You, however, the Lord has selected and brought from Egypt, that iron-smelting furnace, ¹  to be his special people ²  as you are today.

biblegateway Deu 4:20

"But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be a people for His own possession, as today.

But the LORD selected you and brought you out of Egypt's iron furnace to be a people for His inheritance, as you are today.

But you are the people the LORD brought out of Egypt, the iron smelter, in order to make you his own people as you still are today.

biblegateway Deu 4:20

But as for you, the LORD took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are.

But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day.

bibleoremus Deu 4:20

But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron-smelter, out of Egypt, to become a people of his very own possession, as you are now.

But you are the people whom the LORD brought out of Egypt, from the smelting furnace, and took for his own possession, as you are to this day.

biblegateway Deu 4:20

"But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this day.

But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, [even] out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as [ye are] this day.

biblegateway Deu 4:20

You, however, the Lord has selected and brought from Egypt, that iron-smelting furnace, ¹  to be his special people ²  as you are today.

¹ tn A כּוּר (kur) was not a source of heat but a crucible (“iron-smelting furnace”) in which precious metals were melted down and their impurities burned away (see I. Cornelius, NIDOTTE 2:618-19); cf. NAB “that iron foundry, Egypt.” The term is a metaphor for intense heat. Here it refers to the oppression and suffering Israel endured in Egypt. Since a crucible was used to burn away impurities, it is possible that the metaphor views Egypt as a place of refinement to bring Israel to a place of submission to divine sovereignty.

² tn Heb “to be his people of inheritance.” The Lord compares his people to valued property inherited from one’s ancestors and passed on to one’s descendants.