Deuteronomy 8-10 (English Standard Version)

Deuteronomy 8

Remember the LORD Your God

 ¹"The whole commandment that I command you today^(A) you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. ²And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you^(B) these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you,^(C) testing you^(D) to know what was in your heart,^(E) whether you would keep his commandments or not. ³And he humbled you and^(F) let you hunger and^(G) fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that^(H) man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word^[a] that comes from the mouth of the LORD. ^4(I) Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. ⁵Know then in your heart that,^(J) as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. ⁶So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. ⁷For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land,^(K) a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, ⁸a land of wheat and barley,^(L) of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, ⁹a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. ¹⁰And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.

 ¹¹"Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, ^12(M) lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, ¹³and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, ^14(N) then your heart be lifted up, and you^(O) forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, ¹⁵who^(P) led you through the great and terrifying wilderness,^(Q) with its fiery serpents and scorpions^(R) and thirsty ground where there was no water,^(S) who brought you water out of the flinty rock, ¹⁶who fed you in the wilderness with^(T) manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you,^(U) to do you good in the end. ¹⁷Beware^(V) lest you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.' ¹⁸You shall remember the LORD your God, for^(W) it is he who gives you power to get wealth,^(X) that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. ¹⁹And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them,^(Y) I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. ²⁰Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you,^(Z) so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 9

Not Because of Righteousness

 ¹"Hear, O Israel: you are^(AA) to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations^(AB) greater and mightier than yourselves, cities great and fortified up to heaven, ²a people great and tall,^(AC) the sons of the Anakim,^(AD) whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, 'Who can stand before the sons of Anak?' ³Know therefore today that he who^(AE) goes over before you^(AF) as a consuming fire is the LORD your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you.^(AG) So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the LORD has promised you.

 ^4(AH) "Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you, 'It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,' whereas it is^(AI) because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you. ^5(AJ) Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm^(AK) the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

 ⁶"Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are^(AL) a stubborn people. ⁷Remember and do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness.^(AM) From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD. ⁸Even^(AN) at Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, and the LORD was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you. ^9(AO) When I went up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I remained on the mountain^(AP) forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. ¹⁰And^(AQ) the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words that the LORD had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire^(AR) on the day of the assembly. ¹¹And at the end of forty days and forty nights the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. ¹²Then the LORD said to me,^(AS) 'Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have^(AT) turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them; they have made themselves a metal image.'

The Golden Calf

 ^13(AU) "Furthermore, the LORD said to me, 'I have seen this people, and behold, it is^(AV) a stubborn people. ^14(AW) Let me alone, that I may destroy them and^(AX) blot out their name from under heaven. And^(AY) I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.' ^15(AZ) So I turned and came down from the mountain, and^(BA) the mountain was burning with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. ¹⁶And^(BB) I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God. You had made yourselves a golden^[b] calf.^(BC) You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you. ¹⁷So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes. ¹⁸Then I^(BD) lay prostrate before the LORD^(BE) as before, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin that you had committed,^(BF) in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke him to anger. ¹⁹For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure that the LORD bore against you, so that he was ready to destroy you.^(BG) But the LORD listened to me that time also. ²⁰And the LORD was so angry with Aaron that he was ready to destroy him. And I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. ²¹Then^(BH) I took the sinful thing, the calf that you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust. And I threw the dust of it into the brook that ran down from the mountain.

 ²²"At^(BI) Taberah also, and at^(BJ) Massah and at^(BK) Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked the LORD to wrath. ²³And^(BL) when the LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, 'Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,' then you rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God and^(BM) did not believe him or obey his voice. ^24(BN) You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you.

 ^25(BO) "So I lay prostrate before the LORD for these forty days and forty nights, because the LORD had said he would destroy you. ^26(BP) And I prayed to the LORD, 'O Lord GOD, do not destroy your people and your heritage, whom you have redeemed through your greatness, whom you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²⁷Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not regard the stubbornness of this people, or their wickedness or their sin, ²⁸lest the land from which you brought us say,^(BQ) "Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land that he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness." ^29(BR) For they are your people and your heritage, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.'

Deuteronomy 10

New Tablets of Stone

 ¹"At that time the LORD said to me,^(BS) 'Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to me on the mountain and^(BT) make an ark of wood. ²And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you broke, and^(BU) you shall put them in the ark.' ³So I made an ark^(BV) of acacia wood, and^(BW) cut two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. ⁴And^(BX) he wrote on the tablets, in the same writing as before, the Ten Commandments^[c](BY) that the LORD had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire^(BZ) on the day of the assembly. And the LORD gave them to me. ⁵Then I turned and^(CA) came down from the mountain and^(CB) put the tablets in the ark that I had made.^(CC) And there they are, as the LORD commanded me."

 ⁶(The people of Israel^(CD) journeyed from Beeroth Bene-jaakan^[d] to Moserah.^(CE) There Aaron died, and there he was buried. And his son Eleazar ministered as priest in his place. ^7(CF) From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land with brooks of water. ⁸At that time^(CG) the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi^(CH) to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD^(CI) to stand before the LORD to minister to him and^(CJ) to bless in his name, to this day. ^9(CK) Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God said to him.)

 ^10(CL) "I myself stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights,^(CM) and the LORD listened to me that time also. The LORD was unwilling to destroy you. ^11(CN) And the LORD said to me, 'Arise, go on your journey at the head of the people, so that they may go in and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers to give them.'

Circumcise Your Heart

 ¹²"And now, Israel,^(CO) what does the LORD your God require of you, but^(CP) to fear the LORD your God,^(CQ) to walk in all his ways,^(CR) to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³and^(CS) to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today^(CT) for your good? ¹⁴Behold,^(CU) to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens,^(CV) the earth with all that is in it. ¹⁵Yet^(CW) the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. ¹⁶Circumcise therefore^(CX) the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer^(CY) stubborn. ¹⁷For the LORD your God is^(CZ) God of gods and^(DA) Lord of lords,^(DB) the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is^(DC) not partial and takes no bribe. ^18(DD) He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. ^19(DE) Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. ^20(DF) You shall fear the LORD your God. You shall serve him and^(DG) hold fast to him, and^(DH) by his name you shall swear. ^21(DI) He is your praise. He is your God,^(DJ) who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen. ²²Your fathers went down to Egypt^(DK) seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you^(DL) as numerous as the stars of heaven.