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Listen, Israel, today you are about to cross the Jordan to go in and to take possession of nations larger and stronger than you, nations with large cities that have fortified walls reaching up to the skies, with people strong and tall, the Anakites, whom you know and about whom you have heard it said: “Who can stand up against the descendants of Anak?”

So know today that the Lord your God himself is crossing over in front of you. Like a consuming fire he will destroy them, and he will subdue them before you. You will take possession of their land and destroy them quickly, just as the Lord promised you.

When the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say in your heart, “Because of my righteousness the Lord brought me in to take possession of this land,” when actually it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is handing over their land to you.

You are not entering to take possession of their land because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart, but because of the wickedness of these nations. The Lord your God is handing over their land to you, in order to confirm the promise that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Know, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, because a stiff-necked people[a] is what you are.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 9:6 Like a stubborn animal that refuses to be led

“Hear, Israel, you are about to cross the Jordan today to go to dispossess nations larger and more numerous than you, great cities fortified with high walls,[a] a great and tall people, the sons of the Anakites, whom you know and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who could stand before the sons of Anak?’ You should know today[b] that Yahweh your God is the one crossing ahead of you[c] as a devouring fire; he will destroy them, and he will subdue them before you; so you will dispossess them, and you will destroy them quickly, just as[d] Yahweh promised[e] you.

“You shall not say to yourself[f] when Yahweh your God is driving them out[g] before you,[h] saying,[i] ‘Because of my righteousness Yahweh brought me to take possession of this land’; but because of the wickedness of these nations Yahweh is driving them out before you.[j] It is not because of your righteousness and because of the uprightness of your heart that you are coming to take possession of their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations Yahweh your God is driving them before you,[k] and in order to confirm the promise[l] that Yahweh swore to your ancestors,[m] to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

“So you should understand that it is not because of your righteousness that Yahweh your God is giving you this good land to take possession of it, because you are a stubborn people. [n]

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 9:1 Literally “in heaven/the sky”
  2. Deuteronomy 9:3 Literally “the day”
  3. Deuteronomy 9:3 Literally “to your faces”
  4. Deuteronomy 9:3 Literally “as that”
  5. Deuteronomy 9:3 Literally “spoke”
  6. Deuteronomy 9:4 Literally “in your heart”
  7. Deuteronomy 9:4 Literally “at the driving out of Yahweh, your God, them”
  8. Deuteronomy 9:4 Literally “from before your faces”
  9. Deuteronomy 9:4 Literally “to say”
  10. Deuteronomy 9:4 Literally “from your faces”
  11. Deuteronomy 9:5 Literally “from your faces”
  12. Deuteronomy 9:5 Literally “word”
  13. Deuteronomy 9:5 Or “fathers”
  14. Deuteronomy 9:6 Literally “a people stiff of neck you”