Deuteronomy 9

1 'Hear, Israel, thou art passing over to-day the Jordan, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself; cities great and fenced in the heavens;

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,

2 a people great and tall, sons of Anakim, whom thou — thou hast known, (and thou — thou hast heard: Who doth station himself before sons of Anak?)

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?'

3 and thou hast known to-day, that Jehovah thy God [is] He who is passing over before thee — a fire consuming; He doth destroy them, and He doth humble them before thee, and thou hast dispossessed them, and destroyed them hastily, as Jehovah hath spoken to thee.

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.

4 'Thou dost not speak in thy heart (in Jehovah thy God's driving them away from before thee), saying, For my righteousness hath Jehovah brought me in to possess this land, seeing for the wickedness of these nations is Jehovah dispossessing them from thy presence;

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.

5 not for thy righteousness, and for the uprightness of thy heart, art thou going in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations is Jehovah thy God dispossessing them from before thee; and in order to establish the word which Jehovah hath sworn to thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob;

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.

6 and thou hast known, that not for thy righteousness is Jehovah thy God giving to thee this good land to possess it, for a people stiff of neck thou [art].

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.

7 'Remember — do not forget — that [with] which thou hast made Jehovah thy God wroth in the wilderness; even from the day that thou hast come out of the land of Egypt till your coming in unto this place rebels ye have been with Jehovah;

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.

8 even in Horeb ye have made Jehovah wroth, and Jehovah sheweth Himself angry against you — to destroy you.

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

9 'In my going up into the mount to receive the tables of stone (tables of the covenant which Jehovah hath made with you), and I abide in the mount forty days and forty nights; bread I have not eaten, and water I have not drunk;

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.

10 and Jehovah giveth unto me the two tables of stone written with the finger of God, and on them according to all the words which Jehovah hath spoken with you in the mount, out of the midst of the fire, in the day of the assembly.

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.

11 'And it cometh to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, Jehovah hath given unto me the two tables of stone — tables of the covenant,

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.

12 and Jehovah saith unto me, Rise, go down, hasten from this, for thy people hath done corruptly, whom thou hast brought out of Egypt; they have turned aside hastily out of the way which I have commanded them — they have made to themselves a molten thing!

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.'

13 'And Jehovah speaketh unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and lo, a people stiff of neck it [is];

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

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

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.'

15 'And I turn, and come down from the mount, and the mount is burning with fire, and the two tables of the covenant on my two hands,

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

16 and I see, and lo, ye have sinned against Jehovah your God; ye have made to yourselves a molten calf; ye have turned aside hastily out of the way which Jehovah hath commanded you.

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.

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

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

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

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.

19 'For I have been afraid because of the anger and the fury with which Jehovah hath been wroth against you, to destroy you; and Jehovah doth hearken unto me also at this time.

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.

20 'And with Aaron hath Jehovah shewed himself very angry, to destroy him, and I pray also for Aaron at that time;

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

21 and your sin, which ye have made — the calf — I have taken, and I burn it with fire, and beat it, grinding well till that it [is] small as dust, and I cast its dust unto the brook which is going down out of the mount.

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.

22 'And in Taberah, and in Massah, and in Kibroth-Hattaavah, ye have been making Jehovah wroth:

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

23 and in Jehovah's sending you from Kadesh-Barnea, saying, Go up, and possess the land which I have given to you, then ye provoke the mouth of Jehovah your God, and have not given credence to Him, nor hearkened to His voice;

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.

24 rebels ye have been with Jehovah from the day of my knowing you.

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

25 'And I throw myself before Jehovah, the forty days and the forty nights, as I had thrown myself, for Jehovah hath said — to destroy you;

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

26 and I pray unto Jehovah, and say, Lord Jehovah, destroy not Thy people, and Thine inheritance, whom Thou hast ransomed in Thy greatness; whom Thou hast brought out of Egypt with a strong hand;

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.

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

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,

28 lest the land say from which Thou hast brought us out, Because of Jehovah's want of ability to bring them in unto the land of which He hath spoken to them, and because of His hating them, He brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness;

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.”

29 and they [are] Thy people, and Thine inheritance, whom Thou hast brought out by Thy great power, and by Thy stretched-out arm!

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