Deu 1:28, 9:1-6 | ESV | STEP | Where are we going up ? Our brothers have made our hearts melt , saying , The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven . And besides , we have seen the sons of the Anakim there .

Deuteronomy 1:28

28 Where are we going up? ^aOur brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, ^b“The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen ^cthe sons of the Anakim there.”’

Deuteronomy 9:1-6

Not Because of Righteousness

1 “Hear, O Israel: you are ^dto cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations ^egreater and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven, 2 a people great and tall, ^fthe sons of the Anakim, ^gwhom 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 ^hgoes over before you ⁱas a consuming fire is the Lord your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. ^jSo you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the Lord has promised you.

4 ^k“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 ^lbecause of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. 5 ^mNot 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 ⁿthe word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

6 “Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are ^oa stubborn people.