Deuteronomy 7

1 When the LORD your God shall bring you into the land where you go to possess it, and has cast out many nations before you, 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 you;

When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you—

2 And when the LORD your God shall deliver them before you; you shall strike them, and utterly destroy them; you shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them:

and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.

3 Neither shall you make marriages with them; your daughter you shall not give unto his son, nor his daughter shall you take unto your son.

Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,

4 For they will turn away your son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy you suddenly.

because they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you.

5 But thus shall all of you deal with them; all of you shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.

Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.

6 For you are an holy people unto the LORD your God: the LORD your God has chosen you to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.

7 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because all of you were more in number than any people; for all of you were the few of all people:

The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than the other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.

8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, has the LORD 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 because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

9 Know therefore that the LORD your God, he is God, the faithful God, which keeps covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion for a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.

10 And repays them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hates him, he will repay him to his face.

But those who hate Him He repays to their faces with destruction; He will not hesitate to repay to his face the one who hates Him.

11 You shall therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command you this day, to do them.

So keep the commandments and statutes and ordinances that I am giving you to follow this day.

12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, if all of you hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD your God shall keep unto you the covenant and the mercy which he swore unto your fathers:

If you listen to these ordinances and keep them carefully, then the LORD your God will keep His covenant and the loving devotion that He swore to your fathers.

13 And he will love you, and bless you, and multiply you: he will also bless the fruit of your womb, and the fruit of your land, your corn, and your wine, and your oil, the increase of your cattle, and the flocks of your sheep, in the land which he swore unto your fathers to give you.

He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will bless the fruit of your womb and the produce of your land—your grain, new wine, and oil, the young of your herds and the lambs of your flocks—in the land that He swore to your fathers to give you.

14 You shall be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.

You will be blessed above all peoples; among you there will be no barren man or woman or livestock.

15 And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you know, upon you; but will lay them upon all them that hate you.

And the LORD will remove from you all sickness. He will not lay upon you any of the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but He will inflict them on all who hate you.

16 And you shall consume all the people which the LORD your God shall deliver you; your eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shall you serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto you.

You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

17 If you shall say in your heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?

You may say in your heart, “These nations are greater than we are; how can we drive them out?”

18 You shall not be afraid of them: but shall well remember what the LORD your God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;

But do not be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt:

19 The great temptations which your eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD your God brought you out: so shall the LORD your God do unto all the people of whom you are afraid.

the great trials that you saw, the signs and wonders, and the mighty 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 now fear.

20 Moreover the LORD your God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from you, be destroyed.

Moreover, the LORD your God will send the hornet against them until even the survivors hiding from you have perished.

21 You shall not be affrighted at them: for the LORD your God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.

Do not be terrified by them, for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God.

22 And the LORD your God will put out those nations before you by little and little: you may not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon you.

The LORD your God will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be enabled to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals would multiply around you.

23 But the LORD your God shall deliver them unto you, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed.

But the LORD your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed.

24 And he shall deliver their kings into your hand, and you shall destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before you, until you have destroyed them.

He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand against you; you will annihilate them.

25 The graven images of their gods shall all of you burn with fire: you shall not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto you, lest you be snared therin: for it is an abomination to the LORD your God.

You must burn up the images of their gods; do not covet the silver and gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it; for it is detestable to the LORD your God.

26 Neither shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be a cursed thing like it: but you shall utterly detest it, and you shall utterly detest it; for it is a cursed thing.

And you must not bring any detestable thing into your house, or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. You are to utterly detest and abhor it, because it is set apart for destruction.