Deuteronomy 9-11

New International Reader's Version

Why the Lord Gave Canaan to Israel

9 Israel, listen to me. You are now about to go across the Jordan River. You will take over the land of the nations that live there. Those nations are greater and stronger than you are. Their large cities have walls that reach up to the sky. ² The people who live there are Anakites. They are strong and tall. You know all about them. You have heard people say, “Who can stand up against the Anakites?” ³ But today you can be sure the Lord your God will go over there ahead of you. He is like a fire that will burn them up. He’ll destroy them. He’ll bring them under your control. You will drive them out. You will put an end to them quickly, just as the Lord has promised you.

⁴ The Lord your God will drive them out to make room for you. When he does, don’t say to yourself, “The Lord has done it because I am godly. That’s why he brought me here to take over this land.” That isn’t true. The Lord is going to drive out those nations to make room for you because they are very evil. ⁵ You are not going in to take over their land because you have done what is right or honest. It’s because those nations are so evil. That’s why the Lord your God will drive them out to make room for you. He will do what he said he would do. He made a promise to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. ⁶ The Lord your God is giving you this good land to take as your own. But you must understand that it isn’t because you are a godly nation. In fact, you are stubborn.

Israel Worshiped the Golden Calf

⁷ Here is something you must remember. Never forget it. You made the Lord your God angry in the desert. You refused to obey him from the day you left Egypt until you arrived here. ⁸ At Mount Horeb you made the Lord angry enough to destroy you. ⁹ I went up the mountain. I went there to receive the tablets of the covenant law. They were made out of stone. It was the covenant the Lord had made with you. I stayed on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights. I didn’t eat any food or drink any water. ¹⁰ The Lord gave me two stone tablets. The words on them were written by the finger of God. All the commandments the Lord gave you were written on the tablets. He announced them to you out of the fire on the mountain. He wrote them on the day you gathered together there.

¹¹ The 40 days and 40 nights came to an end. Then the Lord gave me the two stone tablets. They were the tablets of the covenant law. ¹² The Lord told me, “Go down from here right away. The people you brought out of Egypt have become very sinful. They have quickly turned away from what I commanded them. They have made a statue of a god for themselves.”

¹³ The Lord also said to me, “I have seen these people. They are so stubborn! ¹⁴ Do not try to stop me. I am going to destroy them. I will wipe them out from the earth. Then I will make you into a great nation. Your people will be stronger than they were. There will be more of you than there were of them.”

¹⁵ So I turned and went down the mountain. It was blazing with fire. I was carrying the two tablets of the covenant law. ¹⁶ When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had made for yourselves a metal statue of a god. It looked like a calf. You had quickly turned away from the path the Lord had commanded you to follow. ¹⁷ So I threw the two tablets out of my hands. You watched them break into pieces.

¹⁸ Then once again I fell down flat in front of the Lord with my face toward the ground. I lay there for 40 days and 40 nights. I didn’t eat any food or drink any water. You had committed a terrible sin. You had done an evil thing in the Lord’s sight. You had made him angry. ¹⁹ I was afraid of the Lord’s great anger. He was so angry with you he wanted to destroy you. But the Lord listened to me again. ²⁰ And he was so angry with Aaron he wanted to destroy him too. But at that time I prayed for Aaron. ²¹ I also got that sinful calf you had made. I burned it in the fire. I crushed it and ground it into fine powder. Then I threw the powder into a stream that was flowing down the mountain.

²² You also made the Lord angry at Taberah, Massah and Kibroth Hattaavah.

²³ The Lord sent you out from Kadesh Barnea. He said, “Go up and take over the land I have given you.” But you refused to do what the Lord your God had commanded you to do. You didn’t trust him or obey him. ²⁴ You have been refusing to obey the Lord as long as I’ve known you.

²⁵ I lay down in front of the Lord with my face toward the ground for 40 days and 40 nights. I did it because the Lord had said he would destroy you. ²⁶ I prayed to him. “Lord and King,” I said, “don’t destroy your people. They belong to you. You set them free by your great power. You used your mighty hand to bring them out of Egypt. ²⁷ Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Forgive the Israelites for being so stubborn. Don’t judge them for the evil and sinful things they’ve done. ²⁸ If you do, the Egyptians will say, ‘The Lord wasn’t able to take them into the land he had promised to give them. He hated them. So he brought them out of Egypt to put them to death in the desert.’ ²⁹ But they are your people. They belong to you. You used your great power to bring them out of Egypt. You reached out your mighty arm and saved them.”

The New Stone Tablets

10 At that time the Lord spoke to me. He said, “Carve out two stone tablets, just like the first ones. Then come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden ark. ² I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you must put the tablets in the ark.”

³ So I made the ark out of acacia wood. I carved out two stone tablets that were just like the first ones. I went up the mountain. I carried the two tablets in my hands. ⁴ The Lord wrote on the tablets what he had written before. It was the Ten Commandments. He had announced them to you out of the fire on the mountain. It was on the day you had gathered together there. So the Lord gave the tablets to me. ⁵ Then I came back down the mountain. I put the tablets in the ark I had made, just as the Lord had commanded me. And that’s where they are now.

⁶ Remember how the Israelites traveled from the wells of Bene Jaakan to Moserah. That’s where Aaron died. And his body was buried there. His son Eleazar became the next priest after him. ⁷ From Moserah the people traveled to Gudgodah. Then they went on to Jotbathah. That land has streams of water. ⁸ At that time the Lord set the tribe of Levi apart. He appointed them to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord. He wanted them to serve him. He told them to bless the people in his name. And they still do it today. ⁹ That’s why the Levites don’t have any part of the land the Lord gave the other tribes in Israel. They don’t have any share among them. The Lord himself is their share. That’s what the Lord your God told them.

¹⁰ I had stayed on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights, just as I did the first time. The Lord listened to me that time also. He didn’t want to destroy you. ¹¹ “Go,” the Lord said to me. “Lead the people on their way. Then they can enter the land and take it over. I have given my word. I promised I would give the land to their fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

Honor the Lord

¹² And now, Israel, what is the Lord your God asking you to do? Honor him. Live exactly as he wants you to live. Love him. Serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. ¹³ Obey the Lord’s commands and rules. I’m giving them to you today for your own good.

¹⁴ The heavens belong to the Lord your God. Even the highest heavens belong to him. He owns the earth and everything in it. ¹⁵ But the Lord loved your people of long ago very much. You are their children. And he chose you above all the other nations. His love and his promise remain with you to this very day. ¹⁶ So don’t be stubborn anymore. Obey the Lord. ¹⁷ The Lord your God is the greatest God of all. He is the greatest Lord of all. He is the great God. He is mighty and wonderful. He treats everyone the same. He doesn’t accept any money from those who want special favors. ¹⁸ He stands up for widows and for children whose fathers have died. He loves outsiders living among you. He gives them food and clothes. ¹⁹ So you also must love outsiders. Remember that you yourselves were outsiders in Egypt. ²⁰ Honor the Lord your God. Serve him. Remain true to him. When you make promises, do so in his name. ²¹ He is the one you should praise. He’s your God. With your own eyes you saw the great and amazing things he did for you. ²² Long ago, your people went down into Egypt. The total number of them was 70. And now the Lord your God has made you as many as the stars in the sky.

Love and Obey the Lord

11 Love the Lord your God. Do what he requires. Always obey his rules, laws and commands. ² Remember today that your children weren’t the ones the Lord your God guided and corrected. They didn’t see his majesty. They weren’t in Egypt when he reached out his mighty hand and powerful arm. ³ They didn’t see the signs and the other things he did in Egypt. They didn’t see what he did to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to his whole country. ⁴ They weren’t there when the Lord destroyed the army of Egypt and its horses and chariots. He swept the waters of the Red Sea over the Egyptians while they were chasing you. He wiped them out forever. ⁵ Your children didn’t see what he did for you in the desert before you arrived here. ⁶ They didn’t see what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. Eliab was from the tribe of Reuben. The earth opened its mouth right in the middle of the Israelite camp. It swallowed up Dathan and Abiram. It swallowed them up together with their families, tents and every living thing that belonged to them. ⁷ But with your own eyes you saw all the great things the Lord has done.

⁸ So obey all the commands I’m giving you today. Then you will be strong enough to go in and take over the land. You will go across the Jordan River and take the land as your own. ⁹ You will live there for a long time. It’s the land the Lord promised to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children after them. He gave his word when he made that promise. The land has plenty of milk and honey. ¹⁰ You will enter it and take it over. It isn’t like the land of Egypt. That’s where you came from. You planted your seeds there. You had to water them, just as you have to water a vegetable garden. ¹¹ But you will soon go across the Jordan River. The land you are going to take over has mountains and valleys in it. It drinks rain from heaven. ¹² It’s a land the Lord your God takes care of. His eyes always look on it with favor. He watches over it from the beginning of the year to its end.

¹³ So be faithful. Obey the commands the Lord your God is giving you today. Love him. Serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. ¹⁴ Then the Lord will send rain on your land at the right time. He’ll send rain in the fall and in the spring. You will be able to gather your grain. You will also be able to make olive oil and fresh wine. ¹⁵ He’ll provide grass in the fields for your cattle. You will have plenty to eat.

¹⁶ But be careful. Don’t let anyone tempt you to do something wrong. Don’t turn away and worship other gods. Don’t bow down to them. ¹⁷ If you do, the Lord will be very angry with you. He’ll close up the sky. It won’t rain. The ground won’t produce its crops. Soon you will die. You won’t live to enjoy the good land the Lord is giving you. ¹⁸ So keep my words in your hearts and minds. Write them down and tie them on your hands as a reminder. Also tie them on your foreheads. ¹⁹ Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home. Talk about them when you walk along the road. Speak about them when you go to bed. And speak about them when you get up. ²⁰ Write them on the doorframes of your houses. Also write them on your gates. ²¹ Then you and your children will live for a long time in the land. The Lord promised to give the land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Your family line will continue as long as the heavens remain above the earth.

²² So be careful. Obey all the commands I’m giving you to follow. Love the Lord your God. Live exactly as he wants you to live. Remain true to him. ²³ Then the Lord will drive out all the nations to make room for you. They are larger and stronger than you are. But you will take their land. ²⁴ Every place you walk on will belong to you. Your territory will go all the way from the desert to Lebanon. It will go from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea. ²⁵ No one will be able to stand up against you. The Lord your God will throw the whole land into a panic because of you. He’ll do it everywhere you go, just as he promised you.

²⁶ Listen to me. I’m setting a blessing and a curse in front of you today. ²⁷ I’m giving you the commands of the Lord your God today. You will be blessed if you obey them. ²⁸ But you will be cursed if you don’t obey them. So don’t turn away from the path I’m now commanding you to take. Don’t turn away by worshiping other gods you didn’t know before. ²⁹ The Lord your God will bring you into the land to take it over. When he does, you must announce the blessings from Mount Gerizim. You must announce the curses from Mount Ebal. ³⁰ As you know, those mountains are across the Jordan River. They are on the west side of the Jordan toward the setting sun. They are near the large trees of Moreh. The mountains are in the territory of the Canaanites, who live in the Arabah Valley near Gilgal. ³¹ You are about to go across the Jordan River. You will enter the land and take it over. The Lord your God is giving it to you. You will take it over and live there. ³² When you do, make sure you obey all the rules and laws I’m giving you today.