and when you and your children return to the lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. (Deuteronomy 30:2-3 NIV) They will pray to me, but I will ignore them because they were evil and started worshiping other gods. (Deuteronomy 31:18 CEV)

No wonder the Israelites don’t do what He want — He can’t keep his own intents straight. On the one hand, the people don’t seem too bright. He has certainly shown how arbitrary and cruel He can be. I don’t see why they don’t just worship him and forget about the other gods. Most likely, like Ramses, He’s putting the ideas in their heads.

Next: Deuteronomy 32-34 (last chapters)