Deuteronomy 7

1 “When the Lord your God will have led you to the land, which you will enter so as to possess it, and when he will have destroyed many nations before you, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations much more numerous than you, and more robust than you,

When Yahweh your God brings you into the land that you go to possess, he will drive out many nations before you—the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites—seven nations greater and mightier than you.

2 and when the Lord your God will have delivered them to you, you shall strike them down unto utter annihilation. You shall not enter into a pact with them, nor shall you show any pity to them.

It is Yahweh your God who gives them over to you when you defeat them, and then you must completely destroy them. You will make no covenant with them, and show them no mercy.

3 And you shall not associate with them in marriage. You shall not give your daughter to his son, nor accept his daughter for your son.

Neither will you arrange any marriages with them. You will not give your daughters to their sons, and you will not take their daughters for your sons.

4 For she will seduce your son, so that he will not follow me, and so that he will instead serve foreign gods. And the fury of the Lord will be enraged, and he will quickly destroy you.

For they will turn away your sons from following me, so that they may worship other gods. So the anger of Yahweh will be kindled against you, and he will destroy you quickly.

5 So instead, you shall do this to them: overturn their altars, and break their statues, and cut down their sacred groves, and burn up their graven images.

This is how you will deal with them: You will break down their altars, dash their stone pillars in pieces, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their cast idols.

6 For you are a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you so that you would be his particular people out of all the peoples who are upon the earth.

For you are a nation that is set apart to Yahweh your God. He has chosen you to be a people for him to possess, more than all the other peoples that are on the face of the earth.

7 It is not because you surpass all the nations in number that the Lord has joined with you and has chosen you, for you are the least numerous of any people.

Yahweh did not set his love upon you or choose you because you were more in number than any people—for you were the fewest of all peoples—

8 But it is because the Lord has loved you, and has kept his oath, which he swore to your fathers. And he has led you away with a strong hand, and he has redeemed you from the house of servitude, from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.

but because he loves you, and he wished to keep the oath that he had sworn to your fathers. This is why Yahweh has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

9 And you shall know that the Lord your God himself is a strong and faithful God, preserving his covenant and his mercy for those who love him and those who keep his precepts for a thousand generations,

Therefore know that Yahweh your God—he is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenants and faithfulness for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commandments,

10 and promptly repaying those who hate him, so as to utterly ruin them, without further delay, quickly rendering to them what they deserve.

but repays those who hate him to their face, to destroy them; he will not be lenient on whoever hates him; he will repay him to his face.

11 Therefore, keep the precepts and ceremonies as well as the judgments, which I command to you this day, so that you may do them.

You will therefore keep the commandments, the statutes, and the decrees that I command you today, so that you will do them.

12 If, after you have heard these judgments, you keep and do them, the Lord your God will also keep his covenant with you and the mercy that he swore to your fathers.

If you listen to these decrees, and keep and do them, it will happen that Yahweh your God will keep with you the covenant and the faithfulness that he swore to your fathers.

13 And he will love you and multiply you. And he will bless the fruit of your womb, and the fruit of your land: your grain as well as your vintage, oil, and herds, and the flocks of your sheep, upon the land about which he swore to your fathers that he would give it to you.

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, your new wine, and your oil, the multiplication of your cattle and the young of your flocks, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you.

14 Blessed shall you be among all peoples. No one will be barren among you of either gender, as much among men as among your herds.

You will be blessed more than all other peoples; there will not be a childless male or a barren female among you or among your cattle.

15 The Lord will take all sickness away from you. And the very grievous infirmities of Egypt, which you have known, he will not bring upon you, but upon your enemies.

Yahweh will take away from you all sickness; none of the evil diseases of Egypt that you have known will he put on you, but he will put them on all those who hate you.

16 You shall devour all the peoples, which the Lord your God will deliver to you. Your eye shall not spare them, neither shall you serve their gods, lest they be your ruin.

You will consume all the peoples whom Yahweh your God will give over to you, and your eye will not pity them. You will not worship their gods, for that will be a trap for you.

17 If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are more than I am, so how will I be able to destroy them?’

If you say in your heart, 'These nations are more numerous than I; how can I dispossess them?'—

18 do not be apprehensive. Instead, recall what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all the Egyptians:

do not be afraid of them; you will call to mind what Yahweh your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt;

19 the very great plagues, which your eyes saw, and the signs and wonders, and the powerful hand and outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God led you away. So will he do to all the peoples, whom you dread.

the great sufferings that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm by which Yahweh your God brought you out. Yahweh your God will do the same to all the peoples whom you fear.

20 Moreover, the Lord your God will also send hornets among them, until he destroys and scatters all who have escaped from you, or who have been able to hide.

Moreover, Yahweh your God will send the hornet among them, until those who are left and who hide themselves from you perish from your presence.

21 You shall not fear them, for the Lord your God is in your midst: a great and terrible God.

You will not be frightened at them, for Yahweh your God is among you, a great and fearsome God.

22 He himself will consume these nations in your sight, a little at a time, by degrees. You will not be able to destroy them all at once. Otherwise, the wild beasts of the earth might increase against you.

Yahweh your God will drive out those nations before you little by little. You will not defeat them all at once, or the wild animals would become very many around you.

23 And so, the Lord your God will present them in your sight, and you shall slay them until they are thoroughly wiped away.

But Yahweh your God will give you victory over them when you meet them in battle; he will greatly confuse them until they are destroyed.

24 And he shall deliver their kings into your hands, and you shall abolish their names from under heaven. No one will be able to withstand you, until you crush them.

He will put their kings under your power, and you will make their name perish from under heaven. No one will be able to stand before you, until you have destroyed them.

25 Their graven images, you shall burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or gold from which they have been made. And you shall not take for yourself anything from these, lest you offend, because this is an abomination to the Lord your God.

You will burn the carved figures of their gods—do not covet the silver or the gold that covers them and take it for yourself, because if you do, you will become trapped by it—for it is an abomination to Yahweh your God.

26 Neither shall you carry anything of the idol into your house, lest you become accursed, just as it also is. You shall detest it like dung, and you shall abominate it like defilement and filth, because it is an accursed thing.”

You will not bring any abomination into your house and start to worship it. You will utterly detest and abhor it, for it is set apart for destruction.