WARNING AGAINST SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS

9 “Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and drive out nations greater and stronger than you,j with large cities fortified to the heavens.k 2 The people are strong and tall, the descendants of the Anakim.l You know about them and you have heard it said about them, ‘Who can stand up to the sons of Anak?’m 3 But understand that today the Lord your God will cross over ahead of youn as a consuming fire;o he will devastate and subdue them before you. You will drive them out and destroy them swiftly,p as the Lord has told you. 4 When the Lord your God drives them out before you, do not say to yourself, ‘The Lord brought me in to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.’q Instead, the Lord will drive out these nations before you because of their wickedness.r 5 You are not going to take possession of their land because of your righteousness or your integrity. Instead, the Lord your God will drive out these nations before you because of their wickedness, in order to fulfill the promise he swore to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 Understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good lands to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.t