Verses 14-15 are one sentence, with the prohibition first (“don’t worship other gods”), followed by the consequences if the Israelites disobey the command. This combination of command and threat appears often in this book (see 4.23-26; 8.19-20; 11.16-17).

From this verse to verse 17, you and your are plural in Hebrew.

Go after other gods: this means to pledge allegiance to them, or to worship them. For gods see 3.24.

The gods of the peoples who are round about you refers to the gods worshiped by the Canaanites, the Moabites, the Edomites, and other neighboring peoples.

The Hebrew of this verse is repetitive, and both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation maintain the redundancy. Another model of this strong command may be:

• You must not worship any of the gods that the other nations [or, people] worship.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .