Not Because of Israel’s Righteousness
1Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. 2The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: “Who can stand up against the Anakites?” 3But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the Lord has promised you.
4After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. 5It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 6Understand, 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.
The Golden Calf
7Remember this and never forget how you aroused the anger of the Lord your God in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious against the Lord. 8At Horeb you aroused the Lord’s wrath so that he was angry enough to destroy you. 9When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord had made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water. 10The Lord gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God. On them were all the commandments the Lord proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.
11At the end of the forty days and forty nights, the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. 12Then the Lord told me, “Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have turned away quickly from what I commanded them and have made an idol for themselves.”
13And the Lord said to me, “I have seen this people, and they are a stiff-necked people indeed! 14Let me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.”
15So 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. 16When 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. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you. 17So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.
18Then once again I fell prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and so arousing his anger. 19I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the Lord listened to me. 20And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too. 21Also 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 and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.
22You also made the Lord angry at Taberah, at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah.
23And when the Lord sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, he said, “Go up and take possession of the land I have given you.” But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You did not trust him or obey him. 24You have been rebellious against the Lord ever since I have known you.
25I lay prostrate before the Lord those forty days and forty nights because the Lord had said he would destroy you. 26I prayed to the Lord and said, “Sovereign Lord, do not destroy your people, your own inheritance that you redeemed by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin. 28Otherwise, the country 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, he brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.’ 29But they are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.”
以色列人的悖逆
1“以色列人啊，你们要听！今天你们要过约旦河，去赶出那些比你们强大的民族。他们住在城墙高耸入云的大城里， 2是长得高大威猛的亚衲人。你们了解他们，也听人说过，‘谁能抵挡亚衲人呢？’ 3但今天你们要知道，你们的上帝耶和华要走在你们前面，像烈火一样吞噬他们。祂要制服他们，使你们迅速赶走他们，毁灭他们，正如祂对你们的应许。
4“你们的上帝耶和华从你们面前赶走他们以后，你们心里不要以为耶和华带领你们占领那片土地是因为你们公义，其实是因为那里的民族邪恶，耶和华才将他们从你们面前赶走。 5你们能占领他们的土地并非因为你们公义、行为正直。你们的上帝耶和华从你们面前赶走那些民族，是因为他们邪恶，也是为了实现祂给你们祖先亚伯拉罕、以撒和雅各的誓言。 6你们要知道，耶和华赐给你们那佳美之地不是因为你们公义。其实你们是顽固不化的人。
7“要牢记你们在旷野怎样触怒你们的上帝耶和华。从你们离开埃及那天来到这里，你们屡屡背叛耶和华。 8在何烈山，你们触怒了耶和华，以致祂要毁灭你们。 9那时，我上山去接受耶和华与你们立约的石版，在山上待了四十昼夜，没吃也没喝。 10耶和华把两块立约的石版交给我，上面刻着那天你们聚会时祂在山上的火焰中对你们说的话，是祂用手指刻上去的。 11四十昼夜后，耶和华把那两块刻着约的石版交给我， 12对我说，‘快下山吧，因为你从埃及领出来的百姓已经败坏了。他们这么快就偏离了我吩咐他们走的道，为自己铸造了神像。’
13“耶和华又对我说，‘我已看出，这是顽固不化的百姓。 14不要拦我，我要毁灭他们，从世上抹去他们的名字。我要使你成为一个比他们更强大的民族。’ 15我双手拿着那两块约版，转身从烈火熊熊的山上下来， 16看见你们为自己铸造了牛犊像，得罪了你们的上帝耶和华，这么快就偏离了耶和华吩咐你们走的道， 17就当着你们的面摔碎了那两块石版。
18“我又俯伏在耶和华面前，四十昼夜不吃不喝，因为你们犯了大罪，做耶和华憎恶的事，惹祂发怒。 19耶和华向你们发烈怒，要毁灭你们，我非常惧怕。但耶和华再次垂听了我的祈求。 20耶和华对亚伦非常愤怒，以致要杀掉他，于是我也为他祈求。 21我焚烧了你们铸造的罪恶之物牛犊像，把它打碎、磨成粉末，撒在从山上流下来的溪水中。
22“你们在他备拉、玛撒和基博罗·哈他瓦三番四次地触怒耶和华。 23你们的上帝耶和华吩咐你们离开加低斯·巴尼亚，去占领祂赐给你们的土地，你们却违背祂的命令，不信靠祂，也不听从祂。 24自从我认识你们以来，你们就不断地背叛耶和华。
25“因为耶和华说要毁灭你们，我就俯伏在耶和华面前四十昼夜， 26向祂祈求说，‘主耶和华啊，求你不要毁灭你的子民！他们是你的产业，是你用大能的手从埃及救赎并带出来的。 27求你看在你仆人亚伯拉罕、以撒和雅各的份上，不要计较这个民族的顽固、邪恶和罪过， 28免得你带领我们离开之地的人说，你不能把他们领到你应许给他们的地方，你憎恶他们，所以把他们带到旷野杀了。 29他们毕竟是你的子民，你的产业，是你伸出大能的臂膀从埃及带出来的。’
