¹⁷ Make sure that there is no man, nor woman, nor clan, nor tribe whose heart turns away from the Lord, our God, today to go and serve the gods of these nations; make sure there is no root among you that bears bitterness or wormwood. ¹⁸ Let no one who hears this curse bless himself in his heart saying, “I have peace in my heart because of the cleverness of my thoughts,” as though he could sweep away both watered and dry soil.^{[a] 19} The Lord will not forgive, for his wrath and his zeal will burn out against that man. All the curses that are written in this book will descend upon him, and the Lord will blot his name from under the heavens.