Deuteronomy 8:12 (KJV)

Passage

Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;

Nearby Context

Deuteronomy 8:10 When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.

Deuteronomy 8:11 Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:

Deuteronomy 8:12 Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;

Deuteronomy 8:13 And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;

Deuteronomy 8:14 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "lest", "thou", "hast", "eaten", "full", "built", and "goodly". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "lest" and "thou", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "Beware that thou forget not the LORD..." into verse 13's "And when thy herds and thy flocks...", so "lest" and "thou" 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 "lest" and "thou" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.