1Hør efter, Israels folk! Nu er det tid at gå over Jordanfloden og erobre landet fra folkeslagene på den anden side. De er større og stærkere end jer og bor i byer med himmelhøje mure.2Blandt dem bor de frygtede anakitter, kæmper, som siges at være uovervindelige.3Men Herren, jeres Gud, vil gå foran jer som en fortærende ild, der ødelægger alt på sin vej, og I vil hurtigt besejre dem og udrydde dem, sådan som Herren har lovet.4-5Når Herren rydder dem bort foran jer og giver jer landet i besiddelse, må I ikke sige: ‚Herren hjalp os, fordi vi fortjente det!’ Nej, det er ikke jer, der fortjener hans hjælp, men dem, der fortjener hans straf. Han driver dem ud af landet på grund af deres ondskab og for at opfylde sit løfte til jeres forfædre, Abraham, Isak og Jakob.6Jeg kan forsikre jer om, at Herren ikke giver jer det dejlige land, fordi I har gjort jer fortjent til det. I er nemlig et stædigt og oprørsk folk!
Påmindelse om Israels folks genstridighed
7Glem aldrig, hvordan folket gang på gang fremkaldte Herrens vrede i ørkenen, lige fra den dag, de forlod Egypten, og til nu. Hele vejen har de været stride imod ham.8Husk på, hvor vred de gjorde ham ved Horebs bjerg, så vred, at han faktisk havde besluttet at udrydde hele folket.9-11Det var dengang jeg opholdt mig på bjerget i 40 dage[1] uden at spise eller drikke, mens jeg ventede på, at Herren skulle give mig stentavlerne med pagtens betingelser, som de allerede havde hørt ham erklære fra ilden på bjerget.12Han befalede mig imidlertid at skynde mig ned ad bjerget, fordi folket, jeg havde ført ud af Egypten, havde syndet ved at tage afstand fra ham og støbe et afgudsbillede i stedet.13-14‚Lad mig få lov til at udrydde dette oprørske folk fra jordens overflade!’ sagde Herren til mig. ‚Derefter vil jeg begynde forfra med dig og gøre dig til et mægtigt folk, større og stærkere end dem.’15Jeg gik så ned fra det flammende bjerg. I hænderne havde jeg de to stentavler.16Da jeg ved bjergets fod fik øje på den tyrekalv, de havde fremstillet, blev jeg så rasende over, at de så hurtigt havde forladt Herrens vej,17at jeg løftede stentavlerne i vejret og kastede dem til jorden, så de splintredes for øjnene af folket.18Derefter lå jeg for Herrens ansigt endnu 40 dage uden at spise eller drikke. Jeg sørgede over deres utrolige ondskab, som endnu en gang havde fremkaldt hans vrede.19Jeg rystede af angst for, at Herren ville gøre alvor af sin trussel og udslette sit folk, men også denne gang hørte han min bøn.20Selv Aron, der havde svigtet sit ansvar, blev ramt af Herrens vrede, men han blev skånet ved, at jeg gik i forbøn for ham.21Den forfærdelige tyrekalv, folket havde fremstillet, brændte jeg i ilden, hvorefter jeg knuste resterne til fint støv og smed støvet i bækken, der flød ned ad bjerget.22Senere ved Tabera og Massa provokerede folket Herren igen, og endnu en gang ved ‚De Grådiges Grav’.23Da vi nåede til Kadesh-Barnea, og Herren opfordrede dem til at gå ind i det land, han havde lovet dem, nægtede de at adlyde ham, fordi de ikke havde tillid til, at han ville hjælpe dem.24Folket har været i oprør imod Herren, lige så længe jeg kan huske.25Da jeg lå for Herrens ansigt i 40 dage og bad for dem, var det, fordi Herren havde sagt, at han ville udrydde sit folk.26Derfor gik jeg i forbøn for dem med følgende ord: ‚Min Herre og Gud, udslet ikke dit ejendomsfolk, som du med magt og vælde befriede fra slaveriet i Egypten.27Husk på dine løfter til dine tjenere Abraham, Isak og Jakob og se i nåde til det her oprørske folk med dets synd og ulydighed.28Hvis du udrydder dem, vil egypterne jo påstå, at du ikke var i stand til at gennemføre din plan om at føre dem til det land, du havde lovet dem, eller de vil sige, at du er en ond Gud, der af had til dit folk lagde en fælde for dem i ørkenen.29Vis dog, at de er dit ejendomsfolk, og at det ikke var forgæves, at du med magt og vælde førte dem ud af Egypten.’
1“Hear, O Israel: you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven, (5.Mos 4,38; 5.Mos 11,31; 5.Mos 12,10; Josva 1,11)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?’ (4.Mos 13,22; 5.Mos 1,28)3Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the Lord has promised you. (2.Mos 23,29; 5.Mos 4,24; 5.Mos 7,24; 5.Mos 31,3; Josva 3,11)4“Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. (3.Mos 18,24; 3.Mos 20,23; 5.Mos 8,17; 5.Mos 18,12; 5.Mos 20,18)5Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. (1.Mos 50,24; Titus 3,5)6“Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. (5.Mos 10,16)7Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. (2.Mos 14,11; 2.Mos 15,24; 2.Mos 16,2; 2.Mos 17,2; 4.Mos 11,4; 4.Mos 14,2; 4.Mos 14,11; 4.Mos 14,41; 4.Mos 20,2; 4.Mos 21,5; 4.Mos 25,2; 5.Mos 9,24; 5.Mos 31,27)8Even at Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, and the Lord was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you. (2.Mos 32,4; Salm 106,19)9When I went up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. (2.Mos 24,12; 2.Mos 24,15; 2.Mos 24,18; 2.Mos 34,28; 1.Kong 19,8; Matt 4,2; Luk 4,1)10And the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words that the Lord had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. (2.Mos 19,17; 2.Mos 31,18; 5.Mos 4,10; 5.Mos 10,4; 5.Mos 18,16)11And at the end of forty days and forty nights the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.12Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them; they have made themselves a metal image.’ (2.Mos 32,7; 5.Mos 31,29; Dom 2,17)
The Golden Calf
13“Furthermore, the Lord said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stubborn people. (2.Mos 32,9; 5.Mos 9,6)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 greater than they.’ (2.Mos 17,14; 2.Mos 32,10; 4.Mos 14,12; 5.Mos 7,24; 5.Mos 25,19; 5.Mos 29,20)15So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. (2.Mos 19,18; 2.Mos 32,15; 5.Mos 4,11; 5.Mos 5,23)16And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had made yourselves a golden[1] calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you. (2.Mos 32,19; 5.Mos 31,29; Dom 2,17)17So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes.18Then I lay prostrate before the Lord as before, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin that you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. (2.Mos 34,28; 5.Mos 4,25; 5.Mos 9,9; 5.Mos 10,10; Salm 106,23)19For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure that the Lord bore against you, so that he was ready to destroy you. But the Lord listened to me that time also. (2.Mos 32,14; 2.Mos 33,17; 5.Mos 10,10)20And the Lord was so angry with Aaron that he was ready to destroy him. And I prayed for Aaron also at the same time.21Then I took the sinful thing, the calf that 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 the dust of it into the brook that ran down from the mountain. (2.Mos 32,20)22“At Taberah also, and at Massah and at Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked the Lord to wrath. (2.Mos 17,7; 4.Mos 11,1; 4.Mos 11,34)23And when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God and did not believe him or obey his voice. (4.Mos 13,3; 4.Mos 14,1; Salm 106,24)24You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you. (5.Mos 9,7; 5.Mos 31,27)25“So I lay prostrate before the Lord for these forty days and forty nights, because the Lord had said he would destroy you. (5.Mos 9,18)26And I prayed to the Lord, ‘O Lord God, do not destroy your people and your heritage, whom you have redeemed through your greatness, whom you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. (2.Mos 32,11)27Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not regard the stubbornness of this people, or their wickedness or their sin,28lest the land from which you brought us say, “Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land that he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.” (4.Mos 14,16)29For they are your people and your heritage, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.’ (5.Mos 4,20; 1.Kong 8,51; Neh 1,10; Salm 95,7)