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
- Deuteronomy 7:2 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
- Deuteronomy 7:22 Or quickly
- Deuteronomy 7:26 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); twice in this verse
Deuteronomy 7
Common English Bible
Dealing with foreign worship
7 Now once the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to take possession of, and he drives out numerous nations before you—the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: seven nations that are larger and stronger than you— 2 once the Lord your God lays them before you, you must strike them down, placing them under the ban.[a] Don’t make any covenants with them, and don’t be merciful to them. 3 Don’t intermarry with them. Don’t give your daughter to one of their sons to marry, and don’t take one of their daughters to marry your son, 4 because they will turn your child away from following me so that they end up serving other gods. That will make the Lord’s anger burn against you, and he will quickly annihilate you.
5 Instead, this is what you must do with these nations: rip down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their sacred poles,[b] and burn their idols 6 because you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God chose you to be his own treasured people beyond all others on the fertile land. 7 It was not because you were greater than all other people that the Lord loved you and chose you. In fact, you were the smallest of peoples! 8 No, it is because the Lord loved you and because he kept the solemn pledge he swore to your ancestors that the Lord brought you out with a strong hand and saved you from the house of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh, Egypt’s king. 9 Know now then that the Lord your God is the only true God! He is the faithful God, who keeps the covenant and proves loyal to everyone who loves him and keeps his commands—even to the thousandth generation! 10 He is the God who personally repays anyone who hates him, ultimately destroying that kind of person. The Lord does not waste time with anyone who hates him; he repays them personally. 11 So make sure you carefully keep the commandment, the regulations, and the case laws that I am commanding you right now.
12 If you listen to these case laws and follow them carefully, the Lord your God will keep the covenant and display the loyalty that he promised your ancestors. 13 He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will bless the fruit of your wombs and the fruit of your fertile land—all your grain, your wine, your oil, and the offspring of your cattle and flocks—upon the very fertile land that he swore to your ancestors to give to you. 14 You will be more blessed than any other group of people. No one will be sterile or infertile—not among you or your animals. 15 The Lord will remove all sickness from you. As for all those dreadful Egyptian diseases you experienced, the Lord won’t put them on you but will inflict them on all who hate you. 16 You will destroy all the peoples that the Lord your God is handing over to you. Show them no pity. And don’t serve their gods because that would be a trap for you.
Against power and lack of trust
17 If you happen to think to yourself, These nations are greater than we are; how can we possibly possess their land? 18 don’t be afraid of them! Remember, instead, what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt: 19 the great trials that you saw with your own eyes, the signs and wonders, and the strong hand and outstretched arm the Lord your God used to rescue you. That’s what the Lord your God will do to any people you fear. 20 The Lord your God will send terror[c] on them until even the survivors and those hiding from you are destroyed. 21 Don’t dread these nations because the Lord your God, the great and awesome God, is with you and among you. (22 The Lord your God will drive out these nations before you bit by bit. You won’t be able to finish them off quickly; otherwise, the wild animals would become too much for you to handle.) 23 The Lord your God will lay these nations before you, throwing them into a huge panic until they are destroyed. 24 He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe their names out from under the skies. No one will be able to stand before you; you will crush them.
25 Burn the images of their gods. Don’t desire the silver or the gold that is on them and take it for yourself, or you will be trapped by it. That is detestable to the Lord your God. 26 Don’t bring any detestable thing into your house, or you will be placed under the ban too, just like it is! You must utterly detest these kinds of things, despising them completely, because they are under the ban.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 7:2 See note at 2:34.
- Deuteronomy 7:5 Heb asherim, perhaps objects devoted to the goddess Asherah
- Deuteronomy 7:20 Heb uncertain; perhaps wasp, plague, or pestilence
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible