< Deuteronomy 7 >

1 When YHWH thy Elohim shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
“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,
2 And when YHWH thy Elohim shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
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.
3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
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.
4 For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other elohim: so will the anger of YHWH be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.
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.
5 But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.
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.
6 For thou art an holy people unto YHWH thy Elohim: YHWH thy Elohim hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
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.
7 YHWH did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
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.
8 But because YHWH loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath YHWH brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
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.
9 Know therefore that YHWH thy Elohim, he is Elohim, the faithful El, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
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,
10 And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.
and promptly repaying those who hate him, so as to utterly ruin them, without further delay, quickly rendering to them what they deserve.
11 Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.
Therefore, keep the precepts and ceremonies as well as the judgments, which I command to you this day, so that you may do them.
12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that YHWH thy Elohim shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:
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.
13 And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
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.
14 Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.
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.
15 And YHWH will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.
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.
16 And thou shalt consume all the people which YHWH thy Elohim shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their elohim; for that will be a snare unto thee.
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.
17 If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?
If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are more than I am, so how will I be able to destroy them?’
18 Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what YHWH thy Elohim did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;
do not be apprehensive. Instead, recall what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all the Egyptians:
19 The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby YHWH thy Elohim brought thee out: so shall YHWH thy Elohim do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.
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.
20 Moreover YHWH thy Elohim will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.
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.
21 Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for YHWH thy Elohim is among you, a mighty El and terrible.
You shall not fear them, for the Lord your God is in your midst: a great and terrible God.
22 And YHWH thy Elohim will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.
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.
23 But YHWH thy Elohim shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed.
And so, the Lord your God will present them in your sight, and you shall slay them until they are thoroughly wiped away.
24 And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them.
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.
25 The graven images of their elohim shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therin: for it is an abomination to YHWH thy Elohim.
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.
26 Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.
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.”

< Deuteronomy 7 >