(4) And when your God יהוה has thrust them from your path, say not to yourselves, “יהוה has enabled us to possess this land because of our virtues”; it is rather because of the wickedness of those nations that יהוה is dispossessing them before you. (5) It is not because of your virtues and your rectitude that you will be able to possess their country; but it is because of their wickedness that your God יהוה is dispossessing those nations before you, and in order to fulfill the oath that יהוה made to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (6) Know, then, that it is not for any virtue of yours that your God יהוה is giving you this good land to possess; for you are a stiffnecked people. (7) Remember, never forget, how you provoked your God יהוה to anger in the wilderness: from the day that you left the land of Egypt until you reached this place, you have continued defiant toward יהוה. (8) At Horeb you so provoked יהוה that יהוה was angry enough with you to have destroyed you. (9) I had ascended the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the Tablets of the Covenant that יהוה had made with you, and I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, eating no bread and drinking no water. (10) And יהוה gave me the two tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God, with the exact words that יהוה had addressed to you on the mountain out of the fire on the day of the Assembly.

(11) At the end of those forty days and forty nights, יהוה gave me the two tablets of stone, the Tablets of the Covenant. (12) And יהוה said to me, “Hurry, go down from here at once, for the people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted wickedly; they have been quick to stray from the path that I enjoined upon them; they have made themselves a molten image.” (13) יהוה further said to me, “I see that this is a stiffnecked people. (14) Let Me alone and I will destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven, and I will make you a nation far more numerous than they.”

(15) I started down the mountain, a mountain ablaze with fire, the two Tablets of the Covenant in my two hands. (16) I saw how you had sinned against your God יהוה: you had made yourselves a molten calf; you had been quick to stray from the path that יהוה had enjoined upon you. (17) Thereupon I gripped the two tablets and flung them away with both my hands, smashing them before your eyes. (18) I threw myself down before יהוה —eating no bread and drinking no water forty days and forty nights, as before—because of the great wrong you had committed, doing what displeased and vexed יהוה. (19) For I was in dread of the fierce anger against you which moved יהוה to wipe you out. And that time, too, יהוה gave heed to me.— (20) Moreover, יהוה was angry enough with Aaron to have destroyed him; so I also interceded for Aaron at that time.— (21) As for that sinful thing you had made, the calf, I took it and put it to the fire; I broke it to bits and ground it thoroughly until it was fine as dust, and I threw its dust into the brook that comes down from the mountain.

(22) Again you provoked יהוה at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah. (23) And when יהוה sent you on from Kadesh-barnea, saying, “Go up and take possession of the land that I am giving you,” you flouted the command of your God יהוה —whom you did not put your trust in nor obey. (24) As long as I have known you, you have been defiant toward יהוה. (25) When I lay prostrate before יהוה those forty days and forty nights, because יהוה was determined to destroy you, (26) I prayed to יהוה and said, “O Lord יהוה, do not annihilate Your very own people, whom You redeemed in Your majesty and whom You freed from Egypt with a mighty hand. (27) Give thought to Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and pay no heed to the stubbornness of this people, its wickedness, and its sinfulness. (28) Else the country from which You freed us will say, ‘It was because יהוה was powerless to bring them into the land promised to them, and because of having rejected them, that [their god] brought them out to have them die in the wilderness.’ (29) Yet they are Your very own people, whom You freed with Your great might and Your outstretched arm.”

(1) Thereupon יהוה said to me, “Carve out two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain; and make an ark of wood. (2) I will inscribe on the tablets the commandments that were on the first tablets that you smashed, and you shall deposit them in the ark.” (3) I made an ark of acacia wood and carved out two tablets of stone like the first; I took the two tablets with me and went up the mountain. (4) After inscribing on the tablets the same text as on the first—the Ten Commandments that יהוה addressed to you on the mountain out of the fire on the day of the Assembly— יהוה gave them to me. (5) Then I left and went down from the mountain, and I deposited the tablets in the ark that I had made, where they still are, as יהוה had commanded me.

(6) From Beeroth-bene-jaakan the Israelites marched to Moserah. Aaron died there and was buried there; and his son Eleazar became priest in his stead. (7) From there they marched to Gudgod, and from Gudgod to Jotbath, a region of running brooks. (8) At that time יהוה set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the Ark of יהוה’s Covenant, to stand in attendance upon יהוה, and to bless in God’s name, as is still the case.

(9) That is why Levi has received no hereditary portion along with its kin: יהוה is its portion, as your God יהוה spoke concerning it. (10) I had stayed on the mountain, as I did the first time, forty days and forty nights; and יהוה heeded me once again: יהוה agreed not to destroy you. (11) And יהוה said to me, “Up, resume the march at the head of the people, that they may go in and possess the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.”

(9) That is why Levi has received no hereditary portion along with its kin: יהוה is its portion, as your God יהוה spoke concerning it. (10) I had stayed on the mountain, as I did the first time, forty days and forty nights; and יהוה heeded me once again: יהוה agreed not to destroy you. (11) And יהוה said to me, “Up, resume the march at the head of the people, that they may go in and possess the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.”

(14) Zion says, “ GOD has forsaken me, My Sovereign has forgotten me.” (15) Can a woman forget her baby, Or disown the child of her womb? Though she might forget, I never could forget you. (16) See, I have engraved you On the palms of My hands, Your walls are ever before Me. (17) Swiftly your children are coming; Those who ravaged and ruined you shall leave you. (18) Look up all around you and see: They are all assembled, are come to you! As I live —declares GOD— You shall don them all like jewels, Deck yourself with them like a bride. (19) As for your ruins and desolate places And your land laid waste— You shall soon be crowded with settlers, While destroyers stay far from you. (20) The children you thought you had lost Shall yet say in your hearing, “The place is too crowded for me; Make room for me to settle.” (21) And you will say to yourself, “Who bore these for me When I was bereaved and barren, Exiled and disdained— By whom, then, were these reared? I was left all alone— And where have these been?” (22) Thus said my Sovereign GOD: I will raise My hand to nations And lift up My ensign to peoples; And they shall bring your sons in their bosoms, And carry your daughters on their backs. (23) Kings shall tend your children, Their queens shall serve you as nurses. They shall bow to you, face to the ground, And lick the dust of your feet. And you shall know that I am GOD— Those who trust in Me shall not be shamed. (24) Can spoil be taken from a warrior, Or captives retrieved from a victor? (25) Yet thus said GOD: Captives shall be taken from a warrior And spoil shall be retrieved from a tyrant; For I will contend with your adversaries, And I will deliver your children. (26) I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, They shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine. And all humankind shall know That I GOD am your Savior, The Mighty One of Jacob, your Redeemer. (1) Thus said GOD: Where is the bill of divorce Of your mother whom I dismissed? And which of My creditors was it To whom I sold you off? You were only sold off for your sins, And your mother dismissed for your crimes. (2) Why, when I came, was no one there, Why, when I called, would none respond? Is my arm, then, too short to rescue, Have I not the power to save? With a mere rebuke I dry up the sea, And turn rivers into desert. Their fish stink from lack of water; They lie dead of thirst. (3) I clothe the skies in blackness And make their raiment sackcloth. (4) My Sovereign GOD gave me a skilled tongue, To know how to speak timely words to the weary. Morning by morning, [God] rouses me, Rousing my ear To give heed like disciples. (5) My Sovereign GOD opened my ears, And I did not disobey, I did not run away. (6) I offered my back to the floggers, And my cheeks to those who tore out my hair. I did not hide my face From insult and spittle. (7) But my Sovereign GOD will help me— Therefore I feel no disgrace; Therefore I have set my face like flint, And I know I shall not be shamed. (8) My Vindicator is at hand— Who dares contend with me? Let us stand up together! Who would be my opponent? Let them approach me! (9) Lo, my Sovereign GOD will help me— Who can get a verdict against me? They shall all wear out like a garment, The moth shall consume them. (10) Who among you reveres GOD And heeds the voice of the appointed servant?— Though walking in darkness And having no light, Let them trust in the name of GOD And rely upon his God. (11) But you are all kindlers of fire, Girding on firebrands. Walk by the blaze of your fire, By the brands that you have lit! This has come to you from My hand: You shall lie down in pain. (1) Listen to Me, you who pursue justice, You who seek GOD: Look to the rock you were hewn from, To the quarry you were dug from. (2) Look back to Abraham your father And to Sarah who brought you forth. For he was only one when I called him, But I blessed him and made him many. (3) Truly GOD has comforted Zion, Comforted all her ruins— Made her wilderness like Eden, Her desert like the Garden of GOD. Gladness and joy shall abide there, Thanksgiving and the sound of music.

(1) Thus said GOD: Where is the bill of divorce Of your mother whom I dismissed? And which of My creditors was it To whom I sold you off? You were only sold off for your sins, And your mother dismissed for your crimes. (2) Why, when I came, was no one there, Why, when I called, would none respond? Is my arm, then, too short to rescue, Have I not the power to save? With a mere rebuke I dry up the sea, And turn rivers into desert. Their fish stink from lack of water; They lie dead of thirst. (3) I clothe the skies in blackness And make their raiment sackcloth. (4) My Sovereign GOD gave me a skilled tongue, To know how to speak timely words to the weary. Morning by morning, [God] rouses me, Rousing my ear To give heed like disciples. (5) My Sovereign GOD opened my ears, And I did not disobey, I did not run away. (6) I offered my back to the floggers, And my cheeks to those who tore out my hair. I did not hide my face From insult and spittle. (7) But my Sovereign GOD will help me— Therefore I feel no disgrace; Therefore I have set my face like flint, And I know I shall not be shamed. (8) My Vindicator is at hand— Who dares contend with me? Let us stand up together! Who would be my opponent? Let them approach me! (9) Lo, my Sovereign GOD will help me— Who can get a verdict against me? They shall all wear out like a garment, The moth shall consume them. (10) Who among you reveres GOD And heeds the voice of the appointed servant?— Though walking in darkness And having no light, Let them trust in the name of GOD And rely upon his God. (11) But you are all kindlers of fire, Girding on firebrands. Walk by the blaze of your fire, By the brands that you have lit! This has come to you from My hand: You shall lie down in pain. (1) Listen to Me, you who pursue justice, You who seek GOD: Look to the rock you were hewn from, To the quarry you were dug from. (2) Look back to Abraham your father And to Sarah who brought you forth. For he was only one when I called him, But I blessed him and made him many. (3) Truly GOD has comforted Zion, Comforted all her ruins— Made her wilderness like Eden, Her desert like the Garden of GOD. Gladness and joy shall abide there, Thanksgiving and the sound of music.