Deuteronomy 9
Contemporary English Version
Why the Lord Will Help Israel
Moses said:
9 Israel, listen to me! You will soon cross the Jordan River and go into the land to force out the nations that live there. They are more powerful than you are, and the walls around their cities reach to the sky. 2 Some of these nations are descendants of the Anakim.[a] You know how tall and strong they are, and you've heard that no one can defeat them in battle. 3 But the Lord your God has promised to go ahead of you, like a raging fire burning everything in its path. So when you attack your enemies, it will be easy for you to destroy them and take their land.
4-6 After the Lord helps you wipe out these nations and conquer their land, don't think he did it because you are such good people. You aren't good—you are stubborn! No, the Lord is going to help you, because the nations that live there are evil, and because he wants to keep the promise he made to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
When Israel Made an Idol
(Exodus 32)
Moses said to Israel:
7 Don't ever forget how you kept rebelling and making the Lord angry the whole time you were in the desert. You rebelled from the day you left Egypt until the day you arrived here.
8 At Mount Sinai[b] you made the Lord so angry that he was going to destroy you. 9-11 (A) It happened during those 40 days and nights that I was on the mountain, without anything to eat or drink. He had told me to come up there so he could give me the agreement he made with us. And this agreement was actually the same Ten Commandments[c] he had announced to you when he spoke from the fire on the mountain. The Lord had written them on two flat stones with his own hand. But after giving me the two stones, 12 he said:
Moses, hurry down the mountain to those people you led out of Egypt. They have already disobeyed me and committed the terrible sin of making an idol.
13 I've been watching the Israelites, and I've seen how stubborn and rebellious they are. 14 So don't try to stop me! I am going to wipe them out, and no one on earth will remember they ever lived. Then I will let your descendants become an even bigger and more powerful nation than Israel.
Moses said:
15 Fire was raging on the mountaintop as I went back down, carrying the two stones with the commandments on them. 16 I saw how quickly you had sinned and disobeyed the Lord your God. There you were, worshiping the metal idol you had made in the shape of a calf. 17 So I threw down the two stones and smashed them before your very eyes.
18-20 I bowed down at the place of worship and prayed to the Lord, without eating or drinking for 40 days and nights. You had committed a terrible sin by making that idol, and the Lord hated what you had done. He was angry enough to destroy all of you and Aaron as well. So I prayed for you and Aaron as I had done before, and this time the Lord answered my prayers.[d]
21 It was a sin for you to make that idol, so I threw it into the fire to melt it down. Then I took the lump of gold, ground it into powder, and threw the powder into the stream flowing down the mountain.
22 (B) You also made the Lord angry when you were staying at Taberah,[e] at Massah,[f] and at Kibroth-Hattaavah.[g] 23 (C) Then at Kadesh-Barnea the Lord said, “I am giving you the land, so go ahead and take it!” But since you didn't trust the Lord, you rebelled and disobeyed his command.[h] 24 In fact, you've rebelled against the Lord for as long as he has[i] known you.
25 After you had made the idol in the shape of a calf, the Lord said he was going to destroy you. So I lay face down in front of the Lord for 40 days and nights 26 and prayed:
Our Lord, please don't wipe out your people. You used your great power to rescue them from Egypt and to make them your very own. 27 Israel's ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob obeyed you faithfully. Think about them, and not about Israel's stubbornness, evil, and sin. 28 If you destroy your people, the Egyptians will say, “The Lord promised to give Israel land, but he wasn't powerful enough to keep his promise. In fact, he hated them so much that he took them into the desert and killed them.” 29 But you, our Lord, chose the people of Israel to be your own, and with your mighty power you rescued them from Egypt.
Footnotes
- 9.2 Anakim: See the note at 2.10,11.
- 9.8 Mount Sinai: See the note at 1.1-5.
- 9.9-11 Ten Commandments: Hebrew “commandments.”
- 9.18-20 as I had done before … prayers: This may refer to Moses' praying for Israel before he came down from the mountain (see Exodus 32.11-14).
- 9.22 Taberah: See Numbers 11.1-3.
- 9.22 Massah: See the note at 6.16.
- 9.22 Kibroth-Hattaavah: See Numbers 11.31-34.
- 9.23 Kadesh-Barnea … you rebelled and disobeyed his command: See Numbers 13; 14.
- 9.24 he has: The Samaritan Hebrew Text and one ancient translation; the Standard Hebrew Text “I have.”
Deuteronomy 9
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Warning against Self-Righteousness
9 “Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to go and drive out nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities fortified to the heavens.(A) 2 The people are strong and tall, the descendants of the Anakim.(B) You know about them and you have heard it said about them, ‘Who can stand up to the sons of Anak?’(C) 3 But understand that today the Lord your God will cross over ahead of you(D) as a consuming fire; He will devastate and subdue them before you. You will drive them out and destroy them swiftly, as the Lord has told you. 4 When the Lord your God drives them out before you, do not say to yourself, ‘The Lord brought me in to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.’ Instead, the Lord will drive out these nations before you because of their wickedness. 5 You are not going to take possession of their land because of your righteousness or your integrity. Instead, the Lord your God will drive out these nations before you because of their wickedness, in order to keep the promise He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 Understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land(E) to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.
Israel’s Rebellion and Moses’ Intercession
7 “Remember(F) and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God in the wilderness. You have been rebelling against the Lord from the day you left the land of Egypt until you reached this place. 8 You provoked the Lord at Horeb, and He was angry enough with you to destroy you. 9 When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant the Lord made with you, I stayed on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. I did not eat bread or drink water. 10 On the day of the assembly the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, inscribed by God’s finger. The exact words were on them, which the Lord spoke to you from the fire on the mountain. 11 The Lord gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant, at the end of the 40 days and 40 nights.
12 “The Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go down immediately from here. For your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned from the way that I commanded them; they have made a cast image for themselves.’ 13 The Lord also said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed, they are a stiff-necked people. 14 Leave Me alone, and I will destroy them and blot out their name under heaven. Then I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.’
15 “So I went back down the mountain, while it was blazing with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. 16 I saw how you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made a calf image for yourselves. You had quickly turned from the way the Lord had commanded for you. 17 So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my hands, shattering them before your eyes. 18 Then I fell down like the first time in the presence of the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights; I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you committed, doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and provoking Him to anger. 19 I was afraid of the fierce anger the Lord had directed against you,(G) because He was about to destroy you. But again the Lord listened to me on that occasion.(H) 20 The Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him. But I prayed for Aaron at that time also. 21 I took the sinful calf you had made, burned it up, and crushed it, thoroughly grinding it to powder as fine as dust. Then I threw it into the stream that came down from the mountain.(I)
22 “You continued to provoke the Lord at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-hattaavah.(J) 23 When the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, He said, ‘Go up and possess the land I have given you’; you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You did not believe or obey Him.(K) 24 You have been rebelling against the Lord ever since I have[a] known you.(L)
25 “I fell down in the presence of the Lord 40 days and 40 nights because the Lord had threatened to destroy you. 26 I prayed to the Lord:
Lord God, do not annihilate Your people, Your inheritance, whom You redeemed(M) through Your greatness and brought out of Egypt with a strong hand. 27 Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Disregard this people’s stubbornness, and their wickedness and sin. 28 Otherwise, those in the land you brought us from will say, ‘Because the Lord wasn’t able to bring them into the land He had promised them, and because He hated them, He brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’(N) 29 But they are Your people, Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your great power and outstretched arm.(O)
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 9:24 Sam, LXX read since He has
Deuteronomy 9
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
Warning against Self-Righteousness
9 ‘Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and drive out nations greater and stronger than you,(A) with large cities fortified to the heavens.(B) 2 The people are strong and tall, the descendants of the Anakim.(C) You know about them and you have heard it said about them, “Who can stand up to the sons of Anak? ”(D) 3 But understand that today the Lord your God will cross over ahead of you(E) as a consuming fire;(F) he will devastate and subdue them before you. You will drive them out and destroy them swiftly,(G) as the Lord has told you. 4 When the Lord your God drives them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The Lord brought me in to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.”(H) Instead, the Lord will drive out these nations before you because of their wickedness.(I) 5 You are not going to take possession of their land because of your righteousness or your integrity. Instead, the Lord your God will drive out these nations before you because of their wickedness, in order to fulfil the promise he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 Understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land(J) to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.(K)
Israel’s Rebellion and Moses’s Intercession
7 ‘Remember(L) and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God in the wilderness. You have been rebelling against the Lord from the day you left the land of Egypt until you reached this place. 8 You provoked the Lord at Horeb, and he was angry enough with you to destroy you. 9 When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant(M) the Lord made with you, I stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights. I did not eat food or drink water. 10 On the day of the assembly the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, inscribed by God’s finger.(N) The exact words were on them, which the Lord spoke to you from the fire on the mountain.(O) 11 The Lord gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant, at the end of the forty days and forty nights.
12 ‘The Lord said to me, “Get up and go down immediately from here. For your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned from the way that I commanded them; they have made a cast image for themselves.”(P) 13 The Lord also said to me, “I have seen this people, and indeed, they are a stiff-necked people. 14 Leave me alone, and I will destroy them and blot out their name under heaven.(Q) Then I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.”
15 ‘So I went back down the mountain, while it was blazing with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. 16 I saw how you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made a calf image for yourselves. You had quickly turned from the way the Lord had commanded for you. 17 So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my hands, shattering them before your eyes.(R) 18 I fell down like the first time in the presence of the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I did not eat food or drink water because of all the sin you committed, doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and angering him. 19 I was afraid of the fierce anger the Lord had directed against you,(S) because he was about to destroy you. But again the Lord listened to me on that occasion.(T) 20 The Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him. But I prayed for Aaron at that time also. 21 I took the sinful calf you had made and burned it. I crushed it, thoroughly grinding it to powder as fine as dust, and threw its dust into the stream that came down from the mountain.(U)
22 ‘You continued to provoke the Lord at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-hattaavah.(V) 23 When the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, he said, “Go up and possess the land I have given you”; you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You did not believe or obey him.(W) 24 You have been rebelling against the Lord ever since I have[a] known you.(X)
25 ‘I fell down in the presence of the Lord for forty days and forty nights because the Lord had threatened to destroy you. 26 I prayed to the Lord:
Lord God, do not annihilate your people, your inheritance, whom you redeemed(Y) through your greatness and brought out of Egypt with a strong hand. 27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Disregard this people’s stubbornness, and their wickedness and sin. 28 Otherwise, those in the land you brought us from will say, “Because the Lord wasn’t able to bring them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them, he brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.”(Z) 29 But they are your people, your inheritance, whom you brought out by your great power and outstretched arm.(AA)
Footnotes
- 9:24 Sam, LXX read since he has
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