Deuteronomy 30:17 (DRB)

Passage

But if thy heart be turned away, so that thou wilt not hear, and being deceived with error thou adore strange gods, and serve them:

Nearby Context

Deuteronomy 30:15 Consider that I have set before thee this day life and good, and on the other hand death and evil:

Deuteronomy 30:16 That thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways, and keep his commandments and ceremonies and judgments, and bless thee in the land, which thou shalt go in to possess.

Deuteronomy 30:17 But if thy heart be turned away, so that thou wilt not hear, and being deceived with error thou adore strange gods, and serve them:

Deuteronomy 30:18 I foretell thee this day that thou shalt perish, and shalt remain but a short time in the land, to which thou shalt pass over the Jordan, and shalt go in to possess it.

Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to witness this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Choose therefore life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "heart", "turned", "away", "thou", "wilt", "deceived", and "error". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "heart" and "turned", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "That thou mayst love the Lord thy..." into verse 18's "I foretell thee this day that thou...", so "heart" and "turned" 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 "heart" and "turned" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.