Deuteronomy 7
Legacy Standard Bible
Devote the Nations to Destruction
7 “(A)When Yahweh your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and He clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, (B)seven nations more numerous and stronger than you, 2 and when Yahweh your God gives them over before you and you strike them down, (C)then you shall devote them to destruction. (D)You shall cut no covenant with them (E)and show no favor to them. 3 Furthermore, (F)you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your [a]daughters to [b]their sons, nor shall you take [c]their daughters for your [d]sons. 4 For [e]they will turn your [f]sons away from [g]following Me, and they will serve other gods; then the anger of Yahweh will be kindled against you, and (G)He will quickly destroy you. 5 But thus you shall do to them: (H)you shall tear down their altars and shatter their sacred pillars and cut their [h]Asherim in pieces and burn their graven images with fire. 6 For you are (I)a holy people to Yahweh your God; Yahweh your God has chosen you to be (J)a people for His [i]own treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the [j]earth.
7 “(K)Yahweh did not set His affection on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but because Yahweh loved you and kept the (L)oath which He swore to your fathers, (M)Yahweh brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the house of [k]slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 You shall know therefore that Yahweh your God, (N)He is God, (O)the faithful God, (P)who keeps [l]His covenant and [m]His lovingkindness to a thousand generations with those who (Q)love Him and keep His commandments; 10 but (R)repays those who hate Him to [n]their faces, to make [o]them perish; He will not delay [p]with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face. 11 Therefore, you shall keep the commandment and the statutes and the judgments which I am commanding you today, to do them.
Yahweh’s Covenant Blessings
12 “(S)Then it will be, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that Yahweh your God will keep with you [q]His covenant and [r]His lovingkindness which He swore to your fathers. 13 And He will (T)love you and bless you and (U)multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock, [s]in the land which He swore to your fathers to give you. 14 You shall be blessed above all peoples; there will be no male or female (V)barren among you or among your cattle. 15 (W)And Yahweh will take away from you all sickness; and He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will give them to all who hate you. 16 And you shall consume all the peoples whom Yahweh your God will give over to you; (X)your eye shall not pity them, nor shall you serve their gods, for that would be (Y)a snare to you.
17 “If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are more numerous than I; how can I (Z)dispossess them?’ 18 you shall not be afraid of them; you shall well (AA)remember what Yahweh your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: 19 (AB)the great trials which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which Yahweh your God brought you out. So shall Yahweh your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20 Moreover, Yahweh your God will send (AC)the hornet against them until those who remain and hide themselves from you perish. 21 You shall not dread [t]them, for (AD)Yahweh your God is in your midst, (AE)a great and fearsome God. 22 (AF)And Yahweh your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, lest the [u]wild beasts become too numerous for you. 23 (AG)But Yahweh your God will give them over before you and will [v]throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed. 24 (AH)And He will give their kings into your hand so that you will make their name perish from under heaven; (AI)no man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them. 25 The graven images of their gods you are to (AJ)burn with fire; you shall (AK)not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be (AL)snared by it, for it is an (AM)abomination to Yahweh your God. 26 And you shall not bring an abomination into your house and become devoted to (AN)destruction like it; you shall utterly detest it, and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 7:3 Lit daughter
- Deuteronomy 7:3 Lit his son
- Deuteronomy 7:3 Lit his daughter
- Deuteronomy 7:3 Lit son
- Deuteronomy 7:4 Lit he
- Deuteronomy 7:4 Lit son
- Deuteronomy 7:4 Lit after
- Deuteronomy 7:5 Wooden symbols of a female deity
- Deuteronomy 7:6 Or special treasure
- Deuteronomy 7:6 Lit ground
- Deuteronomy 7:8 Lit slaves
- Deuteronomy 7:9 Lit the
- Deuteronomy 7:9 Lit the
- Deuteronomy 7:10 Lit his face
- Deuteronomy 7:10 Lit him
- Deuteronomy 7:10 Lit to
- Deuteronomy 7:12 Lit the
- Deuteronomy 7:12 Lit the
- Deuteronomy 7:13 Lit on the ground
- Deuteronomy 7:21 Lit from before them
- Deuteronomy 7:22 Lit beasts of the field
- Deuteronomy 7:23 Lit confuse them with
Deuteronomy 7
New Living Translation
The Privilege of Holiness
7 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are greater and more numerous than you. 2 When the Lord your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy[a] them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy. 3 You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters, 4 for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you. 5 This is what you must do. You must break down their pagan altars and shatter their sacred pillars. Cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols. 6 For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.
7 “The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! 8 Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. 9 Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. 10 But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him. 11 Therefore, you must obey all these commands, decrees, and regulations I am giving you today.
12 “If you listen to these regulations and faithfully obey them, the Lord your God will keep his covenant of unfailing love with you, as he promised with an oath to your ancestors. 13 He will love you and bless you, and he will give you many children. He will give fertility to your land and your animals. When you arrive in the land he swore to give your ancestors, you will have large harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and great herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. 14 You will be blessed above all the nations of the earth. None of your men or women will be childless, and all your livestock will bear young. 15 And the Lord will protect you from all sickness. He will not let you suffer from the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all your enemies!
16 “You must destroy all the nations the Lord your God hands over to you. Show them no mercy, and do not worship their gods, or they will trap you. 17 Perhaps you will think to yourselves, ‘How can we ever conquer these nations that are so much more powerful than we are?’ 18 But don’t be afraid of them! Just remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all the land of Egypt. 19 Remember the great terrors the Lord your God sent against them. You saw it all with your own eyes! And remember the miraculous signs and wonders, and the strong hand and powerful arm with which he brought you out of Egypt. The Lord your God will use this same power against all the people you fear. 20 And then the Lord your God will send terror[b] to drive out the few survivors still hiding from you!
21 “No, do not be afraid of those nations, for the Lord your God is among you, and he is a great and awesome God. 22 The Lord your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once, otherwise the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you. 23 But the Lord your God will hand them over to you. He will throw them into complete confusion until they are destroyed. 24 He will put their kings in your power, and you will erase their names from the face of the earth. No one will be able to stand against you, and you will destroy them all.
25 “You must burn their idols in fire, and you must not covet the silver or gold that covers them. You must not take it or it will become a trap to you, for it is detestable to the Lord your God. 26 Do not bring any detestable objects into your home, for then you will be destroyed, just like them. You must utterly detest such things, for they are set apart for destruction.
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
