Deuteronomy 8:17
 Deuteronomy 8:17 
New International Version (©2011)
You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me."

New Living Translation (©2007)
He did all this so you would never say to yourself, 'I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.'

English Standard Version (©2001)
Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"Otherwise, you may say in your heart, 'My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.'

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
You may say to yourself, 'My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me,'

International Standard Version (©2012)
You may say to yourselves, 'I have become wealthy by my own strength and by my own ability.'

NET Bible (©2006)
Be careful not to say, "My own ability and skill have gotten me this wealth."

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
You may say to yourselves, "I became wealthy because of my own ability and strength."

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
And you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.

American King James Version
And you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.

American Standard Version
and lest thou say in thy heart, My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Lest thou shouldst say in thy heart: My own might, and the strength of my own hand have achieved all these things for me.

Darby Bible Translation
And thou say in thy heart, my power And the might of my hand has procured me This wealth.

English Revised Version
and thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.

Webster's Bible Translation
And thou shalt say in thy heart, My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth.

World English Bible
and [lest] you say in your heart, "My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth."

Young's Literal Translation
and thou hast said in thy heart, My power, and the might of my hand, hath made for me this wealth:

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

8:10-20 Moses directs to the duty of a prosperous condition. Let them always remember their Benefactor. In everything we must give thanks. Moses arms them against the temptations of a prosperous condition. When men possess large estates, or are engaged in profitable business, they find the temptation to pride, forgetfulness of God, and carnal-mindedness, very strong; and they are anxious and troubled about many things. In this the believing poor have the advantage; they more easily perceive their supplies coming from the Lord in answer to the prayer of faith; and, strange as it may seem, they find less difficulty in simply trusting him for daily bread. They taste a sweetness therein, which is generally unknown to the rich, while they are also freed from many of their temptations. Forget not God's former dealings with thee. Here is the great secret of Divine Providence. Infinite wisdom and goodness are the source of all the changes and trials believers experience. Israel had many bitter trials, but it was to do them good. Pride is natural to the human heart. Would one suppose that such a people, after their slavery at the brick-kilns, should need the thorns of the wilderness to humble them? But such is man! And they were proved that they might be humbled. None of us live a single week without giving proofs of our weakness, folly, and depravity. To broken-hearted souls alone the Saviour is precious indeed. Nothing can render the most suitable outward and inward trials effectual, but the power of the Spirit of God. See here how God's giving and our getting are reconciled, and apply it to spiritual wealth. All God's gifts are in pursuance of his promises. Moses repeats the warning he had often given of the fatal consequences of forsaking God. Those who follow others in sin, will follow them to destruction. If we do as sinners do, we must expect to fare as sinners fare.


Pulpit Commentary

Verses 17, 18. - The blessing in store for them was God's free gift to them; and when they came to enjoy it they were not to allow themselves to say in their heart, i.e. to think or imagine, that the prosperous condition in which they were placed was the result of their own exertions; they were to ascribe all to God's gracious bounty, for from him had come the power by which prosperity had been gained, and this he had given, not on account of any merit in them, but that he might fulfill his covenant engagements to their fathers. Get wealth עָשָׂה חַיִל, to make strength, to gather substance (Genesis 12:5), to procure wealth (Ruth 4:11, margin; Ezekiel 28:4). As it is this day. "As was quite evident then, when the establishment of the covenant had already commenced, and Israel had come through the desert to the border of Canaan (see Deuteronomy 4:20)" (Keil).


Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And thou say in thine heart,.... These words are in connection with the former part of the Deuteronomy 8:14,

and thou forget the Lord thy God; the author and giver of all the good things enjoyed, and think within themselves, though they might not express it in words at length:

my power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth; so ascribing that to themselves, their labour, and diligence, which ought to be ascribed to the bounty and blessing of God; see Hosea 12:8.


Deuteronomy 8:17 Parallel Commentaries

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Remember the Lord Your God
16Who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers knew not, that he might humble you, and that he might prove you, to do you good at your latter end; 17And you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth. 18But you shall remember the LORD your God: for it is he that gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. …

Deuteronomy 9:4 After the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, "The LORD has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness." No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is going to drive them out before you.
Judges 7:2 The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, 'My own strength has saved me.'
1 Samuel 2:7 The LORD sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts.
Psalm 44:3 It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them.
Ecclesiastes 9:11 I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.