Deuteronomy 30:18 (ASV)

Passage

I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish; ye shall not prolong your days in the land, whither thou passest over the Jordan to go in to possess it.

Nearby Context

Deuteronomy 30:16 in that I command thee this day to love Jehovah thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, that thou mayest live and multiply, and that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in the land whither thou goest in to possess it.

Deuteronomy 30:17 But if thy heart turn away, and thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;

Deuteronomy 30:18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish; ye shall not prolong your days in the land, whither thou passest over the Jordan to go in to possess it.

Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed;

Deuteronomy 30:20 to love Jehovah thy God, to obey his voice, and to cleave unto him; for he is thy life, and the length of thy days; that thou mayest dwell in the land which Jehovah sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "denounce", "shall", "surely", "perish", "prolong", "days", and "land". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "denounce" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "But if thy heart turn away and..." into verse 19's "I call heaven and earth to witness...", so "denounce" and "shall" belong inside that flow. In Deuteronomy context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "denounce" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.