Deuteronomy 31:16
And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
Study Note
Study Note
God's prediction to Moses — 'this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, and will forsake me, and break my covenant' — anticipates apostasy even before Moses's death, grounding the subsequent history of Israel's unfaithfulness in divine foreknowledge. The prediction serves two purposes: it establishes the song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32) as a witness 'against' Israel rather than merely for them, and it demonstrates that God's covenantal commitments are entered into with full knowledge of Israel's future failures. The 'whoring after gods' metaphor (zana acharei Elohim) is the standard prophetic image for idolatry as covenantal infidelity, developed most extensively in Hosea, Jeremiah 2-3, and Ezekiel 16. Romans 3:3-4's 'shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid' draws on the same tension between human unfaithfulness and divine faithfulness.
Other Translations
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and play the harlot after the strange gods of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Lo, thou art lying down with thy fathers, and this people hath risen, and gone a-whoring after the gods of the stranger of the land into the midst of which it hath entered, and forsaken Me, and broken My covenant which I made with it;
And the Lord said to Moses, Now you are going to rest with your fathers; and this people will be false to me, uniting themselves to the strange gods of the land where they are going; they will be turned away from me and will not keep the agreement I have made with them.
Cross References
Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; …
And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat …
Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and …
And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he …
And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, …
And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do …
But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then …
And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed …
And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves …
And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my …