Chronological
The Lord’s Provision in the Desert
8 You must keep carefully all these commandments[a] I am giving[b] you today so that you may live, increase in number,[c] and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors.[d] 2 Remember the whole way by which he[e] has brought you these forty years through the wilderness so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not. 3 So he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna.[f] He did this to teach you[g] that humankind[h] cannot live by bread[i] alone, but also by everything that comes from the Lord’s mouth.[j] 4 Your clothing did not wear out nor did your feet swell all these forty years. 5 Be keenly aware that just as a parent disciplines his child,[k] so the Lord your God disciplines you. 6 So you must keep his[l] commandments, live according to his standards,[m] and revere him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you to a good land, a land of brooks,[n] springs, and fountains flowing forth in valleys and hills, 8 a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates, of olive trees and honey, 9 a land where you may eat food[o] in plenty and find no lack of anything, a land whose stones are iron[p] and from whose hills you can mine copper. 10 You will eat your fill and then praise the Lord your God because of the good land he has given you.
Exhortation to Remember That Blessing Comes from God
11 Be sure you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments, ordinances, and statutes that I am giving you today. 12 When you eat your fill, when you build and occupy good houses, 13 when your cattle and flocks increase, when you have plenty of silver and gold, and when you have abundance of everything, 14 be sure[q] you do not feel self-important and forget the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery, 15 and who brought you through the great, fearful wilderness of venomous serpents[r] and scorpions, an arid place with no water. He made water flow[s] from a flint rock and 16 fed you in the wilderness with manna (which your ancestors had never before known) so that he might by humbling you test you[t] and eventually bring good to you. 17 Be careful[u] not to say, “My own ability and skill[v] have gotten me this wealth.” 18 You must remember the Lord your God, for he is the one who gives ability to get wealth; if you do this he will confirm his covenant that he made by oath to your ancestors,[w] even as he has to this day. 19 Now if you forget the Lord your God at all[x] and follow other gods, worshiping and prostrating yourselves before them, I testify to you today that you will surely be annihilated. 20 Just like the nations the Lord is about to destroy from your sight, so he will do to you[y] because you would not obey him.[z]
Theological Justification of the Conquest
9 Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan so you can dispossess the nations there, people greater and stronger than you who live in large cities with extremely high fortifications.[aa] 2 They include the Anakites,[ab] a numerous[ac] and tall people whom you know about and of whom it is said, “Who is able to resist the Anakites?” 3 Understand today that the Lord your God who goes before you is a devouring fire; he will defeat and subdue them before you. You will dispossess and destroy them quickly just as he[ad] has told you. 4 Do not think to yourself after the Lord your God has driven them out before you, “Because of my own righteousness the Lord has brought me here to possess this land.” It is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out ahead of you. 5 It is not because of your righteousness, or even your inner uprightness,[ae] that you have come here to possess their land. Instead, because of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God is driving them out ahead of you in order to confirm the promise he[af] made on oath to your ancestors,[ag] to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 Understand, therefore, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is about to give you this good land as a possession, for you are a stubborn[ah] people!
The History of Israel’s Stubbornness
7 Remember—don’t ever forget[ai]—how you provoked the Lord your God in the wilderness; from the time you left the land of Egypt until you came to this place you were constantly rebelling against him.[aj] 8 At Horeb you provoked him and he was angry enough with you to destroy you. 9 When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained there[ak] forty days and nights, eating and drinking nothing. 10 The Lord gave me the two stone tablets, written by the very finger[al] of God, and on them was everything[am] he[an] said to you at the mountain from the midst of the fire at the time of that assembly. 11 Now at the end of the forty days and nights the Lord presented me with the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. 12 And he said to me, “Get up, go down at once from here because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have sinned! They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them and have made for themselves a cast metal image.”[ao] 13 Moreover, he said to me, “I have taken note of these people; they are a stubborn[ap] lot! 14 Stand aside[aq] and I will destroy them, obliterating their very name from memory,[ar] and I will make you into a stronger and more numerous nation than they are.”
15 So I turned and went down the mountain while it[as] was blazing with fire; the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. 16 When I looked, you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God and had cast for yourselves a metal calf;[at] you had quickly turned aside from the way he[au] had commanded you! 17 I grabbed the two tablets, threw them down,[av] and shattered them before your very eyes. 18 Then I again fell down before the Lord for forty days and nights; I ate and drank nothing because of all the sin you had committed, doing such evil before the Lord as to enrage him. 19 For I was terrified at the Lord’s intense anger[aw] that threatened to destroy you. But he[ax] listened to me this time as well. 20 The Lord was also angry enough at Aaron to kill him, but at that time I prayed for him[ay] too. 21 As for your sinful thing[az] that you had made, the calf, I took it, melted it down,[ba] ground it up until it was as fine as dust, and tossed the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain. 22 Moreover, you continued to provoke the Lord at Taberah,[bb] Massah,[bc] and Kibroth Hattaavah.[bd] 23 And when he[be] sent you from Kadesh Barnea and told you, “Go up and possess the land I have given you,” you rebelled against the Lord your God[bf] and would neither believe nor obey him. 24 You have been rebelling against him[bg] from the very first day I knew you!
Moses’ Plea on Behalf of God’s Reputation
25 I lay flat on the ground before the Lord for forty days and nights,[bh] for he[bi] had said he would destroy you. 26 I prayed to him:[bj] O, Sovereign Lord,[bk] do not destroy your people, your valued property[bl] that you have powerfully redeemed,[bm] whom you brought out of Egypt by your strength.[bn] 27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; ignore the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of these people. 28 Otherwise the people of the land[bo] from which you brought us will say, “The Lord was unable to bring them to the land he promised them, and because of his hatred for them he has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.” 29 They are your people, your valued property,[bp] whom you brought out with great strength and power.[bq]
The Opportunity to Begin Again
10 At that same time the Lord said to me, “Carve out for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones and come up the mountain to me; also make for yourself a wooden ark.[br] 2 I will write on the tablets the same words[bs] that were on the first tablets you broke, and you must put them into the ark.” 3 So I made an ark of acacia[bt] wood and carved out two stone tablets just like the first ones. Then I went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. 4 The Lord[bu] then wrote on the tablets the same words,[bv] the Ten Commandments,[bw] which he[bx] had spoken to you at the mountain from the middle of the fire at the time of that assembly, and he[by] gave them to me. 5 Then I turned, went down the mountain, and placed the tablets into the ark I had made—they are still there, just as the Lord commanded me.
Conclusion of the Historical Résumé
6 During those days the Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene Jaakan[bz] to Moserah.[ca] There Aaron died and was buried, and his son Eleazar became priest in his place. 7 From there they traveled to Gudgodah,[cb] and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah,[cc] a place of flowing streams. 8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi[cd] to carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, to stand before the Lord to serve him, and to formulate blessings[ce] in his name, as they do to this very day. 9 Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance[cf] among his brothers;[cg] the Lord is his inheritance just as the Lord your God told him. 10 As for me, I stayed at the mountain as I did the first time, forty days and nights. The Lord listened to me that time as well and decided not to destroy you. 11 Then he[ch] said to me, “Get up, set out leading[ci] the people so they may go and possess[cj] the land I promised to give to their ancestors.”[ck]
An Exhortation to Love Both God and People
12 Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to revere him,[cl] to obey all his commandments,[cm] to love him, to serve him[cn] with all your mind and being,[co] 13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and statutes that I am giving[cp] you today for your own good? 14 The heavens—indeed the highest heavens—belong to the Lord your God, as does the earth and everything in it. 15 However, only to your ancestors did he[cq] show his loving favor,[cr] and he chose you, their descendants,[cs] from all peoples—as is apparent today. 16 Therefore, cleanse[ct] your hearts and stop being so stubborn![cu] 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe, 18 who justly treats[cv] the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing. 19 So you must love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 20 Revere the Lord your God, serve him, be loyal to him, and take oaths only in his name. 21 He is the one you should praise;[cw] he is your God, the one who has done these great and awesome things for you that you have seen. 22 When your ancestors went down to Egypt, they numbered only seventy, but now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky.[cx]
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