Study Desk

Do Not Forget the Lord

Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live^(a) and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.^(b)

Remember how the Lord your God led^(c) you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test^(d) you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

He humbled^(e) you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna,^(f) which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach^(g) you that man does not live on bread^(h) alone but on every word that comes from the mouth⁽ⁱ⁾ of the Lord .^(j)

Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.^(k)

Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.^(l)

Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him^(m) and revering him.⁽ⁿ⁾

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land^(o)—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills;^(p)

a land with wheat and barley,^(q) vines^(r) and fig trees,^(s) pomegranates, olive oil and honey;^(t)

a land where bread^(u) will not be scarce and you will lack nothing;^(v) a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.^(w)

When you have eaten and are satisfied,^(x) praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

Be careful that you do not forget^(y) the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.

Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down,^(z)

and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied,

then your heart will become proud and you will forget^(aa) the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness,^(ab) that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes^(ac) and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.^(ad)

He gave you manna^(ae) to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known,^(af) to humble and test^(ag) you so that in the end it might go well with you.

You may say to yourself,^(ah) "My power and the strength of my hands^(ai) have produced this wealth for me."

But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth,^(aj) and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods^(ak) and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.^(al)

Like the nations^(am) the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.^(an)

Not Because of Israel's Righteousness

Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan^(a) to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you,^(b) with large cities^(c) that have walls up to the sky.^(d)

The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: "Who can stand up against the Anakites?"^(e)

But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you^(f) like a devouring fire.^(g) He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly,^(h) as the Lord has promised you.

After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself,⁽ⁱ⁾ "The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness." No, it is on account of the wickedness^(j) of these nations^(k) that the Lord is going to drive them out before you.

It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity^(l) that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness^(m) of these nations,⁽ⁿ⁾ the Lord your God will drive them out^(o) before you, to accomplish what he swore^(p) to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.^(q)

Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.^(r)

Remember this and never forget how you aroused the anger^(s) of the Lord your God in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious^(t) against the Lord .^(u)

At Horeb you aroused the Lord 's wrath^(v) so that he was angry enough to destroy you.^(w)

When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant^(x) that the Lord had made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days^(y) and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water.^(z)

The Lord gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God.^(aa) On them were all the commandments the Lord proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.^(ab)

At the end of the forty days and forty nights,^(ac) the Lord gave me the two stone tablets,^(ad) the tablets of the covenant.

Then the Lord told me, "Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt.^(ae) They have turned away quickly^(af) from what I commanded them and have made an idol for themselves."

And the Lord said to me, "I have seen this people^(ag), and they are a stiff-necked people indeed!

Let me alone,^(ah) so that I may destroy them and blot out^(ai) their name from under heaven.^(aj) And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they."

So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands.^(ak)

When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf.^(al) You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you.

So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.

Then once again I fell^(am) prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water,^(an) because of all the sin you had committed,^(ao) doing what was evil in the Lord 's sight and so arousing his anger.

I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord , for he was angry enough with you to destroy you.^(ap) But again the Lord listened to me.^(aq)

And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too.

Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust^(ar) and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.^(as)

You also made the Lord angry^(at) at Taberah,^(au) at Massah^(av) and at Kibroth Hattaavah.^(aw)

And when the Lord sent you out from Kadesh Barnea,^(ax) he said, "Go up and take possession^(ay) of the land I have given you." But you rebelled^(az) against the command of the Lord your God. You did not trust^(ba) him or obey him.

You have been rebellious against the Lord ever since I have known you.^(bb)

I lay prostrate before the Lord those forty days and forty nights^(bc) because the Lord had said he would destroy you.^(bd)

I prayed to the Lord and said, "Sovereign Lord , do not destroy your people,^(be) your own inheritance^(bf) that you redeemed^(bg) by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.^(bh)

Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness^(bi) of this people, their wickedness and their sin.

Otherwise, the country^(bj) from which you brought us will say, ‘Because the Lord was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them,^(bk) he brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.'^(bl)

But they are your people,^(bm) your inheritance^(bn) that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.^(bo)"

Tablets Like the First Ones

At that time the Lord said to me, "Chisel out two stone tablets^(a) like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden ark.^[a]

I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you are to put them in the ark."^(b)

So I made the ark out of acacia wood^(c) and chiseled^(d) out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands.

The Lord wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments^(e) he had proclaimed^(f) to you on the mountain, out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.^(g) And the Lord gave them to me.

Then I came back down the mountain^(h) and put the tablets in the ark⁽ⁱ⁾ I had made,^(j) as the Lord commanded me, and they are there now.^(k)

(The Israelites traveled from the wells of Bene Jaakan to Moserah.^(l) There Aaron died^(m) and was buried, and Eleazar⁽ⁿ⁾ his son succeeded him as priest.^(o)

From there they traveled to Gudgodah and on to Jotbathah, a land with streams of water.^(p)

At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi^(q) to carry the ark of the covenant^(r) of the Lord , to stand before the Lord to minister^(s) and to pronounce blessings^(t) in his name, as they still do today.^(u)

That is why the Levites have no share or inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance,^(v) as the Lord your God told them.)

Now I had stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, as I did the first time, and the Lord listened to me at this time also. It was not his will to destroy you.^(w)

"Go," the Lord said to me, "and lead the people on their way, so that they may enter and possess the land I swore to their ancestors to give them."

And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you^(x) but to fear^(y) the Lord your God, to walk^(z) in obedience to him, to love him,^(aa) to serve the Lord ^(ab) your God with all your heart^(ac) and with all your soul,^(ad)

and to observe the Lord 's commands^(ae) and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?^(af)

To the Lord your God belong the heavens,^(ag) even the highest heavens,^(ah) the earth and everything in it.^(ai)

Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved^(aj) them, and he chose you,^(ak) their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today.^(al)

Circumcise^(am) your hearts,^(an) therefore, and do not be stiff-necked^(ao) any longer.

For the Lord your God is God of gods^(ap) and Lord of lords,^(aq) the great God, mighty and awesome,^(ar) who shows no partiality^(as) and accepts no bribes.^(at)

He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow,^(au) and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.^(av)

And you are to love^(aw) those who are foreigners,^(ax) for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.^(ay)

Fear the Lord your God and serve him.^(az) Hold fast^(ba) to him and take your oaths in his name.^(bb)

He is the one you praise;^(bc) he is your God, who performed for you those great^(bd) and awesome wonders^(be) you saw with your own eyes.

Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were seventy in all,^(bf) and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.^(bg)