You have looked deep into my heart.\par You were with me all night.\par You questioned me\par and found nothing wrong.\par I didn’t plan any bad thing.\par
Then I will test those survivors. I will give them many troubles. The troubles will be like the fire a man uses to prove silver is pure. I will test them the way a person tests gold. Then they will call to me for help, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘You are my people.’ And they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”
He will make the Levites {\cf2\super [17]} clean. {\cf2\super [18]} He will make them pure, like silver is made pure—with fire! He will make them pure like gold and silver. Then they will bring gifts to the Lord—and they will do those things the right way.
Don’t listen to that person. Why? Because the Lord your God is testing you. The Lord wants to know if you love him with all your heart and all your soul.
In the desert, the Lord fed you manna [53] —something your ancestors [54] had never seen. The Lord tested you. Why? Because the Lord made you humble so that things would go well for you in the end.
And you must remember the whole trip that the Lord your God has led you through these 40 years in the desert. The Lord was testing you. He wanted to make you humble. He wanted to know the things in your heart. He wanted to know if you would obey his commands.