Deuteronomy 9

1 Hear, Israel; you are about to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, and cities that are great and fortified up to heaven,

Hear, O Israel: You go this day across Jordan to inherit nations greater and stronger than yourselves, cities great and walled up to heaven;

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

a people great and many and tall, the sons of Enac, whom you know, and concerning whom you have heard [say], Who can stand before the children of Enac?

3 Know therefore today that Yahweh your God is he who goes over before you like a devouring fire; he will destroy them, and he will subdue them before you; so will you drive them out and make them to perish quickly, as Yahweh has said to you.

And you shall know today, that the Lord your God he shall go before your face: he is a consuming fire; he shall destroy them, and he shall turn them back before you, and shall destroy them quickly, as the Lord said to you.

4 Do not say in your heart, after Yahweh your God has thrust them out from before you, 'It was because of my righteousness that Yahweh has brought me in to possess this land,' for it was because of the wickedness of these nations that Yahweh is driving them out from before you.

Speak not in your heart, when the Lord your God has destroyed these nations before your face, saying, For my righteousness the Lord brought me in to inherit this good land.

5 It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you are going in to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that your God is driving them out from before you, and so that he may make come true the word that he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Not for your righteousness, nor for the holiness of your heart, do you go in to inherit their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord will destroy them from before you, and that he may establish the covenant, which the Lord sware to our fathers, to Abraam, and to Isaac, and to Jacob.

6 Know therefore, that Yahweh your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.

And you shall know today, that [it is] not for your righteousnesses the Lord your God gives you this good land to inherit, for you are a stiff-necked people.

7 Remember and do not forget how you provoked Yahweh your God to anger in the wilderness; from the day that you left the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against Yahweh.

Remember, forget not, how much you provoked the Lord your God in the wilderness: from the day that you came forth out of Egypt, even till you came into this place, you continued to be disobedient towards the Lord.

8 Also at Horeb you provoked Yahweh to anger, and Yahweh was angry enough with you to destroy you.

Also in Choreb you provoked the Lord, and the Lord was angry with you to destroy you;

9 When I went up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that Yahweh made with you, I stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water.

when I went up into the mountain to receive the tables of stone, the tables of the covenant, which the Lord made with you, and I was in the mountain forty days and forty nights, I ate no bread and drank no water.

10 Yahweh gave to me the two tablets of stone written with his finger; on them was written everything just like all the words that Yahweh announced to you on the mountain out of the middle of the fire on the day of the assembly.

And the Lord gave me the two tables of stone written with the finger of God, and on them there had been written all the words which the Lord spoke to you in the mountain in the day of the assembly.

11 It happened at the end of those forty days and forty nights that Yahweh gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.

And it came to pass after forty days and forty nights, the Lord gave me the two tables of stone, the tables of the covenant.

12 Yahweh said to me, 'Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people, whom you brought out of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned aside out of the path that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a cast figure.'

And the Lord said to me, Arise, go down quickly from hence, for your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have transgressed; they have gone aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them, and have made themselves a molten image.

13 Furthermore, Yahweh spoke to me and said, 'I have seen this people; they are a stubborn people.

And the Lord spoke to me, saying, I have spoken to you once and again, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people.

14 Let me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven, and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.'

And now suffer me utterly to destroy them, and I will blot out their name from under heaven, and will make of you a nation great and strong, and more numerous than this.

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

And I turned and went down from the mountain; and the mountain burnt with fire to heaven; and the two tables of the testimonies [were] in my two hands.

16 I looked, and behold, you had sinned against Yahweh your God. You had molded for yourselves a calf. You had quickly turned aside out of the path that Yahweh had commanded you.

And when I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God, and had made to yourselves a molten image, and had gone astray out of the way, which the Lord commanded you to keep;

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

then I took hold of the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them before you.

18 Again I lay facedown before Yahweh for forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin that you had committed, in doing that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, so as to provoke him to anger.

And I made my petition before the Lord as also at the first forty days and forty nights: I ate no bread and drank no water, on account of all your sins which you sinned in doing evil before the Lord God to provoke him.

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

And I was greatly terrified because of the wrath and anger, because the Lord was provoked with you utterly to destroy you; yet the Lord listened to me at this time also.

20 Yahweh was very angry with Aaron so as to destroy him; I prayed for Aaron also at the same time.

And he was angry with Aaron to destroy him utterly, and I prayed for Aaron also at that time.

21 I took your sin, the calf that you had made, and burned it, beat it, and ground it very small, until it was as fine as dust. I threw its dust into the stream that came down from the mountain.

And your sin which you had made, [even] the calf, I took, and burnt it with fire, and pounded it and ground it down till it became fine; and it became like dust, and I cast the dust into the brook that descended from the mountain.

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

Also in the burning, and in the temptation, and at the graves of lust, you provoked the Lord.

23 When Yahweh sent you from Kadesh Barnea and said, 'Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,' then you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God, and you did not believe or listen to his voice.

And when the Lord sent you forth from Cades Barne, saying, Go up and inherit the land which I give to you, then you disobeyed the word of the Lord your God, and believed him not, and listened not to his voice.

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

You were disobedient in the things relating to the Lord from the day in which he became known to you.

25 So I lay facedown before Yahweh those forty days and forty nights, because he had said that he would destroy you.

And I prayed before the Lord forty days and forty nights, the number that I prayed [before], for the Lord said that he would utterly destroy you.

26 I prayed to Yahweh and said, 'O Lord Yahweh, do not destroy your people or your inheritance whom you have redeemed through your greatness, which you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

And I prayed to God, and said, O Lord, King of gods, destroy not your people and your inheritance, whom you did redeem, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with your great power, and with your strong hand, and with your high arm.

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

Remember Abraam, and Isaac, and Jacob your servants, to whom you sware by yourself: look not upon the hardness of heart of this people, and their impieties, and their sins.

28 so that the land from where you brought us should say, “Because Yahweh was not able to bring them into the land that he promised to them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.”

Lest the inhabitants of the land whence you brought us out speak, saying, Because the Lord could not bring them into the land of which he spoke to them, and because he hated them, has he brought them forth to kill them in the wilderness.

29 Yet they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out by your great strength and by the display of your power.'

And these [are] your people and your portion, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with your great strength, and with your mighty hand, and with your high arm.