Deuteronomy 9
World English Bible
9 Hear, Israel! You are to pass over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to the sky, 2 a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard say, “Who can stand before the sons of Anak?” 3 Know therefore today that Yahweh your God is he who goes over before you as a devouring fire. He will destroy them and he will bring them down before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as Yahweh has spoken to you.
4 Don’t say in your heart, after Yahweh your God has thrust them out from before you, “For my righteousness Yahweh has brought me in to possess this land;” because Yahweh drives them out before you because of the wickedness of these nations. 5 Not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart do you go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations Yahweh your God does drive them out from before you, and that he may establish the word which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 6 Know therefore that Yahweh your God doesn’t give you this good land to possess for your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people. 7 Remember, and don’t forget, how you provoked Yahweh your God to wrath 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 Also in Horeb you provoked Yahweh to wrath, and Yahweh was angry with you to destroy you. 9 When I had gone up onto the mountain to receive the stone tablets, even the tablets of the covenant which Yahweh made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. 10 Yahweh delivered to me the two stone tablets written with God’s finger. On them were all the words which Yahweh spoke with you on the mountain out of the middle of the fire in the day of the assembly.
11 It came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights that Yahweh gave me the two stone tablets, even the tablets of the covenant. 12 Yahweh said to me, “Arise, get down quickly from here; for your people whom you have brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned away from the way which I commanded them. They have made a molten image for themselves!”
13 Furthermore Yahweh spoke to me, saying, “I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. 14 Leave me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under the sky; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.”
15 So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire. The two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 I looked, and behold, you had sinned against Yahweh your God. You had made yourselves a molded calf. You had quickly turned away from the way which Yahweh had commanded you. 17 I took hold of the two tablets, and threw them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes. 18 I fell down before Yahweh, as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you sinned, in doing that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger. 19 For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which Yahweh was angry against you to destroy you. But Yahweh listened to me that time also. 20 Yahweh was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him. I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. 21 I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire, and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust. I threw its dust into the brook that descended out of the mountain. 22 At Taberah, at Massah, and at Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked Yahweh to wrath. 23 When Yahweh sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, “Go up and possess the land which I have given you,” you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God, and you didn’t believe him or listen to his voice. 24 You have been rebellious against Yahweh from the day that I knew you. 25 So I fell down before Yahweh the forty days and forty nights that I fell down, because Yahweh had said he would destroy you. 26 I prayed to Yahweh, and said, “Lord Yahweh, don’t destroy your people and your inheritance that you have redeemed through your greatness, that you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Don’t look at the stubbornness of this people, nor at their wickedness, nor at their sin, 28 lest the land you brought us out from say, ‘Because Yahweh was not able to bring them into the land which he promised to them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’ 29 Yet they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.”
Deuteronomy 9
New American Standard Bible
Israel Provoked God
9 “Hear, Israel! You are crossing the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess (A)nations greater and mightier than you, cities that are great and (B)fortified to heaven, 2 a people who are great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know and of whom you have heard it said, ‘(C)Who can stand against the sons of Anak?’ 3 So be aware today that (D)it is the Lord your God who is crossing over ahead of you as (E)a consuming fire. He will destroy them and He will subdue them before you, so that (F)you may drive them out and eliminate them quickly, just as the Lord has spoken to you.
4 “(G)Do not say in your heart when the Lord your God has driven them away from [a]you, ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to take possession of this land.’ Rather, it is (H)because of the [b]wickedness of these nations that the Lord is dispossessing them before you. 5 It is (I)not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you are going in to take possession of their land, [c]but it is because of the [d]wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and in order to confirm (J)the [e]oath which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
6 “Know, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are (K)a [f]stubborn people. 7 Remember, do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to anger in the wilderness; (L)from the day that you left the land of Egypt until you arrived at this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. 8 Even (M)at Horeb you provoked the Lord to anger, and the Lord was so angry with you that He would have destroyed you. 9 When I went up to the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with you, then I remained on the mountain for forty days and nights; (N)I neither ate bread nor drank water. 10 The Lord gave me the two tablets of stone (O)written by the finger of God; and on them were all the words which the Lord had spoken with you at the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. 11 It came about (P)at the end of forty days and nights that the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. 12 (Q)Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go down from here quickly, because your people, whom you brought out of Egypt, have behaved corruptly. They have (R)quickly turned aside from the way that I commanded them; they have made a cast metal image for themselves.’ 13 The (S)Lord also said to [g]me, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed, it is a [h](T)stubborn people. 14 (U)Leave Me alone, that I may destroy them and (V)wipe out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’
15 “(W)So I turned and came down from the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 And I saw that you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God. You had made for yourselves a cast metal image of a calf; you had quickly turned aside from the way that the Lord had commanded you. 17 So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my two hands, and smashed them to pieces before your eyes! 18 (X)Then I fell down before the Lord (Y)like the first time, for forty days and nights; (Z)I neither ate bread nor drank water, (AA)because of all your sin which you had committed by doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. 19 For (AB)I was afraid of the anger and the rage with which the Lord was angry with you so as to destroy you; (AC)but the Lord listened to me that time as well. 20 The Lord was also angry enough with Aaron to destroy him; so I also prayed for Aaron at the same time. 21 (AD)And I took your [i]sinful thing which you had made, the calf, and burned it in the fire and crushed it, grinding it thoroughly until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the stream that came down from the mountain.
22 “Then at (AE)Taberah, at (AF)Massah, and at (AG)Kibroth-hattaavah you kept provoking the Lord to anger. 23 And when the Lord sent you from (AH)Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘(AI)Go up and take possession of the land which I have given you,’ you rebelled against the [j]command of the Lord your God; (AJ)you neither trusted Him nor listened to His voice. 24 (AK)You have been rebellious toward the Lord since the day I knew you.
25 “(AL)So I fell down before the Lord for the forty days and nights, which I [k]did because the Lord said He would destroy you. 26 (AM)And I prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Lord God, do not destroy Your people, Your inheritance, whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand! 27 Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not turn Your attention to the stubbornness of this people, or to their wickedness, or their sin. 28 Otherwise, the people of the land from which You brought us will say, “(AN)Since the Lord was not able to bring them into the land which He had [l]promised them, and since He hated them, He has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness!” 29 Yet they are Your people, and (AO)Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your (AP)great power and Your outstretched arm.’
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 9:4 Lit you, saying
- Deuteronomy 9:4 Or godlessness
- Deuteronomy 9:5 Or for
- Deuteronomy 9:5 Or godlessness
- Deuteronomy 9:5 Lit word
- Deuteronomy 9:6 Lit stiff-necked
- Deuteronomy 9:13 Lit me, saying
- Deuteronomy 9:13 Lit stiff-necked
- Deuteronomy 9:21 Lit sin
- Deuteronomy 9:23 Lit mouth
- Deuteronomy 9:25 Lit fell down
- Deuteronomy 9:28 Lit spoken to
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