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Victory by God’s Grace

“Listen, O Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan River to take over the land belonging to nations much greater and more powerful than you. They live in cities with walls that reach to the sky! The people are strong and tall—descendants of the famous Anakite giants. You’ve heard the saying, ‘Who can stand up to the Anakites?’ But recognize today that the Lord your God is the one who will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy them. He will subdue them so that you will quickly conquer them and drive them out, just as the Lord has promised.

“After the Lord your God has done this for you, don’t say in your hearts, ‘The Lord has given us this land because we are such good people!’ No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way. It is not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The Lord your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You must recognize that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people.

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“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”