Deuteronomy 9:18

16 And I saw how you had sinned against the LORD your God; you had made for yourselves a molten calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you.

17 So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, shattering them before your eyes.

Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD and provoking Him to anger.

19 For I was afraid of the anger and wrath that the LORD had directed against you, enough to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me this time as well.

20 The LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I also prayed for Aaron.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD and provoking Him to anger.
KJV
And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
WEB
I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you sinned, in doing that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, to provoke him to anger.
ASV
And I fell down before Jehovah, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I did neither eat bread nor drink water; because of all your sin which ye sinned, in doing that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger.
DARBY
And I fell down before Jehovah, as at the first, forty days and forty nights, I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all your sin which ye had sinned, in doing what is evil in the eyes of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger.
BLB
And I fell down before the face of YHWH, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; bread I did not eat and water I did not drink, because of all your⁺ sin that you⁺ committed in doing the evil in the eyes of YHWH, to provoke Him to anger.
ÅB
Og jeg kastet meg ned for Herrens åsyn, slik som første gang, i førti dager og førti netter, uten å spise brød og uten å drikke vann - for alle deres synders skyld som dere hadde forsyndet dere med ved å gjøre det som ondt var i Herrens øyne, så dere egget ham til vrede.
OTB
Da la jeg meg ned med ansiktet mot jorden foran Herren i førti dager og førti netter, slik som jeg hadde gjort første gang. Jeg spiste ikke brød og drakk ikke vann på grunn av all synden du hadde begått, ved å gjøre det som var ondt i Herrens øyne og vekke Hans vrede.
B1930
Og jeg kastet mig ned for Herrens åsyn, likesom første gang, i firti dager og firti netter, uten å ete brød og uten å drikke vann - for alle eders synders skyld som I hadde forsyndet eder med ved å gjøre det som ondt var i Herrens øine, så I egget ham til vrede.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Exodus 34:28

    So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.

    Read in context
  • Deuteronomy 9:9

    When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I ate no bread and drank no water.

    Read in context
  • Psalms 106:23

    So He said He would destroy them— had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them.

    Read in context
  • 2 Samuel 12:16

    David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted and went into his house and spent the night lying in sackcloth on the ground.

    Read in context
  • Exodus 32:10–14

    Now leave Me alone, so that My anger may burn against them and consume them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

    Read in context
  • Deuteronomy 10:10

    I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, like the first time, and that time the LORD again listened to me and agreed not to destroy you.

    Read in context