Deuteronomy 9:25-29

Moses’ Plea on Behalf of the Lord’s Reputation

9:25 I lay flat on the ground before the Lord for forty days and nights,¹ for he² had said he would destroy you. 9:26 I prayed to him:³ O, Lord God,⁴ do not destroy your people, your valued property⁵ that you have powerfully redeemed,⁶ whom you brought out of Egypt by your strength.⁷ 9:27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; ignore the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of these people. 9:28 Otherwise the people of the land⁸ from which you brought us will say, “The Lord was unable to bring them to the land he promised them, and because of his hatred for them he has brought them out to kill them in the desert.”⁹ 9:29 They are your people, your valued property,¹⁰ whom you brought out with great strength and power.¹¹

¹tn The Hebrew text includes “when I prostrated myself.” Since this is redundant, it has been left untranslated.

²tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

³tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 9:3.

⁴tn Heb “Lord Lord” (אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה, ’adonay yÿhvih). The phrase is customarily rendered by Jewish tradition as “Lord God” (אֲדֹנָי אֱלֹהִים, ’adonay ’elohim). See also the note on the phrase “Lord God” in Deut 3:24.

⁵tn Heb “your inheritance”; NLT “your special (very own NRSV) possession.” Israel is compared to landed property that one would inherit from his ancestors and pass on to his descendants.

⁶tn Heb “you have redeemed in your greatness.”

⁷tn Heb “by your strong hand.”

⁸tc The MT reads only “the land.” Smr supplies עַם (’am, “people”) and LXX and its dependents supply “the inhabitants of the land.” The truncated form found in the MT is adequate to communicate the intended meaning; the words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁹tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

¹⁰tn Heb “your inheritance.” See note at v. 26.

¹¹tn Heb “an outstretched arm.”