Warnings

(A)When the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to take possession of it, and He drives away many nations from before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, (B)seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God turns them over to you and you [a]defeat them, (C)you shall [b]utterly destroy them. (D)You shall not make a covenant with them (E)nor be gracious to them. Furthermore, (F)you shall not intermarry with them: you shall not give your [c]daughters to [d]their sons, nor shall you take [e]their daughters for your [f]sons. For [g]they will turn your [h]sons away from [i]following Me, and they will serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and (G)He will quickly destroy you. But this is what you shall do to them: (H)you shall tear down their altars, smash their memorial stones, cut their [j]Asherim to pieces, and burn their carved images in the fire. For you are (I)a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be (J)a people for His personal possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the [k]earth.

(K)The Lord did not [l]make you His beloved nor choose you because you were greater in number than any of the peoples, since you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you and kept the (L)oath which He swore to your forefathers, (M)the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of [m]slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God, (N)He is God, (O)the faithful God, (P)who keeps [n]His covenant and [o]His faithfulness to a thousand generations for those who (Q)love Him and keep His commandments; 10 but He (R)repays those who hate Him to [p]their faces, to eliminate [q]them; He will not hesitate toward him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face. 11 Therefore, you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I am commanding you today, to do them.

Promises of God

12 (S)Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep [r]His covenant with you and [s]His faithfulness which He swore to your forefathers. 13 And He will (T)love you, bless you, and (U)make you numerous; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain, your new wine, and your oil, the newborn of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, [t]in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you. 14 You shall be blessed above all peoples; there will be no sterile male or (V)infertile female among you or among your cattle. 15 And (W)the Lord will remove from you all sickness; and He will not inflict upon you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will give them to all who hate you. 16 You shall consume all the peoples whom the Lord your God will turn 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 say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I (Z)dispossess them?’ 18 you are not to be afraid of them; you shall (AA)remember well what the Lord 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 the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20 Indeed, the Lord your God will send (AC)the hornet against them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you perish. 21 You are not to be terrified of them, because (AD)the Lord your God is in your midst, (AE)a great and awesome God. 22 (AF)And the Lord your God will drive away these nations from you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, otherwise the [u]wild animals would become too numerous for you. 23 (AG)But the Lord your God will turn them over to you, and will [v]throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed. 24 (AH)And He will hand over their kings to you, so that you will eliminate their name from under heaven; (AI)no one will be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them. 25 The carved 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, or you will be (AL)trapped by it; for it is an (AM)abomination to the Lord your God. 26 And you shall not bring an abomination into your house and become (AN)designated for destruction, like it; you are to utterly detest it, and you are to utterly loathe it, for it is something designated for destruction.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 7:2 Lit strike
  2. Deuteronomy 7:2 Or certainly devote to the ban
  3. Deuteronomy 7:3 Lit daughter
  4. Deuteronomy 7:3 Lit his son
  5. Deuteronomy 7:3 Lit his daughter
  6. Deuteronomy 7:3 Lit son
  7. Deuteronomy 7:4 Lit he
  8. Deuteronomy 7:4 Lit son
  9. Deuteronomy 7:4 Lit after
  10. Deuteronomy 7:5 I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)
  11. Deuteronomy 7:6 Lit ground
  12. Deuteronomy 7:7 Or become so attached to
  13. Deuteronomy 7:8 Lit slaves
  14. Deuteronomy 7:9 Lit the
  15. Deuteronomy 7:9 Lit the
  16. Deuteronomy 7:10 Lit his face
  17. Deuteronomy 7:10 Lit him
  18. Deuteronomy 7:12 Lit the
  19. Deuteronomy 7:12 Lit the
  20. Deuteronomy 7:13 Lit on the ground
  21. Deuteronomy 7:22 Lit animals of the field
  22. Deuteronomy 7:23 Lit confuse them with

Israel to Destroy Idolatrous Nations

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land(A) you are entering to possess,(B) and He drives out many nations before you—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and powerful than you— and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you and you defeat them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,(C) because they will turn your sons away from Me to worship other gods. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you. Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles,(D) and burn up their carved images. For you are a holy people(E) belonging to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be His own possession(F) out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.

“The Lord was devoted to you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But because the Lord loved(G) you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed(H) you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know that Yahweh your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commands.(I) 10 But He directly pays back[a] and destroys those who hate Him.(J) He will not hesitate to directly pay back[b] the one who hates Him. 11 So keep the command—the statutes and ordinances—that I am giving you to follow today.

12 “If you listen to and are careful to keep these ordinances, the Lord your God will keep His covenant loyalty with you, as He swore to your fathers.(K) 13 He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will bless your descendants,[c](L) and the produce of your land—your grain, new wine, and oil—the young of your herds, and the newborn of your flocks, in the land He swore to your fathers that He would give you. 14 You will be blessed above all peoples; there will be no infertile male or female among you or your livestock. 15 The Lord will remove all sickness from you; He will not put on you(M) all the terrible diseases of Egypt that you know about, but He will inflict them on all who hate you. 16 You must destroy all the peoples the Lord your God is delivering over to you and not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

17 “If you say to yourself, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I drive them out?’ 18 do not be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt: 19 the great trials that you saw, the signs and wonders, the strong hand and outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you fear. 20 The Lord your God will also send the hornet against them until all the survivors and those hiding from you perish.(N) 21 Don’t be terrified of them, for the Lord your God, a great and awesome God, is among you. 22 The Lord your God will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be able to destroy them all at once; otherwise, the wild animals will become too numerous for you.(O) 23 The Lord your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed. 24 He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their names under heaven. No one will be able to stand against you; you will annihilate them. 25 You must burn up the carved images of their gods. Don’t covet the silver and gold on the images and take it for yourself, or else you will be ensnared by it, for it is abhorrent to the Lord your God. 26 You must not bring any abhorrent thing into your house, or you will be set apart for destruction like it. You are to utterly detest and abhor it, because it is set apart for destruction.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 7:10 Lit He pays back to their faces
  2. Deuteronomy 7:10 Lit to pay back to their faces
  3. Deuteronomy 7:13 Lit bless the fruit of your womb