Deuteronomy 9:1-5

Not Because of Righteousness

1 “Hear, O Israel: you are a to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations b greater and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven, 2 a people great and tall, c the sons of the Anakim, d whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’ 3 Know therefore today that he who e goes over before you f as a consuming fire is the  Lord your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. g So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the  Lord has promised you.

4  h “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 i because of the wickedness of these nations that the  Lord is driving them out before you. 5  j Not 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 k the word that the  Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Copyright information for ESV