Deuteronomy 9-10
GOD’S WORD Translation
Israel Has Been Given Canaan because of God’s Mercy
9 Listen, Israel, you’re about to cross the Jordan River. You’ll be forcing out nations that are larger and stronger than you, with big cities that have sky-high walls. 2 Their people are tall and strong. They’re descendants of Anak. You know all about them. You’ve also heard it said, “Who can oppose the descendants of Anak?” 3 Realize today that the Lord your God is the one who is going ahead of you like a raging fire. He will wipe them out and will use you to crush their power. You will take possession of their land and will quickly destroy them as the Lord promised you.
4 When the Lord your God expels these people in front of you, don’t say to yourselves, “Because we’ve been living right, the Lord brought us here to take possession of this land.” No, it’s because these nations are so wicked that the Lord is forcing them out of your way. 5 It’s not because you’ve been living right or because you’re so honest that you’re entering to take possession of their land. It’s because these people are so wicked that the Lord your God is forcing them out of your way. It’s also because the Lord wants to confirm the promise he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 So understand this: It’s not because you’ve been living right that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess. You are impossible to deal with!
7 Never forget how you made the Lord your God angry in the desert. You’ve rebelled against the Lord from the day you left Egypt until you came here. 8 Even at Mount Horeb you made the Lord so angry that he wanted to destroy you. 9 When I went up on the mountain to get the stone tablets, the tablets of the promise that the Lord made to you, I stayed on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights without food or water. 10 Then the Lord gave me the two stone tablets inscribed by God himself. On them were written all the words that the Lord spoke to you from the fire on the mountain on the day of the assembly.
11 At the end of the 40 days and 40 nights, the Lord gave me the two stone tablets with his promise on them. 12 He told me, “Leave right away. Your people whom you brought out of Egypt have ruined ⌞everything⌟. They’ve quickly turned from the way I commanded them to live. They’ve made an idol for themselves.”
13 The Lord also said to me, “I’ve seen these people, and they are impossible to deal with. 14 Leave me alone! I’ll destroy them and wipe their name off the earth. Then I’ll make you into a nation larger and stronger than they are.”
15 So I turned and went down the mountain while it was still burning with fire. I was carrying the two tablets with the promise on them. 16 Then I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had made a statue of a calf for yourselves. You had quickly turned from the way the Lord commanded you to live. 17 I took the two tablets, threw them down, and smashed them in front of you.
18 Once again I threw myself down in front of the Lord. I went without food and water for 40 days and 40 nights because of the sin you committed. You did what the Lord considered evil and made him furious. 19 I was terrified of the Lord’s anger and fury. He was so angry he wanted to destroy you. But once more the Lord listened to me.
20 The Lord also became very angry with Aaron and wanted to destroy him. But at that time I prayed for Aaron, too.
21 I took that sinful calf you made and burned it. I crushed it, grinding it thoroughly until it was as fine as powder. Then I threw the powder into the river that flowed down the mountain.
22 You also made the Lord angry at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth Hattaavah.
23 When the Lord sent you from Kadesh Barnea, he said, “Go and take possession of the land I’m giving you.” But you rebelled against the Lord your God’s word. You didn’t believe him or obey him. 24 You’ve rebelled against the Lord as long as I’ve known you.
25 I threw myself down in front of the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights because the Lord said he would destroy you. 26 I prayed to the Lord and said, “Almighty Lord, don’t destroy your people. They belong to you. You saved them by your great power and used your mighty hand to bring them out of Egypt. 27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Disregard the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of these people. 28 Otherwise, the country we left will say, “The Lord wasn’t able to bring them to the land he promised them. He hated them. That’s why he brought them out—to let them die in the desert.” 29 They are your people. They belong to you. You used your great strength and powerful arm to bring them out ⌞of Egypt⌟.
10 At that time the Lord said to me, “Cut two ⌞more⌟ stone tablets like the first ones, and come up to me on the mountain. Also make an ark out of wood. 2 I will write on the tablets the same words that were on the first tablets, which you smashed. Then you will put them in the ark.”
3 I made an ark out of acacia wood. I cut two ⌞more⌟ stone tablets like the first ones. I carried the two tablets up the mountain. 4 The Lord wrote on these tablets the same words as before, the ten commandments. He had spoken these words to you from the fire on the mountain on the day of the assembly. Then the Lord gave them to me. 5 I came back down the mountain and put the tablets in the ark I had made. They are still there, where the Lord commanded me to put them.
6 The Israelites moved from the wells of the Jaakanites to Moserah. Aaron died there and was buried, and his son Eleazar succeeded him as priest. 7 They moved from there to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land with rivers that don’t dry up. 8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the Lord’s promise, to stand in the Lord’s presence when they serve him as priests, and to praise his name, as they still do today. 9 This is why the tribe of Levi has no land of their own as the other tribes have. The Lord your God is their only possession, as he promised them.
10 I stayed on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights as I did the first time. Once again the Lord listened to me and agreed not to destroy you. 11 The Lord said to me, “Lead the people on their journey. They will enter and take possession of the land I will give them, as I swore to their ancestors.”
Israel Encouraged to Follow God’s Guidance
12 Israel, what does the Lord your God want you to do? He wants you to fear him, follow all his directions, love him, and worship him with all your heart and with all your soul. 13 The Lord wants you to obey his commands and laws that I’m giving you today for your own good. 14 Remember that the sky, the highest heaven, the earth and everything it contains belong to the Lord your God. 15 The Lord set his heart on your ancestors and loved them. Because of this, today he chooses you, their descendants, out of all the people of the world.
16 So circumcise your uncircumcised hearts, and don’t be impossible to deal with any longer. 17 The Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, powerful, and awe-inspiring God. He never plays favorites and never takes a bribe. 18 He makes sure orphans and widows receive justice. He loves foreigners and gives them food and clothes. 19 So you should love foreigners, because you were foreigners living in Egypt. 20 Fear the Lord your God, worship him, be loyal to him, and take your oaths in his name. 21 He is your glory. He is your God, who did for you these spectacular and awe-inspiring deeds you saw with your own eyes. 22 When your ancestors went to Egypt, there were 70 of them. Now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.
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