Not Because of Israel’s Righteousness

Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan(A) to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you,(B) with large cities(C) that have walls up to the sky.(D) The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: “Who can stand up against the Anakites?”(E) But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you(F) like a devouring fire.(G) He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly,(H) as the Lord has promised you.

After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself,(I) “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness(J) of these nations(K) that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity(L) that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness(M) of these nations,(N) the Lord your God will drive them out(O) before you, to accomplish what he swore(P) to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.(Q) Understand, 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 a stiff-necked people.(R)

The Golden Calf

Remember this and never forget how you aroused the anger(S) of the Lord your God in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious(T) against the Lord.(U) At Horeb you aroused the Lord’s wrath(V) so that he was angry enough to destroy you.(W) When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant(X) that the Lord had made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days(Y) and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water.(Z) 10 The Lord gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God.(AA) On them were all the commandments the Lord proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.(AB)

11 At the end of the forty days and forty nights,(AC) the Lord gave me the two stone tablets,(AD) the tablets of the covenant. 12 Then the Lord told me, “Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt.(AE) They have turned away quickly(AF) from what I commanded them and have made an idol for themselves.”

13 And the Lord said to me, “I have seen this people(AG), and they are a stiff-necked people indeed! 14 Let me alone,(AH) so that I may destroy them and blot out(AI) their name from under heaven.(AJ) And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.”

15 So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands.(AK) 16 When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf.(AL) You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you. 17 So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.

18 Then once again I fell(AM) prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water,(AN) because of all the sin you had committed,(AO) doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and so arousing his anger. 19 I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you.(AP) But again the Lord listened to me.(AQ) 20 And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too. 21 Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust(AR) and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.(AS)

22 You also made the Lord angry(AT) at Taberah,(AU) at Massah(AV) and at Kibroth Hattaavah.(AW)

23 And when the Lord sent you out from Kadesh Barnea,(AX) he said, “Go up and take possession(AY) of the land I have given you.” But you rebelled(AZ) against the command of the Lord your God. You did not trust(BA) him or obey him. 24 You have been rebellious against the Lord ever since I have known you.(BB)

25 I lay prostrate before the Lord those forty days and forty nights(BC) because the Lord had said he would destroy you.(BD) 26 I prayed to the Lord and said, “Sovereign Lord, do not destroy your people,(BE) your own inheritance(BF) that you redeemed(BG) by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.(BH) 27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness(BI) of this people, their wickedness and their sin. 28 Otherwise, the country(BJ) from which you brought us will say, ‘Because the Lord was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them,(BK) he brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.’(BL) 29 But they are your people,(BM) your inheritance(BN) that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.(BO)

Tablets Like the First Ones

10 At that time the Lord said to me, “Chisel out two stone tablets(BP) like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden ark.[a] I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you are to put them in the ark.”(BQ)

So I made the ark out of acacia wood(BR) and chiseled(BS) out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. The Lord wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments(BT) he had proclaimed(BU) to you on the mountain, out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.(BV) And the Lord gave them to me. Then I came back down the mountain(BW) and put the tablets in the ark(BX) I had made,(BY) as the Lord commanded me, and they are there now.(BZ)

(The Israelites traveled from the wells of Bene Jaakan to Moserah.(CA) There Aaron died(CB) and was buried, and Eleazar(CC) his son succeeded him as priest.(CD) From there they traveled to Gudgodah and on to Jotbathah, a land with streams of water.(CE) At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi(CF) to carry the ark of the covenant(CG) of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister(CH) and to pronounce blessings(CI) in his name, as they still do today.(CJ) That is why the Levites have no share or inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance,(CK) as the Lord your God told them.)

10 Now I had stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, as I did the first time, and the Lord listened to me at this time also. It was not his will to destroy you.(CL) 11 “Go,” the Lord said to me, “and lead the people on their way, so that they may enter and possess the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.”

Fear the Lord

12 And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you(CM) but to fear(CN) the Lord your God, to walk(CO) in obedience to him, to love him,(CP) to serve the Lord(CQ) your God with all your heart(CR) and with all your soul,(CS) 13 and to observe the Lord’s commands(CT) and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?(CU)

14 To the Lord your God belong the heavens,(CV) even the highest heavens,(CW) the earth and everything in it.(CX) 15 Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved(CY) them, and he chose you,(CZ) their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today.(DA) 16 Circumcise(DB) your hearts,(DC) therefore, and do not be stiff-necked(DD) any longer. 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods(DE) and Lord of lords,(DF) the great God, mighty and awesome,(DG) who shows no partiality(DH) and accepts no bribes.(DI) 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow,(DJ) and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.(DK) 19 And you are to love(DL) those who are foreigners,(DM) for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.(DN) 20 Fear the Lord your God and serve him.(DO) Hold fast(DP) to him and take your oaths in his name.(DQ) 21 He is the one you praise;(DR) he is your God, who performed for you those great(DS) and awesome wonders(DT) you saw with your own eyes. 22 Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were seventy in all,(DU) and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.(DV)

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 10:1 That is, a chest

Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven,

A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak!

Understand therefore this day, that the Lord thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the Lord hath said unto thee.

Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee.

Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Understand therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people.

Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the Lord.

Also in Horeb ye provoked the Lord to wrath, so that the Lord was angry with you to have destroyed you.

When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the Lord made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water:

10 And the Lord delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the Lord spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.

11 And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the Lord gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant.

12 And the Lord said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image.

13 Furthermore the Lord spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

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

15 So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount burned with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands.

16 And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against the Lord your God, and had made you a molten calf: ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which the Lord had commanded you.

17 And I took the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and brake them before your eyes.

18 And I fell down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

19 For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the Lord was wroth against you to destroy you. But the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also.

20 And the Lord was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.

21 And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.

22 And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibrothhattaavah, ye provoked the Lord to wrath.

23 Likewise when the Lord sent you from Kadeshbarnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you; then ye rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God, and ye believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice.

24 Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you.

25 Thus I fell down before the Lord forty days and forty nights, as I fell down at the first; because the Lord had said he would destroy you.

26 I prayed therefore unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, destroy not thy people and thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed through thy greatness, which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

27 Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin:

28 Lest the land whence thou broughtest us out say, Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, and because he hated them, he hath brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.

29 Yet they are thy people and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest out by thy mighty power and by thy stretched out arm.

10 At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood.

And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark.

And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand.

And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them unto me.

And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the Lord commanded me.

And the children of Israel took their journey from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to Mosera: there Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest's office in his stead.

From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbath, a land of rivers of waters.

At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.

Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance, according as the Lord thy God promised him.

10 And I stayed in the mount, according to the first time, forty days and forty nights; and the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also, and the Lord would not destroy thee.

11 And the Lord said unto me, Arise, take thy journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give unto them.

12 And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

13 To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?

14 Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.

15 Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.

16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.

17 For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:

18 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.

19 Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

20 Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.

21 He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.

22 Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.

Israel’s Rebellions Reviewed(A)

“Hear, O Israel: You are to cross over the Jordan today, and go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, the (B)descendants of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the descendants of Anak?’ Therefore understand today that the Lord your God is He who (C)goes over before you as a (D)consuming fire. (E)He will destroy them and bring them down before you; (F)so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the Lord has said to you.

(G)“Do not think in your heart, after the Lord your God has cast them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land’; but it is (H)because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you. (I)It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you, and that He may [a]fulfill the (J)word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a (K)stiff-necked[b] people.

“Remember! Do not forget how you (L)provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. (M)From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. Also (N)in Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, so that the Lord was angry enough with you to have destroyed you. (O)When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and (P)forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. 10 (Q)Then the Lord delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words which the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire (R)in[c] the day of the assembly. 11 And it came to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.

12 “Then the Lord said to me, (S)‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly; they have (T)quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molded image.’

13 “Furthermore (U)the Lord spoke to me, saying, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed (V)they are a [d]stiff-necked people. 14 (W)Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and (X)blot out their name from under heaven; (Y)and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’

15 (Z)“So I turned and came down from the mountain, and (AA)the mountain burned with fire; and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 And (AB)I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the Lord your God—had made for yourselves a molded calf! You had turned aside quickly from the way which the Lord had commanded you. 17 Then I took the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and (AC)broke them before your eyes. 18 And I (AD)fell[e] down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you committed in doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. 19 (AE)For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the Lord was angry with you, to destroy you. (AF)But the Lord listened to me at that time also. 20 And the Lord was very angry with Aaron and would have destroyed him; so I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. 21 Then I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it and ground it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I (AG)threw its dust into the brook that descended from the mountain.

22 “Also at (AH)Taberah and (AI)Massah and (AJ)Kibroth Hattaavah you [f]provoked the Lord to wrath. 23 Likewise, (AK)when the Lord sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, ‘Go up and possess the land which I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God, and (AL)you did not believe Him nor obey His voice. 24 (AM)You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you.

25 (AN)“Thus I [g]prostrated myself before the Lord; forty days and forty nights I kept prostrating myself, because the Lord had said He would destroy you. 26 Therefore I prayed to the Lord, and said: ‘O Lord God, do not destroy Your people and (AO)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 look on the stubbornness of this people, or on their wickedness or their sin, 28 lest the land from which You brought us should say, “Because the Lord was not able to bring them to the land which He promised 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, whom You brought out by Your mighty power and by Your outstretched arm.’

The Second Pair of Tablets(AP)

10 “At that time the Lord said to me, [h]‘Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain and make yourself an (AQ)ark of wood. And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and (AR)you shall put them in the ark.’

“So I made an ark of acacia wood, hewed two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain, having the two tablets in my hand. And He wrote on the tablets according to the first writing, the Ten [i]Commandments, (AS)which the Lord had spoken to you in the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly; and the Lord gave them to me. Then I turned and (AT)came down from the mountain, and (AU)put the tablets in the ark which I had made; (AV)and there they are, just as the Lord commanded me.”

(Now the children of Israel journeyed from the wells of Bene Jaakan to Moserah, where Aaron (AW)died, and where he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered as priest in his [j]stead. (AX)From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of [k]rivers of water. At that time (AY)the Lord [l]separated the tribe of Levi (AZ)to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, (BA)to stand before the Lord to minister to Him and (BB)to bless in His name, to this day. (BC)Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance, just as the Lord your God promised him.)

10 “As at the first time, (BD)I stayed in the mountain forty days and forty nights; (BE)the Lord also heard me at that time, and the Lord chose not to destroy you. 11 (BF)Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, begin your journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.’

The Essence of the Law

12 “And now, Israel, (BG)what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to (BH)love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today (BI)for your [m]good? 14 Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the (BJ)Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it. 15 The Lord delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their [n]descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day. 16 Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your (BK)heart, and be (BL)stiff-necked[o] no longer. 17 For the Lord your God is (BM)God of gods and (BN)Lord of lords, the great God, (BO)mighty and awesome, who (BP)shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. 18 (BQ)He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. 19 Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 20 (BR)You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name. 21 He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen. 22 Your fathers went down to Egypt with seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you as the stars of heaven in multitude.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 9:5 perform
  2. Deuteronomy 9:6 stubborn or rebellious
  3. Deuteronomy 9:10 when you were all gathered together
  4. Deuteronomy 9:13 stubborn or rebellious
  5. Deuteronomy 9:18 prostrated myself
  6. Deuteronomy 9:22 caused the Lord to be angry
  7. Deuteronomy 9:25 fell down
  8. Deuteronomy 10:1 Cut out
  9. Deuteronomy 10:4 Lit. Words
  10. Deuteronomy 10:6 place
  11. Deuteronomy 10:7 brooks
  12. Deuteronomy 10:8 set apart
  13. Deuteronomy 10:13 benefit or welfare
  14. Deuteronomy 10:15 Lit. seed
  15. Deuteronomy 10:16 rebellious