Deuteronomy 9:1–5

Not Because of Righteousness

9“Hear, O Israel: you are ^vto cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations ^wgreater and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven, ²a people great and tall, ^xthe sons of the Anakim, ^ywhom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’ ³Know therefore today that he who ^zgoes over before you ^aas a consuming fire is the Lord your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. ^bSo you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the Lord has promised you.

^4c“Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is ^dbecause of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. ^5eNot because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm ^fthe word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.