top Deuteronomy ch 9
Greek: Septuagint (LXX)
English: John Barach
Chapter 9
Not by Your Own Righteousness
1 Ἄκουε, Ἰσραήλ· σὺ διαβαίνεις σήμερον τὸν Ἰορδάνην εἰσελθεῖν κληρονομῆσαι ἔθνη μεγάλα καὶ ἰσχυρότερα μᾶλλον ἢ ὑμεῖς πόλεις, μεγάλας καὶ τειχήρεις ἕως τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, 2 λαὸν μέγαν καὶ πολὺν καὶ εὐμήκη, υἱοὺς Ἐνάκ, οὓς σὺ οἶσθα καὶ σὺ ἀκήκοας τίς ἀντισήσεται κατὰ πρόσωπον υἱῶν Ἐνάκ; 3 καὶ γνώσῃ σήμερον ὅτι κύριος ὁ θεός σου, οὗτος προπορεύεται πρὸ προσώπου σου· πῦρ καταναλίσκον ἐστίν· οὗτος ἐξολεθρεύσει αὐτούς, καὶ οὗτος ἀποστρέψει αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ προσώπου σου, καὶ ἀπολεῖς αὐτούς, καθάπερ εἶπέν σοί κύριος. 1 Hear, O Israel: Today you are crossing the Jordan to enter and inherit nations great and much stronger than you—cities great and walled up to heaven, 2 a people great and many and tall, the sons of Anak, whom you know and of whom you have heard: "Who can stand against the face of the sons of Anak?" 3 And you shall know today that the Lord your God—He is the one going before your face; He is a consuming fire. He will utterly destroy them, and He will turn them back from before your face; and you shall destroy them, just as the Lord said to you.
4 μὴ εἴπῃς ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου ἐν τῷ ἐξαναλῶσαι κύριον τὸν θεόν σου τὰ ἔθνη ταῦτα ἀπὸ προσώπου σου λέγων διὰ τὰς δικαιοσύνας μου εἰσήγαγέν με κύριος κληρονομῆσαι τὴν γῆν τὴν ἀγαθὴν ταύτην· ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἀσέβειαν τῶν ἐθνῶν τούτων κύριος ἐξολεθρεύσει αὐτοὺς πρὸ προσώπου σου. 5 οὐχὶ διὰ τὴν δικαιοσύνην σου οὐδὲ διὰ τὴν ὁσιότητα τῆς καρδίας σου σὺ εἰσπορεύῃ κληρονομῆσαι τὴν γῆν αὐτῶν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἀσέβειαν τῶν ἐθνῶν τούτων κύριος ἐξολεθρεύσει αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ προσώπου σου καὶ ἵνα στήσῃ τὴν διαθήκην αὐτοῦ, ἣν ὤμοσεν τοῖς πατράσιν ὑμῶν, τῷ Ἁβραὰμ καὶ τῷ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ τῷ Ἰακώβ. 4 Do not say in your heart, when the Lord your God has consumed these nations from before your face, "Because of my righteousness the Lord brought me in to inherit this good land." Rather, it is because of the impiety of these nations that the Lord will utterly destroy them from before your face. 5 Not because of your righteousness or the holiness of your heart do you enter to inherit their land, but because of the impiety of these nations the Lord will utterly destroy them from before your face, and that He may establish His covenant which the Lord swore to your fathers—to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
The Memory of Rebellion
6 καὶ γνώσῃ σήμερον ὅτι οὐχὶ διὰ τὰς δικαιοσύνας σου κύριος ὁ θεός σου δίδωσίν σοί τὴν γῆν τὴν ἀγαθὴν ταύτην κληρονομῆσαι, ὅτι λαὸς σκληροτράχηλος εἶ. 7 μνήσθητι μὴ ἐπιλάθῃ ὅσα παρώξυνας κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ· ἀφ' ἧς ἡμέρας ἐξήλθετε ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἕως ἤλθετε εἰς τὸν τόπον τοῦτον, ἀπειθοῦντες διετελεῖτε τὰ πρὸς κύριον. 6 And you shall know today that not because of your righteousness does the Lord your God give you this good land to inherit, for you are a stiff-necked people. 7 Remember, do not forget how much you provoked the Lord your God in the wilderness; from the day you came out of Egypt until you came to this place, you have continued being disobedient toward the Lord.
8 καὶ ἐν Χωρὴβ παρωξύνατε κύριον καὶ ἐθυμώθη κύριος, ἐφ' ὑμῖν ἐξολεθρεῦσαι ὑμᾶς 9 ἀναβαίνοντός μου εἰς τὸ ὄρος λαβεῖν τὰς πλάκας τὰς λιθίνας, πλάκας διαθήκης, ἃς διέθετο κύριος πρὸς ὑμᾶς. καὶ κατεγινόμην ἐν τῷ ὄρει τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας καὶ τεσσαράκοντα νύκτας· ἄρτον οὐκ ἔφαγον καὶ ὕδωρ οὐκ ἔπιον. 10 καὶ ἔδωκεν κύριος ἐμοὶ τὰς δύο πλάκας τὰς λιθίνας γεγραμμένας ἐν τῷ δακτύλῳ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ἐπ' αὐταῖς ἐγέγραπτο πάντες οἱ λόγοι, οὓς ἐλάλησεν κύριος πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐν τῷ ὄρει ἡμέρᾳ ἐκκλησίας· 11 καὶ ἐγένετο διὰ τεσσαράκοντα ἡμερῶν καὶ τεσσαράκοντα νυκτῶν ἔδωκεν κύριος ἐμοὶ τὰς δύο πλάκας τὰς λιθίνας, πλάκας διαθήκης. 8 Even in Horeb you provoked the Lord, and the Lord was moved to anger against you to utterly destroy you 9 when I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with you. And I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights—bread I did not eat and water I did not drink. 10 And the Lord gave to me the two stone tablets written with the finger of God, and upon them were written all the words which the Lord spoke to you on the mountain on the day of the assembly. 11 And it happened after forty days and forty nights, the Lord gave to me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant.
12 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρός με ἀνάστηθι κατάβηθι τὸ τάχος ἐντεῦθεν, ὅτι ἠνόμησεν ὁ λαός σου, οὓς ἐξήγαγες ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου· παρέβησαν ταχὺ ἐκ τῆς ὁδοῦ, ἧς ἐνετείλω αὐτοῖς· ἐποίησαν ἑαυτοῖς χώνευμα. 12 Then the Lord said to me, "Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have acted lawlessly; they have turned aside quickly from the way which you commanded them—they have made for themselves a cast image."
Moses Intercedes for the People
13 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρός με λελάληκα πρὸς σὲ ἅπαξ καὶ δὶς λέγων ἑώρακα τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον, καὶ ἰδοὺ λαὸς σκληροτράχηλός ἐστιν· 14 ἔασόν με ἐξολεθρεῦσαι αὐτούς, καὶ ἐξαλείψω τὸ ὄνομα αὐτῶν ὑποκάτωθεν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ποιήσω σὲ εἰς ἔθνος μέγα καὶ ἰσχυρὸν καὶ πολὺ μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦτο. 13 And the Lord said to me, "I have spoken to you once and twice, saying: 'I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.' 14 Leave me alone to utterly destroy them, and I will wipe out their name from under heaven, and I will make you into a nation great and strong and much more [numerous] than this one."
15 καὶ ἐπιστρέψας κατέβην ἐκ τοῦ ὄρους, καὶ τὸ ὄρος ἐκαίετο πυρί, καὶ αἱ δύο πλάκες ἐπὶ ταῖς δυσὶ χερσίν μου. 16 καὶ ἰδὼν ὅτι ἡμάρτετε ἐναντίον κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ ὑμῶν καὶ ἐποιήσατε ὑμῖν ἑαυτοῖς χωνευτὸν καὶ παρέβητε ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ, ἧς ἐνετείλατο ὑμῖν κύριος, 17 καὶ ἐπιλαβόμενος τῶν δύο πλακῶν ἔρριψα αὐτὰς ἀπὸ τῶν δύο χειρῶν μου καὶ συνέτριψα ἐναντίον ὑμῶν. 15 And turning, I went down from the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire, and the two tablets were in my two hands. 16 And seeing that you had sinned against the Lord your God and had made for yourselves a cast calf, and had turned aside from the way which the Lord commanded you, 17 I took hold of the two tablets and hurled them from my two hands and shattered them before you.
18 καὶ ἐδεήθην ἐναντίον κυρίου δεύτερον καθάπερ καὶ τὸ πρότερον τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας καὶ τεσσαράκοντα νύκτας — ἄρτον οὐκ ἔφαγον καὶ ὕδωρ οὐκ ἔπιον — περὶ πασῶν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ὑμῶν, ὧν ἡμάρτετε ποιῆσαι τὸ πονηρὸν ἐναντίον κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ ὑμῶν παροξῦναι αὐτόν. 19 καὶ ἔκφοβός εἰμι διὰ τὴν ὀργὴν καὶ τὸν θυμόν, ὅτι παρωξύνθη κύριος ἐφ' ὑμῖν ἐξολεθρεῦσαι ὑμᾶς· καὶ εἰσήκουσεν κύριος ἐμοῦ καὶ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τούτῳ. 20 καὶ ἐπὶ Ἀαρὼν ἐθυμώθη κύριος σφόδρα ἐξολεθρεῦσαι αὐτόν, καὶ ηὐξάμην καὶ περὶ Ἀαρὼν ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ. 21 καὶ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ὑμῶν, ἣν ἐποιήσατε, τὸν μόσχον ἔλαβον αὐτὸν καὶ κατέκαυσα αὐτὸν ἐν πυρὶ καὶ συνέκοψα αὐτὸν καταλέσας σφόδρα, ἕως οὗ ἐγένετο λεπτόν· καὶ ἐγενήθη ὡσεὶ κονιορτός, καὶ ἔρριψα τὸν κονιορτὸν εἰς τὸν χειμάρρουν τὸν καταβαίνοντα ἐκ τοῦ ὄρους. 18 And I prayed before the Lord a second time, just as at the first, for forty days and forty nights—bread I did not eat and water I did not drink—because of all your sins which you committed by doing what is evil before the Lord your God to provoke Him. 19 And I was terrified because of the wrath and the anger, because the Lord was provoked against you to utterly destroy you; and the Lord listened to me at that time also. 20 And the Lord was exceedingly angry with Aaron to utterly destroy him, and I prayed for Aaron also at that time. 21 And your sin which you had made—the calf—I took and burned it in fire and crushed it, grinding it thoroughly until it became fine; and it became like dust, and I hurled the dust into the torrent that flows down from the mountain.
A History of Provocation
22 καὶ ἐν τῷ ἐμπυρισμῷ καὶ ἐν τῷ Πειρασμῷ καὶ ἐν τοῖς Μνήμασιν τῆς ἐπιθυμίας παροξύνοντες ἦτε κύριον τὸν θεὸν ὑμῶν. 23 καὶ ὅτε ἐξαπέστειλεν κύριος ὑμᾶς ἐκ Κάδης Βαρνὴ λέγων ἀνάβητε καὶ κληρονομήσατε τὴν γῆν, ἣν δίδωμι ὑμῖν, καὶ ἠπειθήσατε τῷ ῥήματι κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ ὑμῶν καὶ οὐκ ἐπιστεύσατε αὐτῷ καὶ οὐκ εἰσηκούσατε τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ. 24 ἀπειθοῦντες ἦτε τὰ πρὸς κύριον ἀπὸ τῆς ἡμέρας, ἧς ἐγνώσθη ὑμῖν. 22 And at "The Burning" (Taberah) and at "The Testing" (Massah) and at "The Graves of Craving" (Kibroth-hattaavah), you were provoking the Lord your God. 23 And when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, "Go up and inherit the land which I give to you," you were disobedient to the word of the Lord your God; you did not believe Him and you did not listen to His voice. 24 You have been disobedient toward the Lord from the day I first knew you.
25 καὶ ἐδεήθην ἐναντίον κυρίου τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας καὶ τεσσαράκοντα νύκτας, ὅσας ἐδεήθην — εἶπεν γὰρ κύριος ἐξολεθρεῦσαι ὑμᾶς — 26 καὶ εὐξάμην πρὸς τὸν θεὸν καὶ εἶπα κύριε κύριε βασιλεῦ τῶν θεῶν, μὴ ἐξολεθρεύσῃς τὸν λαόν σου καὶ τὴν μερίδα σου, ἣν ἐλυτρώσω ἐν τῇ ἰσχύϊ σου τῇ μεγάλῃ, οὓς ἐξήγαγες ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου ἐν τῇ ἰσχύϊ σου τῇ μεγάλῃ καὶ ἐν τῇ χειρί σου τῇ κραταιᾷ καὶ ἐν τῷ βραχίονί σου τῷ ὑψηλῷ· 27 μνήσθητι Ἁβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακὼβ τῶν θεραπόντων σου, οἷς ὤμοσας κατὰ σεαυτοῦ· μὴ ἐπιβλέψῃς ἐπὶ τὴν σκληρότητα τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου καὶ τὰ ἀσεβήματα καὶ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα αὐτῶν, 28 μὴ εἴπωσιν οἱ κατοικοῦντες τὴν γῆν, ὅθεν ἐξήγαγες ἡμᾶς ἐκεῖθεν, λέγοντες παρὰ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι κύριον εἰσαγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν γῆν, ἣν εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, καὶ παρὰ τὸ μισῆσαι αὐτοὺς ἐξήγαγεν αὐτοὺς ἀποκτεῖναι ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ. 29 καὶ οὗτοι λαός σου καὶ κλῆρός σου, οὓς ἐξήγαγες ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου ἐν τῇ ἰσχύϊ σου τῇ μεγάλῃ καὶ ἐν τῷ βραχίονί σου τῷ ὑψηλῷ. 25 And I prayed before the Lord for forty days and forty nights—as long as I prayed—for the Lord said He would utterly destroy you. 26 And I prayed to God and said, "O Lord, Lord, King of the gods, do not utterly destroy Your people and Your portion, whom You redeemed in Your great strength, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt by Your great strength and by Your mighty hand and by Your high arm. 27 Remember Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, Your servants, to whom You swore by Yourself; do not look upon the hardness of this people and their impieties and their sins, 28 lest those dwelling in the land from which You brought us out should say, 'Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land which He promised them, and because He hated them, He brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.' 29 Yet these are Your people and Your heritage, whom You brought out of the land of Egypt by Your great strength and by Your high arm."