Israel Provoked Yahweh

1“Hear, O Israel! You are crossing over the Jordan today to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, great cities [†]fortified to heaven, 2a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’ 3So you shall know today that it is Yahweh your God who is crossing over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them, and He will subdue them before you, so that you may dispossess them and make them perish quickly, just as Yahweh has spoken to you.

4“Do not say in your heart when Yahweh your God has driven them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness Yahweh has brought me in to possess this land,’ but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that Yahweh is dispossessing them before you. 5It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that Yahweh your God is dispossessing them before you, in order to confirm the [†]oath which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

6“So you shall know it is not because of your righteousness that Yahweh your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a [†]stiff-necked people. 7Remember, do not forget how you provoked Yahweh your God to wrath in the wilderness; from the day that you went out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against Yahweh. 8Even at Horeb you provoked Yahweh to wrath, and Yahweh was so angry with you that He would have destroyed you. 9When I went up to the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which Yahweh had cut with you, then I remained on the mountain forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water. 10And Yahweh gave me the two tablets of stone written by the finger of God; and on them were all the words which Yahweh had spoken with you at the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. 11Now it happened at the end of forty days and nights, that Yahweh gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. 12Then Yahweh said to me, ‘Arise, go down from here quickly, 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 a molten image for themselves.’ 13Yahweh spoke further to me, saying, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed, [†]they are a [†]stiff-necked people. 14Let 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 more numerous than they.’

15“So I turned and came down from the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16And I saw that you had indeed sinned against Yahweh your God. You had made for yourselves a molten calf; you had turned aside quickly from the way which Yahweh had commanded you. 17And I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my hands and shattered them before your eyes. 18And I fell down before Yahweh, as at the first, forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water because of all your sin which you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of Yahweh to provoke Him to anger. 19For I was afraid of the anger and the wrath with which Yahweh was provoked against you in order to destroy you, but Yahweh listened to me that time also. 20And Yahweh was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him; so I also prayed for Aaron at the same time. 21Now I took your [†]sinful thing, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook that came down from the mountain.

22“Again at Taberah and at Massah and at Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked Yahweh to wrath. 23When Yahweh sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Go up and possess the land which I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the [†]command of Yahweh your God; you did not believe Him, and you did not listen to His voice. 24You have been rebellious against Yahweh from the day I knew you.

25“So I fell down before Yahweh the forty days and the forty nights, which I [†]did because Yahweh had said He would destroy you. 26And I prayed to Yahweh and said, ‘O Lord Yahweh, do not destroy Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a strong hand. 27Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look at the stiff-neck of this people or at their wickedness or their sin, 28lest the land from which You brought us say, “Because Yahweh was not able to bring them into the land which He had [†]promised them and because He hated them He has brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.” 29Yet they are Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have brought out by Your great power and Your outstretched arm.’