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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

  1. Deuteronomy 7:3 Lit daughter
  2. Deuteronomy 7:3 Lit his son
  3. Deuteronomy 7:3 Lit his daughter
  4. Deuteronomy 7:3 Lit son
  5. Deuteronomy 7:4 Lit he
  6. Deuteronomy 7:4 Lit son
  7. Deuteronomy 7:4 Lit after
  8. Deuteronomy 7:5 Wooden symbols of a female deity
  9. Deuteronomy 7:6 Or special treasure
  10. Deuteronomy 7:6 Lit ground
  11. Deuteronomy 7:8 Lit slaves
  12. Deuteronomy 7:9 Lit the
  13. Deuteronomy 7:9 Lit the
  14. Deuteronomy 7:10 Lit his face
  15. Deuteronomy 7:10 Lit him
  16. Deuteronomy 7:10 Lit to
  17. Deuteronomy 7:12 Lit the
  18. Deuteronomy 7:12 Lit the
  19. Deuteronomy 7:13 Lit on the ground
  20. Deuteronomy 7:21 Lit from before them
  21. Deuteronomy 7:22 Lit beasts of the field
  22. Deuteronomy 7:23 Lit confuse them with
Close RSV

Deuteronomy 7
Revised Standard Version

A Chosen People

7 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Gir′gashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Per′izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb′usites, seven nations greater and mightier than yourselves, 2 and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them; then you must utterly destroy them; you shall make no covenant with them, and show no mercy to them. 3 You shall not make marriages 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; then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. 5 But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and hew down their Ashe′rim, and burn their graven images with fire.

6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, out of all the peoples that 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 upon you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples; 8 but it is because the Lord loves you, and is keeping the oath which he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 10 and requites to their face those who hate him, by destroying them; he will not be slack with him who hates him, he will requite him to his face. 11 You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which I command you this day.

Blessings for Obedience

12 “And because you hearken to these ordinances, and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love which he swore to your fathers to keep; 13 he will love you, bless you, and multiply you; he will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the young of your flock, in the land which he swore to your fathers to give you. 14 You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. 15 And the Lord will take away from you all sickness; and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict upon you, but he will lay them upon all who hate you. 16 And you shall destroy all the peoples that the Lord your God will give over to you, your eye shall not pity them; neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.

17 “If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’ 18 you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, 19 the great trials which your eyes saw, 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 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 in the midst of you, a great and terrible God. 22 The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you may not make an end of them at once,[a] lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you. 23 But the Lord your God will give them over to you, and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed. 24 And he will give their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under heaven; not a man shall be able to stand against you, until you have destroyed them. 25 The graven images of their gods you shall burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, or take it for yourselves, lest you be 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 accursed like it; you shall utterly detest and abhor it; for it is an accursed thing.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 7:22 Or quickly
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Revised Standard Version (RSV)

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