Study Desk

"You must burn their idols in fire, and you must not covet the silver or gold that covers them. You must not take it or it will become a trap to you, for it is detestable to the Lord your God.

Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands.

Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good.

"So obey the commands of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and fearing him.

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water, with fountains and springs that gush out in the valleys and hills.

When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

"But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today.

Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.

Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.

"But I assure you of this: If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed.

Just as the Lord has destroyed other nations in your path, you also will be destroyed if you refuse to obey the Lord your God.

But recognize today that the Lord your God is the one who will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy them. He will subdue them so that you will quickly conquer them and drive them out, just as the Lord has promised.

"After the Lord your God has done this for you, don't say in your hearts, ‘The Lord has given us this land because we are such good people!' No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way.

It is not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The Lord your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

You must recognize that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people.

"Remember and never forget how angry you made the Lord your God out in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until now, you have been constantly rebelling against him.

The Lord gave me the two tablets on which God had written with his own finger all the words he had spoken to you from the heart of the fire when you were assembled at the mountain.

There below me I could see that you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had melted gold and made a calf idol for yourselves. How quickly you had turned away from the path the Lord had commanded you to follow!

And at Kadesh-barnea the Lord sent you out with this command: ‘Go up and take over the land I have given you.' But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God and refused to put your trust in him or obey him.

That is why the Levites have no share of property or possession of land among the other Israelite tribes. The Lord himself is their special possession, as the Lord your God told them.)