Exodus 23:20-33

International Children’s Bible

Promises

²⁰ “I am sending an angel ahead of you. He will protect you as you travel. He will lead you to the place I have prepared. ²¹ Pay attention to the angel and obey him. Do not turn against him. He will not forgive such turning against him because my power is in him. ²² You must listen carefully to all he says. You must do everything that I tell you. If you do this, I will be an enemy to your enemies. I will fight all who fight against you. ²³ My angel will go ahead of you. He will take you into the land of these people: the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites. And I will destroy them.

²⁴ “You must not bow down to their gods or worship those gods. You must not live the way those people live. You must destroy their idols. And you must break into pieces stone pillars they use in worship. ²⁵ You must worship the Lord your God. If you do, I will bless your bread and your water. I will take away sickness from you. ²⁶ None of your women will have her baby die before it is born. All women will have children. I will allow you to live long lives.

²⁷ “I will make your enemies afraid of me. I will confuse any people you fight against. I will make all your enemies run away from you. ²⁸ I will send something like hornets ahead of you. They will force the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. ²⁹ But I will not force all those people out in only one year. If I did, the land would become a desert. Then the wild animals would become too many for you. ³⁰ Instead, I will force those people out of your land very slowly. I will wait until there are enough of you to take over the land.

³¹ “I will give you the land from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Mediterranean Sea. And I will give you the land between the desert and the Euphrates River. I will give you power over the people who now live in the land. You will force them out ahead of you. ³² You must not make an agreement with those people or with their gods. ³³ You must not let them live in your land. If they live there, they will make you sin against me. If you worship their gods, you will be like someone caught in a trap.”