Deuteronomy, 9

1. Hear, O Israel: Thou [art] to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven,

1. Listen, Israel: you are to cross the Jordan today to take the land of greater and stronger nations than yourself, nations with grand cities whose walls reach up to heaven.

2. A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and [of whom] thou hast heard [say], Who can stand before the children of Anak!

2. They are a great people, they are tall - the Anakites whom you have seen and of whom you heard it said that nothing can overcome them.

3. Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God [is] he which goeth over before thee; [as] a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.

3. But today you will see Yahweh, your God, crossing the Jordan before you. He will destroy them all and he will subject them to you. Then, you will seize the land from them and make them perish, as Yahweh promised you.

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

4. When Yahweh, your God, has destroyed them in your presence, do not think: 'Yahweh brought me to this land and gave it to me because of my own goodness.' Yahweh drove those nations out because of their wickedness.

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

5. It is not by your merits nor because you are good that you will conquer the land: Yahweh will deprive them of the land because they have done evil, and also to fulfill the promise he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

6. Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou [art] a stiffnecked people.

6. Know, therefore, that Yahweh has given you your inheritance, this excellent land, not because of any merit of yours since you are a rebellious people.

7. Remember, [and] forget not, how thou provokedst the LORD thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the LORD.

7. Remember and do not forget that it was because you rebelled that Yahweh became angry with you in the desert, for you have been rebellious towards Yahweh from the day you left Egypt until you arrived here.

8. Also in Horeb ye provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was angry with you to have destroyed you.

8. Then at Horeb, you provoked his anger and he was ready to destroy you.

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

9. When I went up the mountain to receive the slabs of stone, the tables of the Covenant that Yahweh made with you, I stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights without eating or drinking.

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

10. And Yahweh gave me the two slabs of stone written with his finger, containing all the words that he told you on the mountain, from the midst of the fire, on the day of the Assembly.

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

11. And when Yahweh gave me the two slabs of stone, the tables of the Covenant, at the end of the forty days and forty nights,

12. And the LORD said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people which 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.

12. he said to me: "Go down from this mountain at once because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt, they have suddenly abandoned the way that I taught them and they have made an idol for themselves."

13. Furthermore the LORD spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it [is] a stiffnecked people:

13. And Yahweh also said to me: "I see this people; they are a rebellious people.

14. Let 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.

14. Let me alone and I will destroy them and wipe out their name from under heaven. And out of you, I will make another people more numerous and greater than they."

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

15. I, therefore, went down from the mountain, from the summit which was burning, holding in my hands the two tables of the Covenant.

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

16. And I saw that you had sinned against Yahweh, your God, and that you had made a molten calf.

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

17. How suddenly had you turned aside from the way which Yahweh had taught you! Holding the two slabs with both hands, I hurled them down and broke them into pieces in the sight of all.

18. And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

18. Then I fell prostrate before Yahweh and, as before, I passed forty days and forty nights without eating or drinking, for the sin which you had committed by doing evil in the sight of Yahweh and arousing his anger.

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

19. I was afraid that the wrath and anger of Yahweh against you had reached the point that he wanted to destroy you. And Yahweh listened to me, once more.

20. And the LORD was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.

20. Yahweh was also very angry with Aaron and he was ready to destroy him. In the same way, I interceded for Aaron also.

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

21. Regarding the sin, that calf which you had made - I threw it in the fire, broke it into pieces and ground it until it was fine as dust. Then I threw the dust into the brook that flows down from the mountain.

22. And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibrothhattaavah, ye provoked the LORD to wrath.

22. At Taberah and at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattavah, you provoked the wrath of Yahweh.

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

23. And when he wanted you to leave Kadesh-barnea saying,"Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you," you rebelled again. You did not believe Yahweh nor did you want to listen to his voice.

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

24. You have been rebellious against Yahweh ever since I have known you.

25. Thus I fell down before the LORD forty days and forty nights, as I fell down [at the first]; because the LORD had said he would destroy you.

25. So, I lay prostrate before Yahweh for forty days and forty nights because he said he would destroy you.

26. I prayed therefore unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, destroy not thy people and thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed through thy greatness, which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

26. I prayed to Yahweh and said to him: "O Lord God, do not destroy your people and your inheritance, whom you redeemed with your might, whom you brought out of Egypt with the strength of your hand.

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

27. Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; do not look on the stubbornness of this people, or on their wickedness, or on their sins,

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

28. that it may not be said in the land from which you brought us out: 'Yahweh was not able to bring them to the land which he had promised them. He does not like them, so he brought them out of Egypt to slay them in the desert.'

29. Yet they [are] thy people and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest out by thy mighty power and by thy stretched out arm.

29. Do not forget that they are your people and your possession whom you brought out of Egypt with your great power and outstretched arm."