Deuteronomy 9
1 “You people of Israel, listen to me! You will soon [HYP] cross the Jordan [River]. In the land that you will enter, there are large cities that have very high walls [around them] that [seem to] [HYP] extend up to the sky. There are people-groups in that land that are more numerous and more powerful than you are.
| שמע ישראל אתה עבר היום את הירדן לבא לרשת גוים גדלים ועצמים ממך ערים גדלת ובצרת בשמים׃ |
2 Those people are very tall and strong. [Some of them] are giants who are descendants of Anak. You know about them, and you have heard people say that no one [RHQ] can defeat the descendants of Anak.
| עם גדול ורם בני ענקים אשר אתה ידעת ואתה שמעת מי יתיצב לפני בני ענק׃ |
3 But I want you to know that Yahweh our God will go ahead of you. He will be like a raging/roaring fire. While you advance, he will defeat and destroy them. As a result, you will quickly be able to expel some of them and kill the others, which is what Yahweh promised that you would do.
| וידעת היום כי יהוה אלהיך הוא העבר לפניך אש אכלה הוא ישמידם והוא יכניעם לפניך והורשתם והאבדתם מהר כאשר דבר יהוה לך׃ |
4 “After Yahweh our God has expelled them for you, do not say to yourselves, ‘It is because we are righteous that Yahweh has enabled us to capture this land.’ The truth is that it is because the people in that land are wicked that Yahweh will expel them as you advance.
| אל תאמר בלבבך בהדף יהוה אלהיך אתם מלפניך לאמר בצדקתי הביאני יהוה לרשת את הארץ הזאת וברשעת הגוים האלה יהוה מורישם מפניך׃ |
5 [I say again that] it is not because you are righteous or because you do things that are righteous that you will enter and capture that land. It is because those people-groups are very wicked that Yahweh our God will expel them as you advance, and because he intends to do what he vowed to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would do.
| לא בצדקתך ובישר לבבך אתה בא לרשת את ארצם כי ברשעת הגוים האלה יהוה אלהיך מורישם מפניך ולמען הקים את הדבר אשר נשבע יהוה לאבתיך לאברהם ליצחק וליעקב׃ |
6 I want you to know that it is not because you are righteous that Yahweh our God is giving you this good/fertile land. I say that because [you are not righteous]; you are a very stubborn [IDM] people.”
| וידעת כי לא בצדקתך יהוה אלהיך נתן לך את הארץ הטובה הזאת לרשתה כי עם קשה ערף אתה׃ |
7 “Never forget what your ancestors did in the desert that caused Yahweh our God to become angry. From the day that we left Egypt until the day that we arrived here, you and your ancestors have continually rebelled against him.
| זכר אל תשכח את אשר הקצפת את יהוה אלהיך במדבר למן היום אשר יצאת מארץ מצרים עד באכם עד המקום הזה ממרים הייתם עם יהוה׃ |
8 Even at Sinai [Mountain] your ancestors caused Yahweh to become angry. Because he was very angry, he was ready to get rid of [all of] them.
| ובחרב הקצפתם את יהוה ויתאנף יהוה בכם להשמיד אתכם׃ |
9 When I climbed the mountain to receive from him the stone tablets on which he had written the Ten Commandments that he was giving to them, I stayed there 40 days and nights, and [during that time] I did not eat or drink anything.
| בעלתי ההרה לקחת לוחת האבנים לוחת הברית אשר כרת יהוה עמכם ואשב בהר ארבעים יום וארבעים לילה לחם לא אכלתי ומים לא שתיתי׃ |
10 Yahweh gave me the two stone tablets on which he had written [the commandments] with his own fingers. They were the words/commandments that he had spoken to your ancestors from the fire on that mountain, when they were gathered together [at the bottom of the mountain].
| ויתן יהוה אלי את שני לוחת האבנים כתבים באצבע אלהים ועליהם ככל הדברים אשר דבר יהוה עמכם בהר מתוך האש ביום הקהל׃ |
11 “At the end of those 40 days and nights, Yahweh gave me those two stone tablets on which he had written those commandments.
| ויהי מקץ ארבעים יום וארבעים לילה נתן יהוה אלי את שני לחת האבנים לחות הברית׃ |
12 But then he said to me, ‘Go down the mountain immediately, because [the people whom you are leading], the people whom you led out of Egypt, have committed a terrible sin! They have very quickly done what I commanded them not to do. They have made for themselves a metal statue [of a calf to worship].’
| ויאמר יהוה אלי קום רד מהר מזה כי שחת עמך אשר הוצאת ממצרים סרו מהר מן הדרך אשר צויתם עשו להם מסכה׃ |
13 Then Yahweh said to me, ‘I have been watching these people, and I see that they are very stubborn.
| ויאמר יהוה אלי לאמר ראיתי את העם הזה והנה עם קשה ערף הוא׃ |
14 So do not try to stop me. I am going to destroy all of them, with the result that no one anywhere will remember (their names [MTY]/that they ever existed). Then I will enable you to become [the ancestor of] a nation that will be more numerous and more powerful than they are.’
| הרף ממני ואשמידם ואמחה את שמם מתחת השמים ואעשה אותך לגוי עצום ורב ממנו׃ |
15 So I turned and went down the mountain, carrying in my hands the two stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were [written]. Fire was burning all over the mountain.
| ואפן וארד מן ההר וההר בער באש ושני לחת הברית על שתי ידי׃ |
16 I looked, and I was shocked to see that your ancestors had committed a [great] sin against Yahweh. They very quickly had begun to do what Yahweh our God had commanded them not to do. They had [requested Aaron to] make for them [a metal image of] a calf [to worship].
| וארא והנה חטאתם ליהוה אלהיכם עשיתם לכם עגל מסכה סרתם מהר מן הדרך אשר צוה יהוה אתכם׃ |
17 So while they were watching, I lifted up those two stone tablets and threw them [on the ground], and they broke into pieces.
| ואתפש בשני הלחת ואשלכם מעל שתי ידי ואשברם לעיניכם׃ |
18 Then I (prostrated myself/lay) on the ground in Yahweh’s presence as I had done before, and I did not eat or drink anything for 40 days and nights. I did that because your ancestors had sinned against Yahweh and caused him to become very angry.
| ואתנפל לפני יהוה כראשנה ארבעים יום וארבעים לילה לחם לא אכלתי ומים לא שתיתי על כל חטאתכם אשר חטאתם לעשות הרע בעיני יהוה להכעיסו׃ |
19 I was afraid/worried that because Yahweh was very angry with them, he would get rid of all of them. [But again I prayed that he would not do that], and again he listened to me [and answered my prayer].
| כי יגרתי מפני האף והחמה אשר קצף יהוה עליכם להשמיד אתכם וישמע יהוה אלי גם בפעם ההוא׃ |
20 Yahweh was also very angry with Aaron [for making that golden calf] and was ready to kill Aaron. But at the same time I prayed for Aaron also, [and Yahweh answered my prayer].
| ובאהרן התאנף יהוה מאד להשמידו ואתפלל גם בעד אהרן בעת ההוא׃ |
21 Your ancestors had sinned by [requesting Aaron to] make [a metal statue of] a calf. So I took that statue and [I melted it] in a fire and crushed it and ground it into very tiny pieces [HYP]. Then I threw those tiny pieces into the stream that flowed down the mountain.
| ואת חטאתכם אשר עשיתם את העגל לקחתי ואשרף אתו באש ואכת אתו טחון היטב עד אשר דק לעפר ואשלך את עפרו אל הנחל הירד מן ההר׃ |
22 Your ancestors also caused Yahweh to become very angry [by what they did] at [places which they named] Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-Hattaavah.
| ובתבערה ובמסה ובקברת התאוה מקצפים הייתם את יהוה׃ |
23 And when we were at Kadesh-Barnea, Yahweh said to your ancestors, ‘Go up and capture the land that I am about to give to you!’ But they rebelled against him. They did not trust him, and they did not obey what he told [MTY] them to do.
| ובשלח יהוה אתכם מקדש ברנע לאמר עלו ורשו את הארץ אשר נתתי לכם ותמרו את פי יהוה אלהיכם ולא האמנתם לו ולא שמעתם בקלו׃ |
24 Your ancestors rebelled against Yahweh from the first day that I knew them, [in Egypt].
| ממרים הייתם עם יהוה מיום דעתי אתכם׃ |
25 So, [as I said], I lay on the ground in Yahweh’s presence for 40 days and nights, because Yahweh had said that he would get rid of your ancestors.
| ואתנפל לפני יהוה את ארבעים היום ואת ארבעים הלילה אשר התנפלתי כי אמר יהוה להשמיד אתכם׃ |
26 And I prayed to Yahweh, saying, ‘Lord God, these people belong to you; do not destroy them. They are people whom you rescued and brought out of Egypt by your very great power. [DOU, MTY]
| ואתפלל אל יהוה ואמר אדני יהוה אל תשחת עמך ונחלתך אשר פדית בגדלך אשר הוצאת ממצרים ביד חזקה׃ |
27 Do not forget [what you promised to] Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Please ignore these stubborn and wicked people and the sin that they have committed.
| זכר לעבדיך לאברהם ליצחק וליעקב אל תפן אל קשי העם הזה ואל רשעו ואל חטאתו׃ |
28 If you do not do that, [and if you get rid of them], the people of Egypt will [hear about it and] say that you were not able to bring them into the land that you promised to give to them. They will say that you took them into the desert only to kill them there because you hated them.
| פן יאמרו הארץ אשר הוצאתנו משם מבלי יכלת יהוה להביאם אל הארץ אשר דבר להם ומשנאתו אותם הוציאם להמתם במדבר׃ |
29 [Do not forget that] they are your people. [You chose them to] belong to you. You brought them out [from Egypt] by your very great power [DOU, MTY].’”
| והם עמך ונחלתך אשר הוצאת בכחך הגדל ובזרעך הנטויה׃ |
