Not Because of Israel’s Righteousness

9 Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan^(A) to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you,^(B) with large cities^(C) that have walls up to the sky.^{(D) 2} The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: “Who can stand up against the Anakites?”^{(E) 3} But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you^(F) like a devouring fire.^(G) He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly,^(H) as the Lord has promised you.

⁴ After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself,^(I) “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness^(J) of these nations^(K) that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. ⁵ It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity^(L) that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness^(M) of these nations,^(N) the Lord your God will drive them out^(O) before you, to accomplish what he swore^(P) to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.^{(Q) 6} Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.^(R)

The Golden Calf

⁷ Remember this and never forget how you aroused the anger^(S) of the Lord your God in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious^(T) against the Lord.^{(U) 8} At Horeb you aroused the Lord’s wrath^(V) so that he was angry enough to destroy you.^{(W) 9} When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant^(X) that the Lord had made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days^(Y) and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water.^{(Z) 10} The Lord gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God.^(AA) On them were all the commandments the Lord proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.^(AB)

¹¹ At the end of the forty days and forty nights,^(AC) the Lord gave me the two stone tablets,^(AD) the tablets of the covenant. ¹² Then the Lord told me, “Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt.^(AE) They have turned away quickly^(AF) from what I commanded them and have made an idol for themselves.”

¹³ And the Lord said to me, “I have seen this people^(AG), and they are a stiff-necked people indeed! ¹⁴ Let me alone,^(AH) so that I may destroy them and blot out^(AI) their name from under heaven.^(AJ) And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.”

¹⁵ So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands.^{(AK) 16} When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf.^(AL) You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you. ¹⁷ So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.

¹⁸ Then once again I fell^(AM) prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water,^(AN) because of all the sin you had committed,^(AO) doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and so arousing his anger. ¹⁹ I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you.^(AP) But again the Lord listened to me.^{(AQ) 20} And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too. ²¹ Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust^(AR) and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.^(AS)

²² You also made the Lord angry^(AT) at Taberah,^(AU) at Massah^(AV) and at Kibroth Hattaavah.^(AW)

²³ And when the Lord sent you out from Kadesh Barnea,^(AX) he said, “Go up and take possession^(AY) of the land I have given you.” But you rebelled^(AZ) against the command of the Lord your God. You did not trust^(BA) him or obey him. ²⁴ You have been rebellious against the Lord ever since I have known you.^(BB)

²⁵ I lay prostrate before the Lord those forty days and forty nights^(BC) because the Lord had said he would destroy you.^{(BD) 26} I prayed to the Lord and said, “Sovereign Lord, do not destroy your people,^(BE) your own inheritance^(BF) that you redeemed^(BG) by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.^{(BH) 27} Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness^(BI) of this people, their wickedness and their sin. ²⁸ Otherwise, the country^(BJ) from which you brought us will say, ‘Because the Lord was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them,^(BK) he brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.’^{(BL) 29} But they are your people,^(BM) your inheritance^(BN) that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.^(BO)”