Deuteronomy 9

1 “Hear, O Israel: You are passing over the Jordan today to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to the heavens,

Sh'ma ·Hear obey·, Israel [God prevails]! You are to pass over the Jordan [Descender] today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to the sky,

2 a people great and tall, sons of Anakim, whom you have known, and [of whom] you have heard: Who stations himself before sons of Anak?

a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have sh'ma ·heard obeyed· it said, “Who can stand before the sons of Anak?”

3 And you have known today that your God YHWH [is] He who is passing over before you [as] a consuming fire; He destroys them, and He humbles them before you, and you have dispossessed them, and destroyed them quickly, as YHWH has spoken to you.

Know therefore today, that Adonai your God is he who goes over before you as a devouring fire. He will destroy them, and he will bring them down before you. So you shall drive them out, and make them perish quickly, as Adonai has spoken to you.

4 You do not speak in your heart (in your God YHWH’s driving them away from before you), saying, In my righteousness YHWH has brought me in to possess this land; but in YHWH dispossessing these nations from your presence, [it is because of] their being wicked.

Don’t say in your heart, after Adonai your God has thrust them out from before you, saying, “For my righteousness Adonai has brought me in to possess this land;” because Adonai drives them out before you because of the wickedness of these nations.

5 [It is] not in your righteousness and in the uprightness of your heart [that] you are going in to possess their land, but in YHWH dispossessing these nations from your presence, [it is because of] their being wicked, and in order to establish the word which YHWH has sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob;

Not for your righteousness, or for the uprightness of your heart, do you go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations Adonai your God does drive them out from before you, and that he may establish the word which Adonai swore to your fathers, to Abraham [Father of a multitude], to Isaac [Laughter], and to Jacob [Supplanter].

6 and you have known that [it is] not in your righteousness [that] your God YHWH is giving this good land to you to possess it, for you [are] a people stiff of neck.

Know therefore, that Adonai your God does not give you this good land to possess for your righteousness; for you are a stiff-necked people.

7 Remember [and] do not forget that [with] which you have made your God YHWH angry in the wilderness; from the day that you have come out of the land of Egypt until your coming to this place, you have been rebellious against YHWH;

Remember, and don’t forget, how you provoked Adonai your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you left the land of Egypt [Abode of slavery], until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against Adonai.

8 even in Horeb you have made YHWH angry, and YHWH shows Himself angry against you—to destroy you.

Also in Horeb [Desert] you provoked Adonai to wrath, and Adonai was angry with you to destroy you.

9 In my going up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone (tablets of the covenant which YHWH has made with you), then I abide on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I have not eaten bread and I have not drunk water;

When I had gone up onto the mountain to receive the stone tablets, even the tablets of the covenant which Adonai made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water.

10 and YHWH gives to me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them [is] according to all the words which YHWH has spoken with you on the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, in the day of the assembly.

Adonai delivered to me the two stone tablets written with God’s finger. On them were all the words which Adonai spoke with you on the mountain out of the middle of the fire in the day of the assembly.

11 And it comes to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, YHWH has given the two tablets of stone to me—tablets of the covenant.

It came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that Adonai gave me the two stone tablets, even the tablets of the covenant.

12 Then YHWH says to me, Rise, go down, hurry from here, for your people whom you have brought out of Egypt have done corruptly; they have quickly turned aside from the way which I have commanded them—they have made a molten thing for themselves!

Adonai said to me, “Arise, get down quickly from here; for your people whom you have brought out of Egypt [Abode of slavery] have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned aside out of the way which I enjoined them. They have made a molten image for themselves!”

13 And YHWH speaks to me, saying, I have seen this people, and behold, it [is] a people stiff of neck.

Furthermore Adonai spoke to me, saying, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.

14 Desist from Me, and I destroy them, and blot out their name from under the heavens, and I make you become a nation more mighty and numerous than it.

Leave me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under the sky; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.”

15 And I turn and come down from the mountain, and the mountain is burning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant [are] on my two hands,

So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire. The two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.

16 and I see, and behold, you have sinned against your God YHWH; you have made a molten calf for yourselves; you have quickly turned aside from the way which YHWH has commanded you.

I looked, and behold, you had sinned ·deviated (from the standard goal)· against Adonai your God. You had made yourselves a molten calf. You had turned aside quickly out of the way which Adonai had enjoined you.

17 And I lay hold on the two tablets, and cast them out of my two hands, and break them before your eyes,

I took hold of the two tablets, and threw them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes.

18 and I throw myself before YHWH, as at first, [for] forty days and forty nights; I have not eaten bread and I have not drunk water, because of all your sins which you have sinned by doing evil in the eyes of YHWH, to make Him angry.

I fell down before Adonai, as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your habitual sins ·missing the marks· which you sinned ·deviated (from the standard goal)·, in doing that which was evil in Adonai’s sight, to provoke him to anger.

19 For I have been afraid because of the anger and the fury with which YHWH has been angry against you, to destroy you; and YHWH also listens to me at this time.

I was terrified that because of how angry Adonai was at you, of how heatedly displeased he was, that he would destroy you. But Adonai sh'ma ·heard obeyed· me that time too.

20 And YHWH has showed Himself very angry with Aaron, to destroy him, and I also pray for Aaron at that time.

Adonai was angry enough with Aaron [Light-bringer] to destroy him. I prayed for Aaron [Light-bringer] also at the same time.

21 And I have taken your sin, the calf which you have made, and I burn it with fire, and beat it, grinding well until it [is] small as dust, and I cast its dust into the brook which is going down out of the mountain.

I took your habitual sin ·missing the mark·, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire, and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust. I threw its dust into the brook that descended out of the mountain.

22 And in Taberah, and in Massah, and in Kibroth-Hattaavah, you have been making YHWH angry;

At Taberah, and at Massah [Testing], and at Kibroth Hattaavah, you provoked Adonai to wrath.

23 also in YHWH’s sending you from Kadesh-Barnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given to you; then you provoke the mouth of your God YHWH, and have not given credence to Him, nor listened to His voice.

When Adonai sent you from Kadesh Barnea [Consecrated Son-inconstant], saying, “Go up and possess the land which I have given you,” you rebelled against the order of Adonai your God, and you didn’t trust him, nor sh'ma ·hear obey· his voice.

24 You have been rebellious against YHWH from the day of my knowing you.

You have been rebellious against Adonai from the day that I knew you.

25 And I throw myself before YHWH—the forty days and the forty nights when I had thrown myself—because YHWH has commanded to destroy you;

So I fell down before Adonai the forty days and forty nights that I fell down, because Adonai had said he would destroy you.

26 and I pray to YHWH, and say, Lord YHWH, do not destroy Your people and Your inheritance whom You have ransomed in Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a strong hand;

I prayed to Adonai, and said, “'Adonay Adonai [Lord Yahweh], don’t destroy your people and your inheritance, that you have redeemed through your greatness, that you have brought out of Egypt [Abode of slavery] with a mighty hand.

27 be mindful of Your servants, of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; do not turn to the stiffness of this people, and to its wickedness, and to its sin,

Remember your servants, Abraham [Father of a multitude], Isaac [Laughter], and Jacob [Supplanter]. Don’t look at the stubbornness of this people, nor at their ethical wickedness, nor at their habitual sin ·missing the mark·,

28 lest the land from which You have brought us out says, Because of YHWH’s want of ability to bring them into the land of which He has spoken to them, and because of His hating them, He brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.

lest the land you brought us out from say, ‘Because Adonai was not able to bring them into the land which he promised to them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’

29 And they [are] Your people and Your inheritance, whom You have brought out by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm!”

Yet they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.”