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When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take as a possession, and when he clears away many nations before you (the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and stronger than you), and when the Lord your God has given them over to you and he has struck them down, you are to devote them to destruction. Do not make a treaty with them, and do not show mercy to them. Do not form marriage alliances with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons, and do not take their daughters for your sons, because they will turn your sons away from following me, and they will serve other gods. The anger of the Lord will burn against you, and then he will destroy you quickly. Instead, this is the way you must deal with them: Break down their altars. Smash their sacred memorial stones. Cut down their Asherah poles. [a]Burn their idols with fire.

For you are a people that is holy to the Lord your God, because the Lord your God has chosen you to belong to him as a people that is his treasured possession, chosen from all the peoples that are on the face of the earth. The Lord became attached to you by love and has chosen you, not because you were more numerous than all the peoples. Actually you were the fewest of all the peoples. But because of the Lord’s love for you and because he was keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that is why the Lord brought you out by a strong hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

He did this so that you would know that the Lord your God, yes, he is God, the faithful God who maintains both his covenant and his mercy for those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations. 10 But he also repays the ones who hate him to their face by destroying them. He will not delay repaying anyone who hates him. To his face he will fully repay him. 11 So you are to be careful to keep the set of commandments and the statutes and the ordinances that I am commanding you today.

12 When you obey these ordinances and are careful to keep them, the Lord your God will keep for your benefit the covenant and the mercy that he promised to your fathers with an oath. 13 He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will bless the fruit from your womb and the fruit from your soil, your grain and your new wine and your fresh olive oil, the offspring of your cattle and the young of your flock upon the land that he swore to your fathers that he would give you. 14 You will be blessed beyond all the peoples. There will not be an infertile male or infertile female among you or among your livestock. 15 The Lord will remove from you all sickness, and he will not place on you all of the diseases of Egypt, the calamities that you experienced. Instead he will put them on all those who hate you. 16 You will consume all the peoples that the Lord your God is giving to you. Your eye is not to look with compassion on them. You are not to serve their gods, because that would be a snare to you.

17 If you say in your heart, “These nations are more numerous than we are. How are we able to take possession of their land?” 18 do not be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all the Egyptians. 19 The great test which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the strong hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out—that is what the Lord your God will do to all the peoples that you fear.

20 The Lord your God will also send the hornet against them until those who are left and are hiding from you have been destroyed. 21 Do not be overwhelmed before them, because the Lord your God is right among you, a great and awe-inspiring God.

22 The Lord your God, the God before you, will clear away the nations little by little. You will not succeed in finishing them off too quickly, so that the wild animals do not become too numerous for you. 23 But the Lord your God will give them over to you, and he will throw these peoples into complete confusion until they are destroyed. 24 He will give their kings into your hands, and he will cause their names to die out under the heavens, because none of them will be able to hold their ground against you until you have destroyed them. 25 Burn the images of their gods with fire, and do not covet the silver and gold on them or take it for yourself, so that you are not snared by it, because it is an abomination to the Lord your God. 26 Do not bring a detestable thing to your house and in that way become devoted to destruction just like it. Detest it and regard it as an utterly disgusting thing, because it is devoted to destruction.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 7:5 Asherah poles were representations of the goddess Asherah. They may have been living trees or poles carved from tree trunks.

“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, 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. 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] 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. 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. 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.

“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, 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. 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”