Deuteronomy 9

Not Because of Righteousness

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 a 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 b goes over before you as a c consuming fire. d He will destroy them and bring them down before you; e so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the LORD has said to you.

4 f "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 g because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out from before you. 5 h "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 1 fulfill the i 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 j stiff-necked 2 people. 7 "Remember! Do not forget how you k provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. l 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 m in Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was angry enough with you to have destroyed you. 9 n "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 o forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. 10 p "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 q in 3 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, r 'Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly; they have s quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molded image.'

The Golden Calf

13 "Furthermore t the LORD spoke to me, saying, 'I have seen this people, and indeed u they are a 4 stiff-necked people. 14 v 'Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and w blot out their name from under heaven; x and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.' 15 y "So I turned and came down from the mountain, and z the mountain burned with fire; and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 "And a 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 b broke them before your eyes. 18 "And I c fell 5 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 d "For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the LORD was angry with you, to destroy you. e 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 f threw its dust into the brook that descended from the mountain.

22 "Also at g Taberah and h Massah and i Kibroth Hattaavah you 6 provoked the LORD to wrath. 23 "Likewise, j 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 k you did not believe Him nor obey His voice. 24 l "You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you.

25 m "Thus I 7 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 n 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.'

  1. Cross References
    Numbers 13:22
    And they went up through the South and came to Hebron; Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
    Numbers 13:28
    Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.
    Numbers 13:33
    "There we saw the giants ( the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."
    Joshua 11:21
    And at that time Joshua came and cut off the Anakim from the mountains: from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel; Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities.
    Joshua 11:22
    None of the Anakim were left in the land of the children of Israel; they remained only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod.
  2. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 1:33
    Who went in the way before you to search out a place for you to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day.
    Deuteronomy 31:3
    The LORD your God Himself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself crosses over before you, just as the LORD has said.
    Joshua 3:11
    Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan.
    Joshua 5:14
    So He said, "No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, "What does my Lord say to His servant?
    John 10:4
    And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
  3. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 4:24
    For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
    Hebrews 12:29
    For our God is a consuming fire.
  4. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 7:24
    And He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you will destroy their name from under heaven; no one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them.
  5. Cross References
    Exodus 23:31
    And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River. For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.
  6. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 8:17
    "then you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.'
    Romans 11:6
    And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
    Romans 11:20
    Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear.
    1 Corinthians 4:4
    For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.
    1 Corinthians 4:7
    For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
  7. Cross References
    Genesis 15:16
    "But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."
    Leviticus 18:3
    According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances.
    Leviticus 18:24 - 30
    Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you.
    Deuteronomy 12:31
    You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.
    Deuteronomy 18:9 - 14
    When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations.
  8. Cross References
    Titus 3:5
    Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.
  9. Cross References
    Genesis 50:24
    And Joseph said to his brethren, "I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
  10. Cross References
    Exodus 34:9
    Then he said, "If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.
    Deuteronomy 31:27
    For I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. If today, while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the LORD, then how much more after my death?
  11. Cross References
    Numbers 14:22
    Because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice.
  12. Cross References
    Exodus 14:11
    Then they said to Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?
  13. Cross References
    Exodus 32:1 - 8
    Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.
    Psalms 106:19
    They made a calf in Horeb, And worshiped the molded image.
  14. Cross References
    Exodus 24:12
    Then the LORD said to Moses, "Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.
    Exodus 24:15
    Then Moses went up into the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain.
    Deuteronomy 5:2 - 22
    The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
  15. Cross References
    Exodus 24:18
    So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
  16. Cross References
    Exodus 31:18
    And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.
    Deuteronomy 4:13
    So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.
  17. Cross References
    Exodus 19:17
    And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
  18. Cross References
    Exodus 32:7
    And the LORD said to Moses, "Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.
    Exodus 32:8
    "They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!'"
  19. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 31:29
    "For I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you. And evil will befall you in the latter days, because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands."
  20. Cross References
    Exodus 32:9
    And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people!
  21. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 9:6
    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.
  22. Cross References
    Exodus 32:10
    "Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation."
  23. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 29:20
    The LORD would not spare him; for then the anger of the LORD and His jealousy would burn against that man, and every curse that is written in this book would settle on him, and the LORD would blot out his name from under heaven.
  24. Cross References
    Numbers 14:12
    "I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they."
  25. Cross References
    Exodus 32:15 - 19
    And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written.
  26. Cross References
    Exodus 19:18
    Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.
  27. Cross References
    Exodus 32:19
    So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses' anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.
  28. Cross References
    Exodus 32:19
    So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses' anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.
  29. Cross References
    Exodus 34:28
    So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
    Psalms 106:23
    Therefore He said that He would destroy them, Had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach, To turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them.
  30. Cross References
    Exodus 32:10
    "Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation."
    Exodus 32:11
    Then Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, and said: "LORD, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
    Hebrews 12:21
    And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.")
  31. Cross References
    Exodus 32:14
    So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.
  32. Cross References
    Exodus 32:20
    Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it.
  33. Cross References
    Numbers 11:1
    Now when the people complained, it displeased the LORD; for the LORD heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.
    Numbers 11:3
    So he called the name of the place Taberah, because the fire of the LORD had burned among them.
  34. Cross References
    Exodus 17:7
    So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?
  35. Cross References
    Numbers 11:4
    Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: "Who will give us meat to eat?
    Numbers 11:34
    So he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving.
  36. Cross References
    Numbers 13:3
    So Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.
  37. Cross References
    Psalms 106:24
    Then they despised the pleasant land; They did not believe His word.
    Psalms 106:25
    But complained in their tents, And did not heed the voice of the LORD.
  38. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 9:7
    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.
    Deuteronomy 31:27
    For I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. If today, while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the LORD, then how much more after my death?
  39. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 9:18
    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.
  40. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 32:9
    For the LORD's portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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