Deuteronomy 9

1 Heare O Israel, Thou shalt passe ouer Iorden this day, to goe in and to possesse nations greater and mightier then thy selfe, and cities great and walled vp to heauen,

“Listen, O Israel: You shall cross over the Jordan today, in order to possess nations, very great and stronger than yourself, cities vast and walled even to the sky,

2 A people great and tall, euen the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak?

a people great and lofty, the sons of the Anakim, whom you yourselves have seen and heard, against whom no one is able to stand.

3 Vnderstand therefore that this day ye Lord thy God is he which goeth ouer before thee as a consuming fire: he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them downe before thy face: so thou shalt cast them out and destroy them suddenly, as the Lord hath said vnto thee.

Therefore, you shall know today that the Lord your God himself will pass over before you, like a devouring and consuming fire, to crush and to wipe away and to utterly ruin them before your face, quickly, just as he has spoken to you.

4 Speake not thou in thine heart (after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out before thee) saying, For my righteousnesse the Lord hath brought me in, to possesse this land: but for the wickednesse of these nations the Lord hath cast them out before thee.

You should not say in your heart, when the Lord your God will have destroyed them in your sight: ‘It is because of my justice that the Lord led me in, so that I might possess this land, while these nations have been destroyed because of their impiety.’

5 For thou entrest not to inherite their lande for thy righteousnesse, or for thy vpright heart: but for the wickednesse of those nations, the Lord thy God doth cast them out before thee, and that he might performe the worde which the Lord thy God sware vnto thy fathers, Abraham, Izhak, and Iacob.

For it is not because of your justices or the uprightness of your heart that you will enter, so that you may possess their lands. Instead, it is because they have acted wickedly that they are destroyed upon your arrival, and so that the Lord may accomplish his word, which he promised under oath to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

6 Vnderstand therefore, that ye Lord thy God giueth thee not this good land to possesse it for thy righteousnes: for thou art a stifnecked people.

Therefore, know that the Lord your God will not give you this excellent land as a possession due to your justices, for you are a very stiff-necked people.

7 Remember, and forget not, howe thou prouokedst the Lord thy God to anger in the wildernesse: since the day that thou diddest depart out of the land of Egypt, vntill ye came vnto this place ye haue rebelled against the Lord.

Remember, and never forget, how you provoked the Lord your God to anger in the wilderness. You have always contended against the Lord, from the day that you went forth from Egypt, even to this place.

8 Also in Horeb ye prouoked the Lord to anger so that the Lord was wroth with you, euen to destroy you.

For at Horeb also, you provoked him, and, becoming angry, he was willing to destroy you,

9 When I was gone vp into the mount, to receiue the tables of stone, the tables, I say, of the couenant, which the Lord made with you: and I abode in the mount fourtie daies and fourtie nights, and I neither ate bread nor yet dranke water:

when I ascended onto the mountain, so that I might receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord formed with you. And I persevered on the mountain for forty days and nights, neither eating bread, nor drinking water.

10 Then the Lord deliuered me two tables of stone, written with the finger of God, and in them was conteyned according to all the wordes which the Lord had said vnto you in the mount out of the middes of the fire, in the day of the assemblie.

And the Lord gave me two tablets of stone, written with the finger of God and containing all the words that he spoke to you on the mountain from the midst of fire, while the people, being stirred up, were assembled together.

11 And when the fourtie dayes and fourtie nightes were ended, the Lord gaue me the two tables of stone, the tables, I say, of the couenant.

And when forty days, and as many nights, had passed, the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.

12 And the Lord said vnto me, Arise, get thee downe quickly from hence: for thy people which thou hast brought out of Egypt, haue corrupt their wayes: they are soone turned out of the way, which I commanded them: they haue made them a molten image.

And he said to me: ‘Rise up, and descend quickly from here. For your people, whom you led away from Egypt, have quickly abandoned the way that you have shown to them, and they have made a molten idol for themselves.’

13 Furthermore, the Lord spake vnto me, saying, I haue seene this people, and beholde, it is a stifnecked people.

And again, the Lord said to me: ‘I discern that this people is stiff-necked.

14 Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and put out their name from vnder heaue, and I wil make of thee a mightie nation, and greater then they be.

Depart from me, so that I may crush them, and abolish their name from under heaven, and appoint you over a nation, which will be greater and stronger than this one.’

15 So I returned, and came downe from the Mount (and the Mount burnt with fire, and ye two Tables of the couenant were in my two handes)

And as I was descending from the burning mountain, and I held the two tablets of the covenant with both hands,

16 Then I looked, and beholde, ye had sinned against the Lord your God: for ye had made you a molten calfe, and had turned quickly out of the way which the Lord had commanded you.

and I had seen that you had sinned against the Lord your God, and had made a molten calf for yourselves, and had quickly abandoned his way, which he had revealed to you,

17 Therefore I tooke the two Tables, and cast them out of my two handes, and brake them before your eyes.

I threw down the tablets from my hands, and I broke them in your sight.

18 And I fell downe before the Lord, fourtie dayes, and fourtie nightes, as before: I neither ate bread nor dranke water, because of al your sinnes, which ye had committed, in doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord, in that ye prouoked him vnto wrath.

And I fell prostrate before the Lord, just as before, for forty days and nights, not eating bread, and not drinking water, because of all your sins, which you had committed against the Lord, and because you provoked him to anger.

19 (For I was afraide of the wrath and indignation, wherewith the Lord was mooued against you, euen to destroy you) yet the Lord heard me at that time also.

For I feared his indignation and wrath, which had been stirred up against you, so that he was willing to destroy you. And the Lord heeded me at this time also.

20 Likewise ye Lord was very angrie with Aaron, euen to destroy him: but at that time I prayed also for Aaron.

Likewise, he became vehemently angry against Aaron, and he was willing to destroy him, and I prayed for him similarly.

21 And I tooke your sinne, I meane the calfe which ye had made, and burnt him with fire, and stamped him and ground him small, euen vnto very dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the riuer, that descended out of the mount.

But as for your sin which you committed, that is, the calf, taking hold of it, I burned it with fire. And breaking it into pieces, and reducing it entirely to dust, I threw it into the torrent that descends from the mountain.

22 Also in Taberah, and in Massah and in Kibrothhattaauah ye prouoked ye Lord to anger.

Likewise, at the Burning, and at the Temptation, and at the Graves of Lust, you provoked the Lord.

23 Likewise when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, Goe vp, and possesse the land which I haue giuen you, then ye rebelled against the commandement of the Lord your God, and beleeued him not, nor hearkened vnto his voyce.

And when he sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Ascend and possess the land, which I have given to you,’ even so, you spurned the command of the Lord your God, and you did not believe him, nor were you willing to listen to his voice.

24 Ye haue bene rebellious vnto the Lord, since the day that I knewe you.

Instead, you were ever rebellious, from the day when I first began to know you.

25 Then I fell downe before ye Lord fourtie dayes and fourtie nightes, as I fell downe before, because ye Lord had said, that he woulde destroy you.

And so, I lay prostrate before the Lord for forty days and nights, as I humbly begged him, lest he destroy you, just as he had threatened to do.

26 And I prayed vnto the Lord, and saide, O Lord God, destroy not thy people and thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed through thy greatnesse, whom thou hast brought out of Egypt by a mightie hand.

And praying, I said: ‘O Lord God, do not destroy your people and your inheritance, whom you have redeemed in your greatness, whom you have led away from Egypt with a strong hand.

27 Remember thy seruants Abraham, Izhak, and Iaakob: looke not to ye stubburnes of this people, nor to their wickednes, nor to their sinne,

Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not look upon the stubbornness of this people, nor upon their wickedness and sinfulness.

28 Lest the countrey, whence thou broughtest them, say, Because ye Lord was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, or because he hated them, he caried them out, to slay them in the wildernesse.

Otherwise, perhaps the inhabitants of the land, out of which you have led us, may say: “The Lord was not able to lead them into the land, which he promised to them. And he hated them; therefore, he led them out, so that he might put them to death in the wilderness.”

29 Yet they are thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest out by thy mightie power, and by thy stretched out arme.

These are your people and your inheritance, whom you have led out by your great strength, and with your outstretched arm.’”