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Deuteronomy 7
Lexham English Bible

7 “When Yahweh your God brings you into the land that you are about to enter into it[a] to take possession of it, and he drives[b] out many nations before you,[c] the Hittites[d] and the Girgashites[e] and the Amorites[f] and the Canaanites[g] and the Hivites[h] and the Jebusites,[i] seven nations mightier and more numerous than you, 2 and Yahweh your God will give them over to you[j] and you defeat them, you must utterly destroy them;[k] you shall not make a covenant with them, and you shall not show mercy to them. 3 And you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughter to their son; and you shall not take his daughter for your son.[l] 4 For their[m] sons and daughters will cause your son[n] to turn away from following me,[o] and so they will serve other gods, and the anger of Yahweh would be kindled[p] against you, and he would quickly destroy you. 5 But this is what you must do to them: you shall break down their altars, and their stone pillars you shall smash, and their Asherah poles you shall hew down, and you shall burn their idols with fire. 6 For you are a holy people for Yahweh your God; Yahweh your God has chosen you to be for him a people, a treasured possession from among all the peoples that are on the face[q] of the earth.

7 “Yahweh loved you and chose you not because of your great number[r] exceeding all other peoples, for you are fewer than all of the peoples, 8 but[s] because of[t] the love of Yahweh for you and because of his keeping of the sworn oath that he swore to your ancestors,[u] Yahweh brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. 9 So know that Yahweh your God, he is God, the trustworthy God, maintaining his[v] covenant and his[w] loyal love with those who love him and with those who keep his commandments to a thousand generations,[x] 10 but repaying those[y] who hate him in their own person[z] to destroy them;[aa] he is not slow with those who hate him in their own person;[ab] he repays them.[ac] 11 And so you shall keep the commandment and the rules and the regulations that I am commanding you today[ad] to observe them.

12 “And then[ae] because you listen to these regulations and you diligently keep and you do them, then Yahweh your God will maintain his[af] covenant and his[ag] loyal love that he swore to your ancestors.[ah] 13 And he will love you, and he will bless you, and he will multiply you, and he will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your soil, your grain, your wine, and your olive oil, and newborn calves of your cattle, and the newborn lambs[ai] of your flocks in the land that he swore to your ancestors[aj] to give you. 14 You shall be blessed more than all of the peoples; among you there shall not be sterility and bareness, even[ak] among domestic animals.[al] 15 And Yahweh will turn away from you all the illness and all the harmful diseases of Egypt that you experienced; he will not lay them on you, but he will lay them on all of those who hate you. 16 And you shall devour all of the peoples that Yahweh your God is giving to you; you shall not pity them,[am] and you shall not serve their gods, which will be a snare for you.

17 “If you think in your heart, ‘These nations are more numerous than I, so how can I dispossess them?’ 18 then remember you must not be afraid of them; you must well remember what Yahweh your God did to Pharaoh and to all of Egypt: 19 the great trials that your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the workings of the strong hand and the outstretched arm by which Yahweh your God brought you out; so Yahweh your God will do to all of the peoples because of whom[an] you are in fear before them.[ao] 20 And, moreover, Yahweh your God will send the hornets[ap] among them until both the survivors and the fugitives are destroyed[aq] before you.[ar] 21 You must not be in dread from the presence of them, because Yahweh your God, who is in your midst, is a great and awesome God. 22 And Yahweh your God will clear away these nations from before you[as] little by little; you will not be able to finish them off quickly, lest[at] the wild animals[au] multiply[av] against you.[aw] 23 But Yahweh your God will give them to you,[ax] and he will throw them into great panic until they are destroyed.[ay] 24 And he will give their kings into your hand, and you shall blot out their names[az] from under the heaven; anyone will not be able to stand against you[ba] until you destroy them.[bb] 25 You shall burn the images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, and so you take it for yourself, so that you are not ensnared by it, for it is a detestable thing to Yahweh your God. 26 And you must not bring a detestable thing into your house, or you will become a thing devoted to destruction like it; you must utterly detest it, and you must utterly abhor it, for it is an object devoted to destruction.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 7:1 Literally “there”
  2. Deuteronomy 7:1 Or “he will drive out”
  3. Deuteronomy 7:1 Literally “from your faces”
  4. Deuteronomy 7:1 Hebrew “Hittite”
  5. Deuteronomy 7:1 Hebrew “Girgashite”
  6. Deuteronomy 7:1 Hebrew “Amorite”
  7. Deuteronomy 7:1 Hebrew “Canaanite”
  8. Deuteronomy 7:1 Hebrew “Hivite”
  9. Deuteronomy 7:1 Hebrew “Jebusite”
  10. Deuteronomy 7:2 Literally “to your faces” or “before you”
  11. Deuteronomy 7:2 Literally “set them aside for destruction”
  12. Deuteronomy 7:3 Grammatically singular pronominal suffixes here can also be rendered “their”
  13. Deuteronomy 7:4 Or “his”
  14. Deuteronomy 7:4 Or “sons”
  15. Deuteronomy 7:4 Literally from “behind/after me”
  16. Deuteronomy 7:4 Literally “and it would become hot the nose of Yahweh”
  17. Deuteronomy 7:6 Or “surface”
  18. Deuteronomy 7:7 Literally “from your multitude/abundance”
  19. Deuteronomy 7:8 Or “for”
  20. Deuteronomy 7:8 Literally “from”
  21. Deuteronomy 7:8 Or “fathers”
  22. Deuteronomy 7:9 Hebrew “the”
  23. Deuteronomy 7:9 Hebrew “the”
  24. Deuteronomy 7:9 Hebrew “generation”
  25. Deuteronomy 7:10 Hebrew “the one”
  26. Deuteronomy 7:10 Literally “to their faces”
  27. Deuteronomy 7:10 Hebrew “him”; “them” in sense
  28. Deuteronomy 7:10 Literally “to their faces”
  29. Deuteronomy 7:10 Hebrew “him”
  30. Deuteronomy 7:11 Literally “the day”
  31. Deuteronomy 7:12 Literally “And it will happen”
  32. Deuteronomy 7:12 Hebrew “the”
  33. Deuteronomy 7:12 Or “fathers”
  34. Deuteronomy 7:12 Or “fathers”
  35. Deuteronomy 7:13 Or “increase of”
  36. Deuteronomy 7:13 Or “fathers”
  37. Deuteronomy 7:14 Hebrew “and”
  38. Deuteronomy 7:14 Hebrew “animal”
  39. Deuteronomy 7:16 Literally “your eye shall not take pity on them”
  40. Deuteronomy 7:19 Literally “from them”
  41. Deuteronomy 7:19 Literally “from their presence”
  42. Deuteronomy 7:20 Hebrew “hornet”
  43. Deuteronomy 7:20 Literally “the destroying of”
  44. Deuteronomy 7:20 Literally “from your faces”
  45. Deuteronomy 7:22 Literally “from your faces”
  46. Deuteronomy 7:22 Literally “so that not”
  47. Deuteronomy 7:22 Literally “animals of the field”
  48. Deuteronomy 7:22 Literally “will become numerous”
  49. Deuteronomy 7:22 Literally “on you”
  50. Deuteronomy 7:23 Literally “give them to your face”
  51. Deuteronomy 7:23 Literally “until their destroying”
  52. Deuteronomy 7:24 Hebrew “name”
  53. Deuteronomy 7:24 Literally “in your faces”
  54. Deuteronomy 7:24 Literally “until your destroying them”
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Deuteronomy 7
English Standard Version

A Chosen People

7 “When the (A)Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, (B)the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations (C)more numerous and mightier than you, 2 (D)and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must (E)devote them to complete destruction.[a] (F)You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. 3 (G)You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. (H)Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you (I)quickly. 5 But thus shall you deal with them: (J)you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their (K)pillars and chop down their (L)Asherim and (M)burn their carved images with fire.

6 “For (N)you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be (O)a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but (P)it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping (Q)the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, (R)the faithful God (S)who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 10 and (T)repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. (U)He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. 11 (V)You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.

12 (W)“And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you (X)the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. 13 He will (Y)love you, bless you, and multiply you. (Z)He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. 14 You shall be blessed above all peoples. (AA)There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock. 15 And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil (AB)diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you. 16 And (AC)you shall consume all the peoples that the Lord your God will give over to you. (AD)Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be (AE)a snare to you.

17 “If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them?’ 18 (AF)you shall not be afraid of them but you shall (AG)remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, 19 the great trials that your eyes saw, (AH)the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out. So will the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20 Moreover, (AI)the Lord your God will send hornets among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you are destroyed. 21 You shall not be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is (AJ)in your midst, (AK)a great and awesome God. 22 (AL)The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little. You may not make an end of them at once,[b] lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you. 23 (AM)But the Lord your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed. 24 And (AN)he will give their kings into your hand, and you shall (AO)make their name perish from under heaven. (AP)No one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them. 25 The carved images of their gods (AQ)you shall burn with fire. You (AR)shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be (AS)ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God. 26 And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction[c] like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, (AT)for it is devoted to destruction.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 7:2 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
  2. Deuteronomy 7:22 Or quickly
  3. Deuteronomy 7:26 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); twice in this verse
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Deuteronomy 7
New Catholic Bible

Chapter 7

Destroying the Nations.[a] 1 When the Lord, your God, has brought you into the land that you are entering to take possession of and he has driven out many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations in all, each larger and stronger than you are 2 and when the Lord, your God, will have delivered them over to you and you will have defeated them, you are to wipe them out. You are not to make a covenant with them or show them any mercy. 3 [b]Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters for your sons. 4 They would turn your sons away from serving me to serve other gods and the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you and destroy you in an instant.

5 This is what you are to do to them: you are to destroy their altars, tear down their sacred images, cut down their sacred groves, and burn up their idols in fire. 6 You are a people holy to the Lord, your God. The Lord, your God, has chosen you from among all the peoples in the world to be his own, a treasured possession. 7 The Lord did not delight in you because you were more numerous than these other peoples, for you are actually the least numerous of all people. 8 It was because the Lord loved you and was keeping the promise that he had sworn to your fathers that the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, from the land of your slavery.

9 Keep in mind, therefore, that the Lord, your God, is God. He is a faithful God who keeps his covenant of mercy to the thousandth generation toward those who love him and observe his commandments. 10 But upon those who hate him, he will avenge himself face to face, wiping them out. He will not delay in avenging himself face to face with those who hate him.[c] 11 Therefore, be careful to observe the commandments, statutes, and decrees that I give you today.

12 Blessings of the Covenant. If you obey these decrees and carefully observe them, then the Lord, your God, will preserve his covenant of mercy with you, as he promised to your forefathers. 13 He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will bless the fruit of your womb and the crops on your land, your grain, your wine and your oil, as well as the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks, in the land that he promised to your forefathers to give to you. 14 You will be more greatly blessed[d] than any other people. None of your men or women will be childless, none of your cattle will be without young. 15 The Lord will protect you from all illnesses. He will not inflict upon you any of the terrible diseases that you encountered in Egypt, but rather he will send them upon everyone who hates you. 16 You must annihilate all of the people whom the Lord, your God, delivers over to you. Do not look with pity upon them; do not serve their gods, for this would be a snare for you. 17 [e]You should say to yourselves, “These nations were stronger than we were. How did we ever drive them out?” 18 Do not be afraid of them. Remember what the Lord, your God, did to Pharaoh and to the whole of Egypt. 19 You saw with your own eyes the tremendous trials, signs, and wonders, how with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm the Lord, your God, brought you out. The Lord, your God, will do the same things to all of those people of whom you are afraid. 20 The Lord, your God, will destroy them by sending hornets into the midst of those who survived and are hiding. 21 Do not be afraid of them, for the Lord, your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God. 22 Little by little the Lord, your God, will drive out those nations before you. You will not be able to eliminate them immediately, lest the wild animals around you multiply too much. 23 The Lord, your God, will hand them over to you, throwing them into a great confusion until they are totally wiped out. 24 He will deliver kings into your hands, and you will wipe out their names from under the heavens. No one will be able to stand up to you. You will destroy them.

25 You are to burn the idols of their gods in the fire. Do not seek after the gold or the silver that covers them, nor take it for yourselves, lest it become a snare for you. It is an abomination to the Lord, your God. 26 Nor should you bring an abomination into your house, or you, like it, will be set aside for destruction. Loathe and detest it, for it is something that is cursed.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 7:1 By slaughtering its enemies, Israel safeguards itself against the danger of being absorbed by the pagan world around it. When God began the education of his people, he could not immediately require them to rise above the rough and brutal practices of the age.
    Deuteronomy provides other examples of such barbaric customs. It does indeed urge an unyielding resistance to the attractions of paganism, but it prescribes that the separation be accomplished in a fairly peaceful way.
  2. Deuteronomy 7:3 Do not intermarry: the challenge, then as now, is to remain faithful to the one, true God in marriage.
  3. Deuteronomy 7:10 Each individual is personally responsible before God, as Ezekiel will later say in vigorous language (Ezek 18).
  4. Deuteronomy 7:14 More greatly blessed: loving and obeying the Lord reaps fruitful benefits, whether materially or more importantly, as gifts of peace, hope, and joy in the face of trials.
  5. Deuteronomy 7:17 This passage suggests that the region was not conquered as quickly as we might be led to think by the Book of Joshua, which simplifies the events. Israel could not settle in a wilderness; the anathema or law of destruction was therefore mitigated and never applied as systematically as some passages claim (see Jos 6:14-16).
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Deuteronomy 7
New International Version

Driving Out the Nations

7 When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess(A) and drives out before you many nations(B)—the Hittites,(C) Girgashites,(D) Amorites,(E) Canaanites, Perizzites,(F) Hivites(G) and Jebusites,(H) seven nations larger and stronger than you— 2 and when the Lord your God has delivered(I) them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy(J) them totally.[a](K) Make no treaty(L) with them, and show them no mercy.(M) 3 Do not intermarry with them.(N) Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4 for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods,(O) and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy(P) you. 5 This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles[b](Q) and burn their idols in the fire.(R) 6 For you are a people holy(S) to the Lord your God.(T) The Lord your God has chosen(U) you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.(V)

7 The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous(W) than other peoples, for you were the fewest(X) of all peoples.(Y) 8 But it was because the Lord loved(Z) you and kept the oath he swore(AA) to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand(AB) and redeemed(AC) you from the land of slavery,(AD) from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God;(AE) he is the faithful God,(AF) keeping his covenant of love(AG) to a thousand generations(AH) of those who love him and keep his commandments.(AI) 10 But

those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction;
    he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.(AJ)

11 Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.

12 If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your ancestors.(AK) 13 He will love you and bless you(AL) and increase your numbers.(AM) He will bless the fruit of your womb,(AN) the crops of your land—your grain, new wine(AO) and olive oil(AP)—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.(AQ) 14 You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor will any of your livestock be without young.(AR) 15 The Lord will keep you free from every disease.(AS) He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt,(AT) but he will inflict them on all who hate you.(AU) 16 You must destroy all the peoples the Lord your God gives over to you.(AV) Do not look on them with pity(AW) and do not serve their gods,(AX) for that will be a snare(AY) to you.

17 You may say to yourselves, “These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?(AZ)” 18 But do not be afraid(BA) of them; remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt.(BB) 19 You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand(BC) and outstretched arm, with which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear.(BD) 20 Moreover, the Lord your God will send the hornet(BE) among them until even the survivors who hide from you have perished. 21 Do not be terrified by them, for the Lord your God, who is among you,(BF) is a great and awesome God.(BG) 22 The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little.(BH) You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you. 23 But the Lord your God will deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are destroyed.(BI) 24 He will give their kings(BJ) into your hand,(BK) and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand up against you;(BL) you will destroy them.(BM) 25 The images of their gods you are to burn(BN) in the fire. Do not covet(BO) the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared(BP) by it, for it is detestable(BQ) to the Lord your God. 26 Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction.(BR) Regard it as vile and utterly detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 7:2 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verse 26.
  2. Deuteronomy 7:5 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah; here and elsewhere in Deuteronomy
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