Do Not Forget the Lord

8 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live^(A) and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.^{(B) 2} Remember how the Lord your God led^(C) you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test^(D) you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. ³ He humbled^(E) you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna,^(F) which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach^(G) you that man does not live on bread^(H) alone but on every word that comes from the mouth^(I) of the Lord.^{(J) 4} Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.^{(K) 5} Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.^(L)

⁶ Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him^(M) and revering him.^{(N) 7} For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land^(O)—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills;^{(P) 8} a land with wheat and barley,^(Q) vines^(R) and fig trees,^(S) pomegranates, olive oil and honey;^{(T) 9} a land where bread^(U) will not be scarce and you will lack nothing;^(V) a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.^(W)

¹⁰ When you have eaten and are satisfied,^(X) praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. ¹¹ Be careful that you do not forget^(Y) the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. ¹² Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down,^{(Z) 13} and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart will become proud and you will forget^(AA) the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵ He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness,^(AB) that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes^(AC) and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.^{(AD) 16} He gave you manna^(AE) to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known,^(AF) to humble and test^(AG) you so that in the end it might go well with you. ¹⁷ You may say to yourself,^(AH) “My power and the strength of my hands^(AI) have produced this wealth for me.” ¹⁸ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth,^(AJ) and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

¹⁹ If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods^(AK) and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.^{(AL) 20} Like the nations^(AM) the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.^(AN)

Not Because of Israel’s Righteousness

9 Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan^(AO) to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you,^(AP) with large cities^(AQ) that have walls up to the sky.^{(AR) 2} The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: “Who can stand up against the Anakites?”^{(AS) 3} But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you^(AT) like a devouring fire.^(AU) He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly,^(AV) as the Lord has promised you.

⁴ After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself,^(AW) “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness^(AX) of these nations^(AY) that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. ⁵ It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity^(AZ) that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness^(BA) of these nations,^(BB) the Lord your God will drive them out^(BC) before you, to accomplish what he swore^(BD) to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.^{(BE) 6} 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.^(BF)

The Golden Calf

⁷ Remember this and never forget how you aroused the anger^(BG) of the Lord your God in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious^(BH) against the Lord.^{(BI) 8} At Horeb you aroused the Lord’s wrath^(BJ) so that he was angry enough to destroy you.^{(BK) 9} When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant^(BL) that the Lord had made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days^(BM) and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water.^{(BN) 10} The Lord gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God.^(BO) On them were all the commandments the Lord proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.^(BP)

¹¹ At the end of the forty days and forty nights,^(BQ) the Lord gave me the two stone tablets,^(BR) 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.^(BS) They have turned away quickly^(BT) from what I commanded them and have made an idol for themselves.”

¹³ And the Lord said to me, “I have seen this people^(BU), and they are a stiff-necked people indeed! ¹⁴ Let me alone,^(BV) so that I may destroy them and blot out^(BW) their name from under heaven.^(BX) 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.^{(BY) 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.^(BZ) 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^(CA) prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water,^(CB) because of all the sin you had committed,^(CC) 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.^(CD) But again the Lord listened to me.^{(CE) 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^(CF) and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.^(CG)

²² You also made the Lord angry^(CH) at Taberah,^(CI) at Massah^(CJ) and at Kibroth Hattaavah.^(CK)

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

²⁵ I lay prostrate before the Lord those forty days and forty nights^(CQ) because the Lord had said he would destroy you.^{(CR) 26} I prayed to the Lord and said, “Sovereign Lord, do not destroy your people,^(CS) your own inheritance^(CT) that you redeemed^(CU) by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.^{(CV) 27} Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness^(CW) of this people, their wickedness and their sin. ²⁸ Otherwise, the country^(CX) 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,^(CY) he brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.’^{(CZ) 29} But they are your people,^(DA) your inheritance^(DB) that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.^(DC)”

Psalm 91

Paul Speaks to the Crowd^(A)

³⁷ As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks,^(B) he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?”

“Do you speak Greek?” he replied. ³⁸ “Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the wilderness^(C) some time ago?”^(D)

³⁹ Paul answered, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus^(E) in Cilicia,^(F) a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people.”

⁴⁰ After receiving the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned^(G) to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic^[a]:^(H) 22 ¹ “Brothers and fathers,^(I) listen now to my defense.”

² When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic,^(J) they became very quiet.

Then Paul said: ³ “I am a Jew,^(K) born in Tarsus^(L) of Cilicia,^(M) but brought up in this city. I studied under^(N) Gamaliel^(O) and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors.^(P) I was just as zealous^(Q) for God as any of you are today. ⁴ I persecuted^(R) the followers of this Way^(S) to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,^{(T) 5} as the high priest and all the Council^(U) can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates^(V) in Damascus,^(W) and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶ “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.^{(X) 7} I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’

⁸ “‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth,^(Y) whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ⁹ My companions saw the light,^(Z) but they did not understand the voice^(AA) of him who was speaking to me.

¹⁰ “‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’^{(AB) 11} My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.^(AC)

¹² “A man named Ananias came to see me.^(AD) He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.^{(AE) 13} He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him.

¹⁴ “Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors^(AF) has chosen you to know his will and to see^(AG) the Righteous One^(AH) and to hear words from his mouth. ¹⁵ You will be his witness^(AI) to all people of what you have seen^(AJ) and heard. ¹⁶ And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized^(AK) and wash your sins away,^(AL) calling on his name.’^(AM)