Deuteronomy 9

1Hear, O Israel: thou art to pass over the Jordan this day, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fortified up to heaven,

1Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan River to enter and take over nations that are bigger and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls reaching up to the sky.

2a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the sons of Anak?

2The people there are large and tall—they are the Anakim. You know about them and have heard it said, 'Who can stand up against the sons of Anak?'

3Know therefore this day, that Jehovah thy God is he who goeth over before thee as a devouring fire; he will destroy them, and he will bring them down before thee: so shalt thou drive them out, and make them to perish quickly, as Jehovah hath spoken unto thee.

3Understand today that the LORD your God is the one who goes across before you like a fire that consumes everything. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; you will drive them out and wipe them out quickly, just as the LORD promised you.

4Speak not thou in thy heart, after that Jehovah thy God hath thrust them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness Jehovah hath brought me in to possess this land; whereas for the wickedness of these nations Jehovah doth drive them out from before thee.

4After the LORD your God has driven them out from before you, do not say to yourselves, 'The LORD brought me here to take this land because I am so righteous.' Actually, it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you.

5Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thy heart, dost thou go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations Jehovah thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may establish the word which Jehovah sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

5It is not because of your goodness or your honest heart that you are going in to take their land. Instead, it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God is driving them out, and to keep the promise he made to your ancestors—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

6Know therefore, that Jehovah thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people.

6So understand that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because you are righteous, for you are a stubborn people.

7Remember, forget thou not, how thou provokedst Jehovah thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou wentest forth out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against Jehovah.

7Remember, and never forget, how you made the LORD your God angry in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived at this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD.

8Also in Horeb ye provoked Jehovah to wrath, and Jehovah was angry with you to destroy you.

8Even at Mount Horeb, you made the LORD so angry that he was ready to destroy you.

9When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which Jehovah made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights; I did neither eat bread nor drink water.

9When 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 forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water.

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

10The LORD gave me the two stone tablets written by the finger of God. On them were all the words the LORD had spoken to you on the mountain out of the fire on the day of the assembly.

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

11At the end of those forty days and forty nights, the LORD gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant.

12And Jehovah said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people that 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.

12Then the LORD said to me, 'Get up and go down from here quickly, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned away quickly from what I commanded them and have made a metal idol for themselves.'

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

13The LORD also said to me, 'I have seen these people, and they are indeed a stubborn people.

14let 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.

14Leave me alone so that I may destroy them and wipe out their name from under heaven. Then I will make you into a nation stronger and greater than they are.'

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

15So I turned and went down the mountain while it was burning with fire, holding the two tablets of the covenant in my two hands.

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

16I looked and saw that you had sinned against the LORD your God. You had made a metal calf for yourselves and had turned away quickly from the path the LORD commanded you to follow.

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

17I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them into pieces right before your eyes.

18And I fell down before Jehovah, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I did neither eat bread nor drink water; because of all your sin which ye sinned, in doing that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger.

18Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, just as I did before. I ate no bread and drank no water because of the sin you committed, doing what was evil in the LORD's sight and making him angry.

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

19I was terrified of the LORD's hot anger because he was so furious that he wanted to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me that time also.

20And Jehovah was very angry with Aaron to destroy him: and I prayed for Aaron also at the same time.

20The LORD was also angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, so I prayed for Aaron at that same time as well.

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

21I took that sinful thing you made—the calf—and burned it in the fire. I crushed it and ground it into fine dust, then I threw the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain.

22And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah, ye provoked Jehovah to wrath.

22You also made the LORD angry at Taberah, at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah.

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

23When the LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea and said, 'Go up and take the land I have given you,' you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. You did not trust him or obey him.

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

24You have been rebellious against the LORD from the very first day I knew you.

25So I fell down before Jehovah the forty days and forty nights that I fell down, because Jehovah had said he would destroy you.

25I lay prostrate before the LORD for those forty days and forty nights because the LORD had said he would destroy you.

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

26I prayed to the LORD and said, 'O Sovereign LORD, do not destroy your people, your own inheritance, whom you rescued by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a strong hand.

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

27Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Ignore the stubbornness, the wickedness, and the sin of these people.

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

28Otherwise, the people in the land you brought us from will say, "The LORD was not able to bring them into the land he promised them; he hated them, so he brought them out to kill them in the wilderness."

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

29But they are your people and your own inheritance, whom you brought out by your great power and your mighty arm.'