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When the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say in your heart, “Because of my righteousness the Lord brought me in to take possession of this land,” when actually it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is handing over their land to you.

You are not entering to take possession of their land because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart, but because of the wickedness of these nations. The Lord your God is handing over their land to you, in order to confirm the promise that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Know, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, because a stiff-necked people[a] is what you are.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 9:6 Like a stubborn animal that refuses to be led

After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself,(A) “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness(B) of these nations(C) that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity(D) that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness(E) of these nations,(F) the Lord your God will drive them out(G) before you, to accomplish what he swore(H) to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.(I) 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.(J)

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