Devarim 7-9

Orthodox Jewish Bible

7 When Hashem Eloheicha shall bring thee into ha’aretz whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out Goyim rabbim before thee, the Chitti, and the Girgashi, and the Emori, and the Kena’ani, and the Perizzi, and the Chivi, and the Yevusi, shivah Goyim greater and mightier than thou;

² And when Hashem Eloheicha shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt strike them down, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no Brit with them, nor show mercy unto them;

³ Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy bat thou shalt not give unto his ben, nor his bat shalt thou take unto thy ben.

⁴ For they will turn away thy ben from following Me, that they may serve elohim acherim; so will the anger of Hashem be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

⁵ But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their mizbechot, and break down their matzeivot (pillars), and cut down their Asherah [sacred trees], and burn their peselim with eish.

⁶ For thou art an Am Kodesh unto Hashem Eloheicha; Hashem Eloheicha hath chosen thee to be an Am Segullah (Treasured People) unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of ha’adamah.

⁷ Hashem did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of kol ha’ammim;

⁸ But because of Ahavat Hashem (because Hashem loved you), and because He would be shomer over haShevuah (the Oath) which He had sworn unto Avoteichem, hath Hashem brought you out with a yad chazakah, and redeemed you out of the bais avadim, from the hand of Pharaoh Melech Mitzrayim.

⁹ Know therefore that Hashem Eloheicha, He is HaElohim, the El HaNe’eman, which is shomer HaBrit and hath chesed with them that love Him and are shomer mitzvot to a thousand generations;

¹⁰ And repayeth them that are the soneh (hater, enemy) of Him to their face, to destroy them; He will not be slack to him that hateth Him, He will repay him to his face.

¹¹ Thou shalt therefore be shomer mitzvot, and keep the chukkim, and the mishpatim, which I command thee today, to do them.

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¹² Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye give heed to these mishpatim, and are shomer, and do them, that Hashem Eloheicha shall be shomer over the Brit unto thee and the chesed which He swore unto Avoteicha;

¹³ And He will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee; He will also bless the pri of thy womb, and the pri of thy land, thy grain, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy cattle, and the flocks of thy sheep, in ha’aretz which He swore unto Avoteicha to give thee.

¹⁴ Baruch shalt thou be more than kol ha’amim; there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.

¹⁵ And Hashem will take away from thee every choli (disease), and will put none of the evil diseases of Mitzrayim, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.

¹⁶ And thou shalt consume kol haAm which Hashem Eloheicha shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them; neither shalt thou serve eloheihem (their g-ds); for that will be a snare unto thee.

¹⁷ If thou shalt say in thine lev, These Goyim are more than I; how can I dispossess them?

¹⁸ Thou shalt not be afraid of them; but shalt well remember what Hashem Eloheicha did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Mitzrayim;

¹⁹ The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the otot, and the mofetim, and the yad chazakah, and the stretched out zero’a, whereby Hashem Eloheicha brought thee out; so shall Hashem Eloheicha do unto kol ha’amim of whom thou art afraid.

²⁰ Moreover Hashem Eloheicha will send the hornet swarm among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.

²¹ Thou shalt not be afraid of them; for Hashem Eloheicha is among you, an El Gadol v’Norah.

²² And Hashem Eloheicha will put out those Goyim before thee m’at m’at (little by little); thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the sadeh increase upon thee.

²³ But Hashem Eloheicha shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be shmad.

²⁴ And He shall deliver their melachim into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their shem from under Shomayim; there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them.

²⁵ The peselim of eloheihem shall ye burn with eish; thou shalt not desire the kesef or zahav that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein; for it is a to’evah (abomination) to Hashem Eloheicha.

²⁶ Neither shalt thou bring a to’evah (abomination) into thine bais, lest thou be a cherem like it; but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cherem.

8 Kol hamitzvot which I command thee today shall ye be shomer to do, lema’an (in order that) ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess ha’aretz which Hashem swore unto Avoteichem.

² And thou shalt remember kol haderech which Hashem Eloheicha led thee these arba’im shanah in the midbar, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine lev, whether thou wouldest be shomer over His mitzvot, or no.

³ And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did Avoteicha know; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by lechem only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of Hashem doth man live.

⁴ Thy raiment did not increase old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these arba’im shanah.

⁵ Thou shalt also consider in thine lev, that, as a man chasteneth bno, so Hashem Eloheicha chasteneth thee.

⁶ Therefore thou shalt be shomer over the mitzvot of Hashem Eloheicha, to walk in His ways, and to fear Him.

⁷ For Hashem Eloheicha bringeth thee into an eretz tovah, a land of brooks of mayim, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;

⁸ An eretz chittah, and se’orah (barley), and gefen, and te’enah, and pomegranates; an eretz zayit shemen, and devash;

⁹ An eretz wherein thou shalt eat lechem without scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything in it; an eretz whose stones are barzel, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig nechoshet (bronze).

¹⁰ When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless Hashem Eloheicha for ha’aretz hatovah which He hath given thee.

¹¹ Beware that thou forget not Hashem Eloheicha, in not being shomer over His mitzvot, and His mishpatim, and His chukkot, which I command thee today;

¹² Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly batim (houses) and dwelt therein;

¹³ And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy kesef and thy zahav is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;

¹⁴ Then thine lev be lifted up, and thou forget Hashem Eloheicha which brought thee forth out of Eretz Mitzrayim, from the bais avadim;

¹⁵ Who led thee through that great and terrible midbar, wherein were fiery nachash, and akrav (scorpions), and parched earth, where there was no mayim; Who brought thee forth mayim out of the rock of flint;

¹⁶ Who fed thee in the midbar with manna, which Avoteicha knew not, that He might humble thee, and that He might prove thee, to do thee good at thy acharit;

¹⁷ And thou say in thine lev, My ko’ach (power) and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this chayil (wealth).

¹⁸ But thou shalt remember Hashem Eloheicha; for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that He may establish His Brit which He swore unto Avoteicha, as it is yom hazeh.

¹⁹ And it shall be, if thou do at all forget Hashem Eloheicha, and walk after acharei elohim, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you today that ye shall surely perish.

²⁰ As the Goyim which Hashem destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of Hashem Eloheichem.

9 Shema, Yisroel: Thou art to pass over Yarden today, to go in to possess Goyim greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and walled up to Shomayim,

² A people great and tall, the Bnei Anakim, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the Bnei Anak!

³ Understand therefore this day, that Hashem Eloheicha is He which goeth over before thee; as a consuming eish He shall destroy them, and He shall bring them down before thy face; so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as Hashem hath said unto thee.

⁴ Speak not thou in thine lev, after that Hashem Eloheicha hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my tzedakah (righteousness) Hashem hath brought me in to possess this land; but for the wickedness of these Goyim Hashem doth drive them out from before thee.

⁵ Not for thy tzedakah, or for the yosher (uprightness) of thine lev, dost thou go to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these Goyim Hashem Eloheicha doth drive them out from before thee, and that He may perform the word which Hashem swore unto Avoteicha, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya’akov.

⁶ Understand therefore, that Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee not this ha’aretz hatovah to possess it for thy tzedakah; for thou art an Am Kesheh Oref (a stiffnecked people).

⁷ Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst Hashem Eloheicha to wrath in the midbar; from the yom that thou didst depart out of Eretz Mitzrayim, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against Hashem.

⁸ Also in Chorev ye provoked Hashem to wrath, so that Hashem was angry with you to have destroyed you.

⁹ When I was gone up into the mount to receive the luchot ha’avanim, even the luchot HaBrit which Hashem cut with you, then I abode in the mount arba’im yom and arba’im lailah; I neither did eat lechem nor drink mayim;

¹⁰ And Hashem delivered unto me shnei luchot ha’avanim written with the etzba Elohim (finger of G-d); and on them was written according to all the words, which Hashem spoke with you in the mount out of the midst of the eish in the Yom HaKahal.

¹¹ And it came to pass at the end of arba’im yom and arba’im lailah, Hashem gave me the shnei luchot ha’avanim, even the Luchot HaBrit.

¹² And Hashem said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Mitzrayim have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a massekhah (molten image).

¹³ Furthermore Hashem spoke unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is an Am Kesheh Oref (stiffnecked people):

¹⁴ Let Me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their shem from under Shomayim; and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.

¹⁵ So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount burned with eish; and the shnei Luchot HaBrit were in my two hands.

¹⁶ And I looked, and, hinei, ye had sinned against Hashem Eloheicha, and had made you an egel massekhah (a molten calf); ye had turned aside quickly out of HaDerech (The Way) which Hashem had commanded you.

¹⁷ And I took the shnei haluchot, and cast them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes.

¹⁸ And I fell down before Hashem, as at the first, arba’im yom and arba’im lailah; I did neither eat lechem, nor drink mayim, because of kol chattatchem ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of Hashem, to provoke Him to anger.

¹⁹ For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith Hashem was angry against you to destroy you. But Hashem listened unto me at that time also.

²⁰ And Hashem was very angry with Aharon to have made him shmad; and I davened on behalf of Aharon also at that time.

²¹ And I took your sin, the egel which ye had made, and burned it with eish, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust; and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.

²² And at Taverah, and at Massah, and at Kivrot Hattaavah, ye provoked Hashem to wrath.

²³ Likewise when Hashem sent you from Kadesh-Barnea, saying, Go up and possess ha’aretz which I have given you; then ye rebelled against the commandment of Hashem Eloheichem, and ye believed Him not, nor gave heed to His voice.

²⁴ Ye have been rebellious against Hashem from the yom that I knew you.

²⁵ Thus I fell down before Hashem arba’im hayom and arba’im halailah, as I fell down at the first; because Hashem had said He would destroy you.

²⁶ I davened therefore unto Hashem, and said, Adonoi Hashem, destroy not Thy people and Thine inheritance, which Thou hast redeemed through Thy greatness, which Thou hast brought forth out of Mitzrayim with a yad chazakah.

²⁷ Remember Thy avadim, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya’akov; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin;

²⁸ Lest ha’aretz whence Thou broughtest us out say, Because Hashem was not able to bring them into ha’aretz which He promised them, and because He hated them, He hath brought them out to slay them in the midbar.

²⁹ Yet they are Thy people and Thine nachalah, which Thou broughtest out by Thy koach hagadol and by Thy outstretched zero’a.