Not Because of Righteousness
1 “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
1 “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
1 “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.
18 “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine qin your heart and in your soul, and ryou shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as sfrontlets between your eyes. 19 tYou shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 20 uYou shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. 22 For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the Lord your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him, 23 then vthe Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. 24 wEvery place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours. Your territory shall be xfrom the wilderness to4 the Lebanon, and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the western sea. 25 yNo one shall be able to stand against you. The Lord your God will lay the zfear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread, as he promised you.
26 a“See, I am setting before you today a bblessing and a curse: 27 cthe blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, 28 and dthe curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known. 29 And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, eyou shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 30 Are they not beyond the Jordan, west of the road, toward the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, beside the oak5 of Moreh? 31 For you are to cross over the Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you. And when you possess it and live in it, 32 you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the rules that I am setting before you today.
