8.
1 "Every
commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you
may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore
to your fathers.
2 "And you
shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in
the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart,
whether you would keep His commandments or not.
3 "So He
humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not
know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not
live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth
of the LORD.
4 "Your
garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.
5 "You
should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God
chastens you.
6
"Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk
in His ways and to fear Him.
7 "For the
LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of
fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills;
8 "a land
of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive
oil and honey;
9 "a land
in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a
land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.
10 "When
you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the
good land which He has given you.
11 "Beware
that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His
judgments, and His statutes which I command you today,
12
"lest--when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses
and dwell in them;
13 "and
when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are
multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied;
14 "when
your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out
of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;
15 "who
led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery
serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought
water for you out of the flinty rock;
16 "who
fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He
might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end--
17 "then
you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this
wealth.'
18 "And
you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get
wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as
it is this day.
19 "Then
it shall be, if you by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other
gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you
shall surely perish.
20 "As the
nations which the LORD destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you
would not be obedient to the voice of the LORD your God.
9.
1 "Hear, O
Israel: You are to cross over the Jordan today, and go in to dispossess nations
greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to heaven,
2 "a
people great and tall, the descendants of the Anakim, whom you know, and of
whom you heard it said, 'Who can stand before the descendants of Anak?'
3
"Therefore understand today that the LORD your God is He who goes over
before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before
you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the LORD has said
to you.
4 "Do not
think in your heart, after the LORD your God has cast them out before you,
saying, 'Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this
land'; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is
driving them out from before you.
5 "It is
not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go
in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that
the LORD your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the
word which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
6
"Therefore understand that the LORD your God is not giving you this good
land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked
people.
7
"Remember. Do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in
the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you
came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD.
8 "Also in
Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was angry enough with
you to have destroyed you.
9 "When I
went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the
covenant which the LORD made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days
and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water.
10 "Then
the LORD delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God,
and on them were all the words which the LORD had spoken to you on the mountain
from the midst of the fire in 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 tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.
12 "Then
the LORD said to me, 'Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom
you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly; they have quickly turned aside
from the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molded image.'
13
"Furthermore the LORD spoke to me, saying, 'I have seen this people, and
indeed they are a stiff-necked people.
14 'Let Me
alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I
will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.'
15 "So I
turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire; and
the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.
16 "And I
looked, and behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God--had made for yourselves
a molded calf! You had turned aside quickly from the way which the LORD had
commanded you.
17 "Then I
took the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before
your eyes.
18 "And I
fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I
neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you committed
in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.
19 "For I
was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the LORD was angry with
you, to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me at that time also.
20 "And
the LORD was very angry with Aaron and would have destroyed him; so I prayed
for Aaron also at the same time.
21 "Then I
took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed
it and ground it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust
into the brook that descended from the mountain.
22 "Also
at Taberah and Massah and Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked the LORD to wrath.
23
"Likewise, when the LORD sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, 'Go up and
possess the land which I have given you,' then you rebelled against the
commandment of the LORD your God, and you did not believe Him nor obey His
voice.
24 "You
have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you.
25 "Thus I
prostrated myself before the LORD; forty days and forty nights I kept
prostrating myself, because the LORD had said He would destroy you.
26
"Therefore I prayed to the LORD, and said: 'O Lord GOD, do not destroy
Your people and Your inheritance whom You have redeemed through Your greatness,
whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
27 'Remember
Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look on the stubbornness of
this people, or on their wickedness or their sin,
28 'lest the
land from which You brought us should say, "Because the LORD was not able
to bring them to the land which He promised them, and because He hated them, He
has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness."
29 'Yet they
are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your mighty power
and by Your outstretched arm.'
10.
1 "At that
time the LORD said to me, 'Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the
first, and come up to Me on the mountain and make yourself an ark of wood.
2 'And I will
write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke;
and you shall put them in the ark.'
3 "So I
made an ark of acacia wood, hewed two tablets of stone like the first, and went
up the mountain, having the two tablets in my hand.
4 "And He
wrote on the tablets according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments,
which the LORD had spoken to you in the mountain from the midst of the fire in
the day of the assembly; and the LORD gave them to me.
5 "Then I
turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tablets in the ark which I
had made; and there they are, just as the LORD commanded me."
6 (Now the
children of Israel journeyed from the wells of Bene Jaakan to Moserah, where
Aaron died, and where he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered as priest
in his stead.
7 From there
they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of rivers of
water.
8 At that time
the LORD separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the
LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister to Him and to bless in His name, to
this day.
9 Therefore
Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his
inheritance, just as the LORD your God promised him.)
10 "As at
the first time, I stayed in the mountain forty days and forty nights; the LORD
also heard me at that time, and the LORD chose not to destroy you.
11 "Then
the LORD said to me, 'Arise, begin your journey before the people, that they
may go in and possess the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.'
12 "And
now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD
your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God
with all your heart and with all your soul,
13 "and to
keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today
for your good?
14 "Indeed
heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, also the earth with
all that is in it.
15 "The
LORD delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their
descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day.
16
"Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no
longer.
17 "For
the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and
awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe.
18 "He
administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger,
giving him food and clothing.
19
"Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
20 "You
shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold
fast, and take oaths in His name.
21 "He is
your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome
things which your eyes have seen.
22 "Your
fathers went down to Egypt with seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has
made you as the stars of heaven in multitude.