Those nations are greater and stronger than you are. Their large cities have walls that reach up to the sky. ²The people who live there are Anakites. They are strong and tall. You know all about them. You have heard people say, “Who can stand up against the Anakites?”

³But today you can be sure the Lord your God will go over there ahead of you. He is like a fire that will burn them up. He’ll destroy them. He’ll bring them under your control. You will drive them out. You will put an end to them quickly, just as the Lord has promised you.

⁴The Lord your God will drive them out to make room for you. When he does, don’t say to yourselves, “The Lord has done it because we are godly. That’s why he brought us here to take over this land.” That isn’t true. The Lord is going to drive out those nations to make room for you because they are very evil.

⁵You are not going in to take over their land because you have done what is right or honest. It’s because those nations are so evil. That’s why the Lord your God will drive them out ahead of you. He will do what he said he would do. He took an oath and made a promise to your fathers. He made it to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

⁶The Lord your God is giving you this good land to take as your own. But you must understand that it isn’t because you are a godly nation. In fact, you are stubborn.

Israel Worshiped the Golden Calf

⁷Here is something you must remember. Never forget it. You made the Lord your God angry in the desert. You refused to obey him from the day you left Egypt until you arrived here.

⁸At Mount Horeb you made the Lord angry enough to destroy you. ⁹I went up the mountain. I went there to receive the tablets of the covenant. They were made out of stone. It was the covenant the Lord had made with you. I stayed on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights. I didn’t eat any food or drink any water.

¹⁰The Lord gave me two stone tablets. The words on them were written by the finger of God. All of the commandments the Lord gave you were written on the tablets. He announced them to you out of the fire on the mountain. He wrote them on the day you gathered together there.

¹¹The 40 days and 40 nights came to an end. Then the Lord gave me the two stone tablets. They were the tablets of the covenant. ¹²The Lord told me, “Go down from here right away. The people you brought out of Egypt have become very sinful. They have quickly turned away from what I commanded them. They have made a metal statue of a god for themselves.”

¹³The Lord said to me, “I have seen these people. They are so stubborn! ¹⁴Do not try to stop me. I am going to destroy them. I will wipe them out from the earth. Then I will make you into a great nation. Your people will be stronger than they were. There will be more of you than there were of them.”

¹⁵So I turned and went down the mountain. It was blazing with fire. I was carrying the two tablets of the covenant.

¹⁶When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had made for yourselves a metal statue of a god. It looked like a calf. You had quickly turned away from the path the Lord had commanded you to follow.

¹⁷So I threw the two tablets out of my hands. You watched them break into pieces.

¹⁸Then once again I fell down flat in front of the Lord with my face toward the ground. I lay there for 40 days and 40 nights. I didn’t eat any food or drink any water. You had committed a terrible sin. You had done an evil thing in the Lord’s sight. You had made him angry.

¹⁹I was afraid of the Lord’s burning anger. He was so angry with you he wanted to destroy you. But the Lord listened to me again. ²⁰And he was so angry with Aaron he wanted to destroy him too. But at that time I prayed for Aaron.

²¹I also got that sinful calf you had made. I burned it in the fire. I crushed it and ground it into fine powder. Then I threw the powder into a stream that was flowing down the mountain.

²²You also made the Lord angry at Taberah, Massah and Kibroth Hattaavah.

²³The Lord sent you out from Kadesh Barnea. He said, “Go up and take over the land I have given you.” But you refused to do what the Lord your God had commanded you to do. You didn’t trust him or obey him. ²⁴You have been refusing to obey the Lord as long as I’ve known you.

²⁵I lay down in front of the Lord with my face toward the ground for 40 days and 40 nights. I did it because the Lord had said he would destroy you.

²⁶I prayed to him. “Lord and King,” I said, “don’t destroy your people. They belong to you. You set them free by your great power. You used your mighty hand to bring them out of Egypt. ²⁷Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Forgive the people of Israel for being so stubborn. Don’t judge them for the evil and sinful things they’ve done.

²⁸“If you do, the Egyptians will say, ‘The Lord wasn’t able to take them into the land he had promised to give them. He hated them. So he brought them out of Egypt to put them to death in the desert.’ ²⁹But they are your people. They belong to you. You used your great power to bring them out of Egypt. You reached out your mighty arm and saved them.”

The New Stone Tablets

10At that time the Lord spoke to me. He said, “Carve out two stone tablets, just like the first ones. Then come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden chest. ²I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you must put the tablets in the chest.”

³So I made the ark out of acacia wood. I carved out two stone tablets that were just like the first ones. I went up the mountain. I carried the two tablets in my hands.

⁴The Lord wrote on the tablets what he had written before. It was the Ten Commandments. He had announced them to you out of the fire on the mountain. It was on the day you had gathered together there. So the Lord gave the tablets to me.

⁵Then I came back down the mountain. I put the tablets in the ark I had made, just as the Lord had commanded me. And that’s where they are now.

⁶Remember how the people of Israel traveled from the wells of Bene Jaakan to Moserah. That’s where Aaron died. And his body was buried there. His son Eleazar became the next priest after him. ⁷From Moserah the people traveled to Gudgodah. Then they went on to Jotbathah. That land has streams of water.

⁸At that time the Lord set the tribe of Levi apart. He appointed them to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord. He wanted them to serve him. He told them to bless the people in his name. And they still do it today. ⁹That’s why the Levites don’t have any part of the land the Lord gave the other tribes in Israel. They don’t have any share among them. The Lord himself is their share. That’s what the Lord your God told them.

¹⁰I had stayed on the mountain for 40 days and nights, just as I did the first time. The Lord listened to me that time also. He didn’t want to destroy you.

¹¹“Go,” the Lord said to me. “Lead the people on their way. Then they can enter the land and take it over. I have taken an oath. I promised I would give the land to their fathers. I promised it to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

Have Respect for the Lord

¹²And now, Israel, what is the Lord your God asking you to do? Have respect for him. Live exactly as he wants you to live. Love him. Serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. ¹³Obey the Lord’s commands and rules. I’m giving them to you today for your own good.

¹⁴The heavens belong to the Lord your God. Even the highest heavens belong to him. He owns the earth and everything in it.

¹⁵But the Lord loved your people very much long ago. You are their children. And he chose you above all of the other nations. His love and his promise remain with you to this very day. ¹⁶So don’t let your hearts be stubborn anymore. Obey the Lord.

¹⁷The Lord your God is the greatest God of all. He is the greatest Lord of all. He is the great God. He is mighty and wonderful. He treats everyone the same. He doesn’t accept any money from those who want special favors. ¹⁸He stands up for widows and for children whose fathers have died. He loves outsiders. He gives them food and clothes. ¹⁹So you also must love outsiders. Remember that you yourselves were outsiders in Egypt.

²⁰Have respect for the Lord your God. Serve him. Remain true to him. When you make promises, take your oaths in his name. ²¹He is the one you should praise. He’s your God. With your own eyes you saw the great and wonderful miracles he did for you.

²²Long ago, your people went down into Egypt. The total number of them was 70. And now the Lord your God has made you as many as the stars in the sky.

Love and Obey the Lord

11Love the Lord your God. Do what he requires. Always obey his rules, laws and commands.

²Remember today that your children weren’t the ones the Lord your God taught and trained. They didn’t see his majesty. They weren’t in Egypt when he reached out his mighty hand and powerful arm. ³They didn’t see the miraculous signs and the other things he did in Egypt. They didn’t see what he did to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to his whole country. ⁴They weren’t there when he destroyed the army of Egypt and its horses and chariots. The Lord swept the waters of the Red Sea over the Egyptians while they were chasing you. He wiped them out forever.

⁵Your children didn’t see what he did for you in the desert before you arrived here. ⁶They didn’t see what he did to Dathan and Abiram, who were the sons of Eliab. Eliab was from the tribe of Reuben. The earth opened its mouth right in the middle of the Israelite camp. It swallowed up Dathan and Abiram. It swallowed them up together with their families, tents and every living thing that belonged to them.

⁷But with your own eyes you saw all of the great things the Lord has done.

⁸So obey all of the commands I’m giving you today. Then you will be strong enough to go in and…

Read in Logos

This passage has been shortened. Keep reading Deuteronomy 9–11 in Logos