Deuteronomy 7
New American Standard Bible
Warnings
7 “(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, 2 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. 3 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. 4 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. 5 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. 6 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.
7 “(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, 8 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. 9 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
- Deuteronomy 7:2 Lit strike
- Deuteronomy 7:2 Or certainly devote to the ban
- 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 I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)
- Deuteronomy 7:6 Lit ground
- Deuteronomy 7:7 Or become so attached to
- 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 7:12 Lit the
- Deuteronomy 7:12 Lit the
- Deuteronomy 7:13 Lit on the ground
- Deuteronomy 7:22 Lit animals of the field
- Deuteronomy 7:23 Lit confuse them with
Deuteronomy 7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
A Chosen People
7 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are about to enter and occupy and 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 mightier than you(A)— 2 and when the Lord your God gives them over to you and you defeat them, then you must utterly destroy them. Make no covenant with them and show them no mercy.(B) 3 Do not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons,(C) 4 for that would turn away your children from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.(D) 5 But this is how you must deal with them: break down their altars, smash their pillars, cut down their sacred poles,[a] and burn their idols with fire.(E) 6 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession.(F)
7 “It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples.(G) 8 It was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath that he swore to your ancestors 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.(H) 9 Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,(I) 10 and who repays in their own person those who reject him. He does not delay but repays in their own person those who reject him. 11 Therefore, observe diligently the commandment—the statutes and the ordinances—that I am commanding you today.
Blessings for Obedience
12 “If you heed these ordinances by diligently observing them, the Lord your God will maintain with you the covenant loyalty that he swore to your ancestors;(J) 13 he will love you, bless you, and multiply you; he will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock, in the land that he swore to your ancestors to give you.(K) 14 You shall be the most blessed of peoples, with neither sterility nor barrenness among you or your livestock.(L) 15 The Lord will turn away from you every illness; all the dread diseases of Egypt that you experienced, he will not inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you.(M) 16 You shall devour all the peoples that the Lord your God is giving over to you, showing them no pity; you shall not serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.(N)
17 “If you say to yourself, ‘These nations are more numerous than I; how can I dispossess them?’ 18 do not be afraid of them. Just remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt,(O) 19 the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs and wonders, 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.(P) 20 Moreover, the Lord your God will send swarms of hornets[b] against them until even the survivors and the fugitives are destroyed.(Q) 21 Have no dread of them, for the Lord your God, who is present with you, is a great and awesome God.(R) 22 The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to make a quick end of them, otherwise the wild animals would become too numerous for you.(S) 23 But the Lord your God will give them over to you and throw them into great panic until they are destroyed. 24 He will hand their kings over to you, and you shall blot out their name from under heaven; no one will be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them.(T) 25 The images of their gods you shall burn with fire. Do not covet the silver or the gold that is on them and take it for yourself, because you could be ensnared by it, for it is abhorrent to the Lord your God.(U) 26 Do not bring an abhorrent thing into your house, or you will be set apart for destruction like it. You must utterly detest and abhor it, for it is set apart for destruction.
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.