Deuteronomy 9

1 Hear, Israel: you are to pass over the Jordan this day, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to the sky,

“Listen, O Israel: You shall cross over the Jordan today, in order to possess nations, very great and stronger than yourself, cities vast and walled even to the sky,

2 a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard say, "Who can stand before the sons of Anak?"

a people great and lofty, the sons of the Anakim, whom you yourselves have seen and heard, against whom no one is able to stand.

3 Know therefore this day, that Jehovah 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 to perish quickly, as Jehovah has spoken to you.

Therefore, you shall know today that the Lord your God himself will pass over before you, like a devouring and consuming fire, to crush and to wipe away and to utterly ruin them before your face, quickly, just as he has spoken to you.

4 Do not say in your heart, after Jehovah your God has thrust them out from before you, saying, "For my righteousness Jehovah has brought me in to possess this land"; because Jehovah drives them out before you because of the wickedness of these nations.

You should not say in your heart, when the Lord your God will have destroyed them in your sight: ‘It is because of my justice that the Lord led me in, so that I might possess this land, while these nations have been destroyed because of their impiety.’

5 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 Jehovah does drive them out from before you, and that he may establish the word which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

For it is not because of your justices or the uprightness of your heart that you will enter, so that you may possess their lands. Instead, it is because they have acted wickedly that they are destroyed upon your arrival, and so that the Lord may accomplish his word, which he promised under oath to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

6 Know therefore, that Jehovah your God doesn't give you this good land to possess it for your righteousness; for you are a stiff-necked people.

Therefore, know that the Lord your God will not give you this excellent land as a possession due to your justices, for you are a very stiff-necked people.

7 Remember, do not forget, how you provoked Jehovah your God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that you went forth out of the land of Egypt, until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against Jehovah.

Remember, and never forget, how you provoked the Lord your God to anger in the wilderness. You have always contended against the Lord, from the day that you went forth from Egypt, even to this place.

8 Also in Horeb you provoked Jehovah to wrath, and Jehovah was angry with you to destroy you.

For at Horeb also, you provoked him, and, becoming angry, he was willing to destroy you,

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

when I ascended onto the mountain, so that I might receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord formed with you. And I persevered on the mountain for forty days and nights, neither eating bread, nor drinking water.

10 Jehovah delivered to me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God; and on them were all the words which Jehovah spoke with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.

And the Lord gave me two tablets of stone, written with the finger of God and containing all the words that he spoke to you on the mountain from the midst of fire, while the people, being stirred up, were assembled together.

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

And when forty days, and as many nights, had passed, the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.

12 Jehovah said to me, "Arise, get down quickly from here; for your people whom you have brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they have quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image."

And he said to me: ‘Rise up, and descend quickly from here. For your people, whom you led away from Egypt, have quickly abandoned the way that you have shown to them, and they have made a molten idol for themselves.’

13 Furthermore Jehovah spoke to me, saying, "I have seen this people, and look, it is a stiff-necked people:

And again, the Lord said to me: ‘I discern that this people is stiff-necked.

14 let 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."

Depart from me, so that I may crush them, and abolish their name from under heaven, and appoint you over a nation, which will be greater and stronger than this one.’

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

And as I was descending from the burning mountain, and I held the two tablets of the covenant with both hands,

16 I looked, and look, you had sinned against Jehovah your God; you had made yourselves a molten calf: you had turned aside quickly out of the way which Jehovah had commanded you.

and I had seen that you had sinned against the Lord your God, and had made a molten calf for yourselves, and had quickly abandoned his way, which he had revealed to you,

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

I threw down the tablets from my hands, and I broke them in your sight.

18 I fell down before Jehovah, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water; because of all your sin which you sinned, in doing that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger.

And I fell prostrate before the Lord, just as before, for forty days and nights, not eating bread, and not drinking water, because of all your sins, which you had committed against the Lord, and because you provoked him to anger.

19 For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, with which Jehovah was angry against you to destroy you. But Jehovah listened to me that time also.

For I feared his indignation and wrath, which had been stirred up against you, so that he was willing to destroy you. And the Lord heeded me at this time also.

20 Jehovah was very angry with Aaron to destroy him: and I prayed for Aaron also at the same time.

Likewise, he became vehemently angry against Aaron, and he was willing to destroy him, and I prayed for him similarly.

21 I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust: and I cast its dust into the brook that descended out of the mountain.

But as for your sin which you committed, that is, the calf, taking hold of it, I burned it with fire. And breaking it into pieces, and reducing it entirely to dust, I threw it into the torrent that descends from the mountain.

22 At Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth Hattaavah, you provoked Jehovah to wrath.

Likewise, at the Burning, and at the Temptation, and at the Graves of Lust, you provoked the Lord.

23 When Jehovah sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, "Go up and possess the land which I have given you"; then you rebelled against the commandment of Jehovah your God, and you did not believe him, nor listen to his voice.

And when he sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Ascend and possess the land, which I have given to you,’ even so, you spurned the command of the Lord your God, and you did not believe him, nor were you willing to listen to his voice.

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

Instead, you were ever rebellious, from the day when I first began to know you.

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

And so, I lay prostrate before the Lord for forty days and nights, as I humbly begged him, lest he destroy you, just as he had threatened to do.

26 I prayed to God, and said, "Lord Jehovah, do not destroy your people and your inheritance, that you have redeemed through your greatness, that you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

And praying, I said: ‘O Lord God, do not destroy your people and your inheritance, whom you have redeemed in your greatness, whom you have led away from Egypt with a strong hand.

27 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look to the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin,

Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not look upon the stubbornness of this people, nor upon their wickedness and sinfulness.

28 lest the land you brought us out from say, 'Because Jehovah 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.'

Otherwise, perhaps the inhabitants of the land, out of which you have led us, may say: “The Lord was not able to lead them into the land, which he promised to them. And he hated them; therefore, he led them out, so that he might put them to death in the wilderness.”

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

These are your people and your inheritance, whom you have led out by your great strength, and with your outstretched arm.’”