A Chosen People

7 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, ^mthe Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, 2 and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction.^{1 n}You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. 3 ^oYou shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you ^pquickly. 5 But thus shall you deal with them: ^qyou shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire.

6 ^r“For you are a people ^sholy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has ^tchosen you to be ^ua people for his treasured possession, ^vout of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord ^wloves you and is keeping ^xthe oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the ^yfaithful God who ^zkeeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 10 and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. 11 You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.

12 ^a“And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. 13 He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. 14 You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock. 15 And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and none of ^bthe evil diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you. 16 And you shall consume all the peoples that the Lord your God will give over to you. Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a ^csnare to you.

17 “If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them?’ 18 you shall not be afraid of them but you shall ^dremember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, 19 the great ^etrials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out. ^fSo will the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20 Moreover, the Lord your God will send ^ghornets among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you are destroyed. 21 You shall not be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is ^hin your midst, a ⁱgreat and awesome God. 22 ^jThe Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little. You may not make an end of them at once,² lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you. 23 But the Lord your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed. 24 And he will give their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under heaven. ^kNo one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them. 25 The carved images of their gods you shall ^lburn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God. 26 ^mAnd you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction³ like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction.

Remember the Lord Your God

8 “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may ⁿlive and multiply, ^oand go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you ^pthese forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, ^qtesting you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that ^rman does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word¹ that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 ^sYour clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that, ^tas a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God ^udisciplines you. 6 So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, 8 a land of wheat and barley, of ^vvines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

11 “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, 12 lest, ^wwhen you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15 who led you through the ^xgreat and terrifying wilderness, with its ^yfiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you ^zwater out of the ^aflinty rock, 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. 17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ^b‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today ^cthat you shall surely perish. 20 Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.

Not Because of Righteousness

9 “Hear, O Israel: you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven, 2 a people great and tall, the sons of the ^dAnakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’ 3 Know therefore today that he who goes over before you ^eas a consuming fire is the Lord your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, ^fas the Lord has promised you.

4 “Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ^g‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is ^hbecause of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. 5 Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

6 “Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a ⁱstubborn people. 7 Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. 8 ^jEven at Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, and the Lord was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you. 9 When I went up the mountain to receive the ^ktablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights. ^lI neither ate bread nor drank water. 10 And the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone written with the ^mfinger of God, and on them were all the words that the Lord had spoken with you on the mountain ⁿout of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. 11 And at the end of forty days and forty nights the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. 12 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted ^ocorruptly. They have turned aside ^pquickly out of the way that I commanded them; they have ^qmade themselves a metal image.’

The Golden Calf

13 “Furthermore, the Lord said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stubborn people. 14 Let me alone, that I may destroy them and ^rblot out their name from under heaven. ^sAnd I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’ 15 So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had made yourselves a golden¹ calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you. 17 So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes. 18 Then I lay prostrate before the Lord as before, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin that you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. 19 For ^tI was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure that the Lord bore against you, so that he was ready to destroy you. But ^uthe Lord listened to me that time also. 20 And the Lord was so angry with Aaron that he was ready to destroy him. And I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. 21 Then I took the sinful thing, the calf that you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust. And I threw the dust of it into the brook that ran down from the mountain.

22 ^v“At Taberah also, and ^wat Massah and ^xat Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked the Lord to wrath. 23 ^yAnd when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,’ then you ^zrebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God and ^adid not believe him or obey his voice. 24 You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you.

25 “So I lay prostrate before the Lord for these forty days and forty nights, because the Lord had said he would destroy you. 26 And I prayed to the Lord, ‘O Lord God, do not destroy your people and your heritage, whom you have redeemed through your greatness, whom you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not regard the stubbornness of this people, or their wickedness or their sin, 28 lest the land from which you brought us say, ^b“Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land that he promised them, and ^cbecause he hated them, he has brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.” 29 For they are your people and your heritage, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.’

New Tablets of Stone

10 “At that time the Lord said to me, ‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to me on the mountain and make an ark of wood. 2 And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you broke, and you shall put them in the ark.’ 3 So I made an ark of acacia wood, and cut two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. 4 And he wrote on the tablets, in the same writing as before, the ^dTen Commandments¹ that the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me. 5 Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark that I had made. And ^ethere they are, as the Lord commanded me.”

6 (The people of Israel journeyed from Beeroth Bene-jaakan² to Moserah. There ^fAaron died, and there he was buried. And his son ^gEleazar ministered as priest in his place. 7 From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land with brooks of water. 8 ^hAt that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord to stand before the Lord to minister to him and to ⁱbless in his name, to this day. 9 Therefore Levi has ^jno portion or inheritance with his brothers. The Lord is his inheritance, ^kas the Lord your God said to him.)

10 “I myself stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights, and ^lthe Lord listened to me that time also. The Lord was unwilling to destroy you. 11 And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go on your journey at the head of the people, so that they may go in and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers to give them.’

Circumcise Your Heart

12 “And now, Israel, ^mwhat does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today ⁿfor your good? 14 Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the ^oheaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. 15 Yet the Lord set his heart in ^plove on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. 16 ^qCircumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer ^rstubborn. 17 For the Lord your God is ^sGod of gods and ^tLord of lords, the ^ugreat, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is ^vnot partial and takes no bribe. 18 He executes justice for the ^wfatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. 19 ^xLove the sojourner, therefore, for ^yyou were sojourners in the land of Egypt. 20 You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and ^zhold fast to him, and ^aby his name you shall swear. 21 ^bHe is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen. 22 Your fathers went down to Egypt ^cseventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you ^das numerous as the stars of heaven.

Love and Serve the Lord

11 “You shall therefore love the Lord your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always. 2 And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children ^ewho have not known or seen it), consider the ^fdiscipline¹ of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm, 3 his signs and his deeds that he did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land, 4 and ^gwhat he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and to their chariots, how he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord has destroyed them to this day, 5 and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place, 6 and ^hwhat he did to ⁱDathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel. 7 For ^jyour eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord that he did.

8 “You shall therefore keep the whole commandment that I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and take possession of the land that you are going over to possess, 9 and that you may live long in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 For the land that you are entering to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated it,² like a garden of vegetables. 11 But the land that you are going over to possess is ^ka land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, 12 a land that the Lord your God cares for. The ^leyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

13 “And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 ^mhe³ will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. 15 And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. 16 Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; 17 then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will ⁿshut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and ^othe land will yield no fruit, and you will perish ^pquickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you.