Deuteronomy 4 · Verse 23

Deuteronomy 4:23

Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee.
Deuteronomy 4:23, King James Version

Deuteronomy 4:23 in other translations

BSBBe careful that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God that He made with you; do not make an idol for yourselves in the form of anything He has forbidden you.
WEBBe careful, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the LORD your God has forbidden you.
ASVTake heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image in the form of anything which Jehovah thy God hath forbidden thee.
YLT‘Take heed to yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which He hath made with you, and have made to yourselves a graven image, a similitude of anything concerning which Jehovah thy God hath charged thee:
DARBYTake heed to yourselves lest ye forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which he made with you, and make yourselves a graven image, the form of anything which Jehovah thy God hath forbidden thee.
BBETake care that you do not let the agreement of the Lord your God, which he has made with you, go out of your mind, or make for yourselves images of any sort, against the orders which the Lord your God has given you.
WebsterTake heed to yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.

What does Deuteronomy 4:23 mean?

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Deuteronomy 4:1-23

The power and love of God to Israel are here made the ground and reason of a number of cautions and serious warnings; and although there is much reference to their national covenant, yet all may be applied to those who live under the gospel. What are laws made for but to be observed and obeyed? Our obedience as individuals cannot merit salvation; but it is the only evidence that we are partakers of the gift of God…

Read the full comment on Deuteronomy 4:1-23 →

Deuteronomy 4:23 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

הִשָּׁמְר֣וּhi.sha.me.Rutake heedH8104
לָכֶ֗םla.Khemto yourselves
פֶּֽן\־pen-lestH6435
תִּשְׁכְּחוּ֙tish.ke.Chuyou should forgetH7911
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
בְּרִ֤יתbe.Rit[the] covenant ofH1285
יְהוָה֙Yah.wehYahwehH3068
אֱלֹ֣הֵיכֶ֔ם'e.Lo.hei.KhemGod yourH430
אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.SherwhichH834
כָּרַ֖תka.Rathe has madeH3772
עִמָּכֶ֑ם'i.ma.Khemwith youH5973
וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֨םva.'a.si.Temand you will makeH6213
לָכֶ֥םla.Khemfor yourselves
פֶּ֙סֶל֙pe.selan imageH6459
תְּמ֣וּנַתte.Mu.nata form ofH8544
כֹּ֔לKolanythingH3605
אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.SherwhichH834
צִוְּךָ֖tzi.ve.Khahe commanded youH6680
יְהוָ֥הYah.wehYahwehH3068
אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ\׃'e.lo.Hei.khaGod yourH430

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Deuteronomy 4:23

  • Deuteronomy 4:9

    Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;

  • Isaiah 24:5

    The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

  • Ezekiel 16:59

    For thus saith the Lord God; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.

  • Joshua 23:16

    When ye have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you.

  • Deuteronomy 29:25

    Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:

  • Matthew 24:4

    And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

  • Hebrews 3:12

    Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

  • Deuteronomy 31:20

    For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.

  • 1 Chronicles 16:15

    Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations;

  • Luke 12:15

    And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

  • Exodus 20:4-5

    Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

  • Deuteronomy 4:15-16

    Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
heed.
9,15,16; 27:9; Jos 23:11; Mt 24:4; Lu 12:15; 21:8; Heb 3:12
lest ye forget.
6:12; 29:25; 31:20; Jos 23:16; 1Ch 16:15; Isa 24:5; Jer 31:22
Eze 16:59
make you.
16; Ex 20:4,5

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Deuteronomy 4:22

    But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.

  • Deuteronomy 4:23

    Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee.

  • Deuteronomy 4:24

    For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

Read all of Deuteronomy 4

Deuteronomy 4:23 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Guardaos no os olvidéis del pacto de Jehová vuestro Dios, que él estableció con vosotros, y os hagáis escultura ó imagen de cualquier cosa, que Jehová tu Dios te ha vedado.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Prenez garde à vous, de peur que vous n’oubliiez l’alliance de l’ Éternel, votre Dieu, qu’il a traitée avec vous, et que vous ne vous fassiez une image taillée, la forme d’une chose quelconque, – ce que l’ Éternel, ton Dieu, t’a commandé de ne pas faire.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Hütet euch, daß ihr nicht des Bundes Jehovas, eures Gottes, vergesset, den er mit euch gemacht hat, und euch ein geschnitztes Bild machet, ein Gleichnis von irgend etwas, das Jehova, dein Gott, dir verboten hat.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Cave nequando obliviscaris pacti Domini Dei tui, quod pepigit tecum, et facias tibi sculptam similitudinem eorum, quæ fieri Dominus prohibuit: