Deuteronomy 8:19 (YLT)

Passage

`And it hath been--if thou really forget Jehovah thy God, and hast gone after other gods, and served them, and bowed thyself to them, I have testified against you to-day that ye do utterly perish;

Nearby Context

Deuteronomy 8:17 and thou hast said in thy heart, My power, and the might of my hand, hath made for me this wealth:

Deuteronomy 8:18 `And thou hast remembered Jehovah thy God, for He it <FI>is<Fi> who is giving to thee power to make wealth, in order to establish His covenant which He hath sworn to thy fathers as <FI>at<Fi> this day.

Deuteronomy 8:19 `And it hath been--if thou really forget Jehovah thy God, and hast gone after other gods, and served them, and bowed thyself to them, I have testified against you to-day that ye do utterly perish;

Deuteronomy 8:20 as the nations whom Jehovah is destroying from your presence, so ye perish; because ye hearken not to the voice of Jehovah your God.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hath", "been--if", "thou", "really", "forget", "jehovah", "hast", and "gone". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "hath" and "been--if", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 18's "And thou hast remembered Jehovah thy God..." into verse 20's "as the nations whom Jehovah is destroying...", so "hath" and "been--if" 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 "hath" and "been--if" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.