will once more leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”

NASB 1995
“For if you turn away from following Him, He will once more abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”

NASB 1977
“For if you turn away from following Him, He will once more abandon them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all these people.”

Legacy Standard Bible
For if you turn away from following Him, He will once more abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”

Amplified Bible
For if you turn back from following Him [completely], He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”

Christian Standard Bible
If you turn back from following him, he will once again leave this people in the wilderness, and you will destroy all of them.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
If you turn back from following Him, He will once again leave this people in the wilderness, and you will destroy all of them.”

American Standard Version
For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye will destroy all this people.

Contemporary English Version
If you reject the LORD, he will once again abandon his people and leave them here in the desert. And you will be to blame!

English Revised Version
For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this people.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
If you turn away from him, he will abandon all these people in the desert. You would be responsible for their destruction."

Good News Translation
If you people of Reuben and Gad refuse to follow him now, he will once again abandon all these people in the wilderness, and you will be responsible for their destruction."

International Standard Version
If you stop following him, he will once again abandon them in the wilderness. You'll end up destroying this entire people."

Majority Standard Bible
For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave this people in the wilderness, and you will be the cause of their destruction.”

NET Bible
For if you turn away from following him, he will once again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will be the reason for their destruction."

New Heart English Bible
For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all this people."

Webster's Bible Translation
For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and he will destroy all this people.

World English Bible
For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all these people.”
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
when you turn back from after Him, then He has added yet to leave him in the wilderness, and you have done corruptly to all this people.”

Young's Literal Translation
when ye turn back from after Him, then He hath added yet to leave him in the wilderness, and ye have done corruptly to all this people.'

Smith's Literal Translation
When ye shall turn back from after him, and he will add yet to leave him in the desert; and ye will destroy all this people.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
For if you will not follow him, he will leave the people in the wilderness, end you shall be the cause of the destruction of all.

Catholic Public Domain Version
But if you are not willing to follow him, he will leave the people behind in the wilderness, and you will have been the cause of all our deaths.”

New American Bible
If you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will bring about the ruin of this entire people.”

New Revised Standard Version
If you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all this people.”
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
For if you turn away from after the LORD, he will again make you wander in the wilderness; and you shall destroy all this people.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And if you turn from LORD JEHOVAH, He will increase again your wandering in the wilderness, and for this you are destroying all the people.”
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
For if ye turn away from after Him, He will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and so ye will destroy all this people.'

Brenton Septuagint Translation
For ye will turn away from him to desert him yet once more in the wilderness, and ye will sin against this whole congregation.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Tribes East of the Jordan
14Now behold, you, a brood of sinners, have risen up in place of your fathers to further stoke the burning anger of the LORD against Israel. 15For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave this people in the wilderness, and you will be the cause of their destruction.” 16Then the Gadites and Reubenites approached Moses and said, “We want to build sheepfolds here for our livestock and cities for our little ones.…

Cross References
Deuteronomy 1:26-28
But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. / You grumbled in your tents and said, “Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to be annihilated. / Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: ‘The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’”

Joshua 22:16-18
“This is what the whole congregation of the LORD says: ‘What is this breach of faith you have committed today against the God of Israel by turning away from the LORD and building for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel against the LORD this day? / Was not the sin of Peor enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day? It even brought a plague upon the congregation of the LORD. / And now, would you turn away from the LORD? If you rebel today against the LORD, tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.

Psalm 106:24-26
They despised the pleasant land; they did not believe His promise. / They grumbled in their tents and did not listen to the voice of the LORD. / So He raised His hand and swore to cast them down in the wilderness,

Hebrews 3:16-19
For who were the ones who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? / And with whom was God angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? / And to whom did He swear that they would never enter His rest? Was it not to those who disobeyed? ...

Deuteronomy 9:23-24
And when the LORD sent you out from Kadesh-barnea, He said, “Go up and possess the land that I have given you.” But you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. You neither believed Him nor obeyed Him. / You have been rebelling against the LORD since the day I came to know you.

1 Corinthians 10:5-11
Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness. / These things took place as examples to keep us from craving evil things as they did. / Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” ...

Nehemiah 9:16-17
But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments. / They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.

Ezekiel 20:8-13
But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the land of Egypt. / But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they were living, in whose sight I had revealed Myself to Israel by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. / So I brought them out of the land of Egypt and led them into the wilderness. ...

Acts 7:39-42
But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. / They said to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us! As for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’ / At that time they made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands. ...

Deuteronomy 32:20
He said: “I will hide My face from them; I will see what will be their end. For they are a perverse generation—children of unfaithfulness.

Hebrews 4:1-2
Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be deemed to have fallen short of it. / For we also received the good news just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, since they did not share the faith of those who comprehended it.

Judges 2:11-15
And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. / Thus they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed after various gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down to them and provoked the LORD to anger, / for they forsook Him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. ...

2 Kings 17:14-15
But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God. / They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.

Jeremiah 7:24-26
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. / From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again. / Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.

Isaiah 63:10
But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.


Treasury of Scripture

For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you shall destroy all this people.

if ye turn

Leviticus 26:14-18
But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; …

Deuteronomy 28:15
But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

Deuteronomy 30:17-19
But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; …

he will yet

Numbers 14:35
I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.

Numbers 14:30-35
Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun…

ye shall

Jeremiah 38:23
So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans: and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire.

Matthew 18:7
Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!

Romans 14:15,20,21
But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died…

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Numbers 32
1. The Reubenites and Gadites ask for inheritance on the east side of Jordan
6. Moses reproves them
16. They offer him conditions with which he is content
33. Moses assigns them the land
39. They conquer it.














For if you turn away from following Him
This phrase serves as a stern warning to the Israelites. The Hebrew root for "turn away" is "שׁוּב" (shuv), which means to turn back or retreat. In the context of the Israelites, it implies a spiritual regression or apostasy. Historically, the Israelites had a pattern of turning away from God, which led to dire consequences. This phrase reminds believers of the importance of steadfastness in faith and the dangers of spiritual complacency.

He will again leave them in the wilderness
The word "again" indicates a repetition of past events. The Israelites had previously wandered in the wilderness for 40 years due to their disobedience. The wilderness, or "מִדְבָּר" (midbar) in Hebrew, symbolizes a place of testing and purification. This phrase underscores the consequences of disobedience and the potential for history to repeat itself if the Israelites fail to remain faithful.

and you will have destroyed all these people
The term "destroyed" comes from the Hebrew "שָׁחַת" (shachat), meaning to ruin or corrupt. This phrase highlights the communal impact of individual disobedience. In the biblical context, the actions of a few could lead to the downfall of many. It serves as a sobering reminder of the responsibility each believer holds within the community of faith. The Israelites were called to be a holy nation, and their collective obedience was crucial for their survival and success.

Verse 15. - He will yet again leave them in the wilderness. Properly speaking, Israel had already emerged from the wilderness; but until they had fairly made good their possession of Canaan, their desert wanderings could not be considered at an end.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
For if
כִּ֤י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

you turn away
תְשׁוּבֻן֙ (ṯə·šū·ḇun)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural | Paragogic nun
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

from following Him,
מֵֽאַחֲרָ֔יו (mê·’a·ḥă·rāw)
Preposition-m | third person masculine singular
Strong's 310: The hind or following part

He will once again
וְיָסַ֣ף (wə·yā·sap̄)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3254: To add, augment

leave
לְהַנִּיח֖וֹ (lə·han·nî·ḥōw)
Preposition-l | Verb - Hifil - Infinitive construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3240: Bestow, cast down, lay down, up, leave off, let alone remain, pacify, place,

this
הַזֶּֽה׃ (haz·zeh)
Article | Pronoun - masculine singular
Strong's 2088: This, that

people
הָעָ֥ם (hā·‘ām)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5971: A people, a tribe, troops, attendants, a flock

in the wilderness,
בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר (bam·miḏ·bār)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4057: A pasture, a desert, speech

and you will be the cause of their destruction.”
וְשִֽׁחַתֶּ֖ם (wə·ši·ḥat·tem)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 7843: Perhaps to go to ruin


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OT Law: Numbers 32:15 For if you turn away from after (Nu Num.)
Numbers 32:14
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