Deuteronomy 7
1 Whanne thi Lord God hath lad thee in to the lond, in to which thou schalt entre to welde, and hath do awey many folkis bifor thee, Ethei, and Gergesei, and Ammorrey, Canenei, and Pherezei, Euey, and Jebusei; seuene folkis, of myche gretter noumbre than thou art, and strengere than thou;
“Yahweh our God will bring you to the land that you will soon enter and occupy. As you advance, he will expel from that land seven people-groups that are more powerful and more numerous than you are. He will expel the Heth people-group, the Girgash people-group, the Amor people-group, the Canaan people-group, the Periz people-group, the Hiv people-group, and the Jebus people-group.
2 and thi Lord God hath bitake hem to thee, thou schalt smyte hem `til to deeth, thou schalt not make `with hem a boond of pees, nether thou schalt haue merci on hem,
When Yahweh our God enables you to defeat [DOU] them, you must kill all of them. You must not make (an alliance/a peace treaty) with any of them. You must not act mercifully toward them.
3 nether thou schalt felowschipe mariagis with him; thou schalt not yyue thi douyter to the sone `of hym, nether thou schalt take his douytir to thi sone;
You must not marry any of them. You must not allow your daughters to marry any of their sons or allow your sons to marry any of their daughters.
4 for sche schal disceyue thi sone, that he sue not me, and that he serue more alien goddis; and the strong veniaunce of the Lord schal be wrooth, and schal do awei thee soone.
Because, if you did that, those people would cause your children to stop worshiping Yahweh and to worship other gods. If that happens, Yahweh will be very angry with you and he will get rid of you immediately.
5 But rather thou schalt do these thingis to hem; destrie ye the auteris `of hem, and breke ye ymagis `of metal, and kitte ye doun wodis, and brenne ye grauun ymagis.
This is what you must do to those people: Tear down their (altars/places for sacrificing animals), break apart the stone pillars [that are dedicated to their male god Baal], cut down the [poles that they use when they worship the goddess] Asherah, and burn their [wooden] idols.
6 For thou art an hooli puple to thi Lord God; thi Lord God chees thee, that thou be a special puple to hym, of alle puplis that ben on erthe.
You must do that because you are a group of people who belong to Yahweh our God. He has chosen you from among all the people-groups in the world to be his own special people.
7 Not for ye ouercamen in noumbre alle folkis, the Lord is ioyned to you, and chees yow, sithen ye ben fewere than alle puplis;
“It was not because you were more numerous than any other people-group that Yahweh preferred you; you are one of the smallest people-groups on the earth.
8 but for the Lord louede you, and kepte the ooth which he swoor to youre fadris; and he ledde you out in strong hond, and ayen bouyte you fro the hows of seruage, fro `the hows of Farao, kyng of Egipt.
Instead, it is because Yahweh loved you and because he wanted to do what he vowed to your ancestors. That is the reason that he rescued you by his great power [MTY], and freed you from being slaves [MTY] of the king of Egypt.
9 And thou schalt wite, that thi Lord God hym silf is a strong God, and feithful, and kepith couenaunt and mersi to hem that louen hym, and to hem that kepen hise comaundementis, in to a thousynde generaciouns;
So do not forget that Yahweh our God is the only/true God. He will do what he agreed to do for you, and he will faithfully love (for 1,000 generations/forever) all those who love him and who obey his commandments.
10 and yeldith anoon to hem that haten hym, so that he destrie hem, and differr no lengere; restorynge anoon to hem that that thei disseruen.
But for those who hate him, he will (pay them back/do to them what they deserve); he will punish them and quickly get rid of them.
11 Therfor kepe thou the comaundementis, and cerymonyes, and domes, whiche Y comaunde to thee to dai, that thou do.
“So you must be sure to obey all the commandments and rules and regulations that I am giving to you today.
12 If aftir that thou herist these domes, thou kepist, and doist tho, thi Lord God schal kepe to thee couenaunt, and mersi, which he swoor to thi fadris.
If you heed these commands and obey them faithfully, Yahweh our God will do what he has agreed to do for you, and he will faithfully love you, which is what he vowed to your ancestors that he would do.
13 And he schal loue thee, and schal multiplie thee, and he schal blesse the fruyt of thi wombe, and the fruyt of thi lond, thi wheete, and vindage, oile, and droues of beestis, and the flockis of thi scheep, on the lond for which he swoor to thi fadris, that he schulde yyue it to thee.
He will love you and bless you. He will enable you to have many children [DOU]. He will bless your fields, with the result that you will have plenty of grain and [grapes to make] wine and plenty of [olive] oil. You will have many cattle and sheep. He will do all these things for you in the land that he promised to your ancestors that he would give to you.
14 Thou schalt be blessid among alle puplis; noon bareyn of euer eithir kynde schal be at thee, as well in men, as in thi flockis.
He will bless you more than he will bless any other people-group. All of you will be able to have/produce children [LIT]. All of your livestock will be able to produce offspring.
15 The Lord schal do awei fro thee all ache, `ether sorewe; and he schal not brynge to thee the worste siknessis of Egipt, whiche thou knewist, but to alle thin enemyes.
And Yahweh will protect you from all illnesses. You will not be afflicted with any of the dreadful diseases that [our ancestors knew about] in Egypt, but all your enemies will be inflicted with those diseases.
16 And thou schalt `deuoure, that is, distrie, alle puplis, whiche thi Lord God schal yyue to thee; thin iye schal not spare hem, nethir thou schalt serue the goddis `of hem, lest thei ben in to the fallyng of thee.
You must get rid of all the people-groups that Yahweh our God will enable you to conquer. Do not [SYN] act mercifully toward any of them. And do not worship their gods, because if you do that, it would be like falling into a trap [from which you will never be able to escape].
17 If thou seist in thin herte, These folkis ben mo than Y, hou may Y do awei hem?
“Do not think to yourselves, ‘These people-groups are more numerous/powerful than we are, so we certainly cannot [RHQ] expel them.’
18 `nyle thou drede, but haue thou mynde, what thingis thi Lord God dide to Farao, and alle Egipcians;
Do not be afraid of them. Instead, think about what Yahweh our God did to the king of Egypt and to all the people whom he [ruled].
19 `he dide the gretteste veniaunces, whiche thin iyen sien, and miraclis and grete wondris, and the strong hond, and arm `holdun forth, that thi Lord God schulde lede thee out; so he schal do to alle puplis whiche thou dredist.
Do not forget the terrible plagues that your ancestors saw [Yahweh inflict on the people of Egypt], and the many [DOU] miracles [that he performed], and the very powerful [DOU, MTY] way by which he brought your ancestors out [of Egypt]. Yahweh our God will do the same kind of things to the people-groups that you are afraid of now.
20 Ferthermore and thi Lord God schal sende venemouse flies in to hem, til he do awei, and destrye alle men, that fledden thee, and thei schulen not mowe be hid.
Furthermore, he will cause them to become terrified, and he will destroy those who remain alive and run away to hide from you.
21 Thou schalt not drede hem, for thi Lord is in the myddis of thee, grete God, and ferdful.
Do not be afraid of those people, because Yahweh our God will be with/among you. He is a great God; he is the one you should be afraid of.
22 He hym silf schal waste these naciouns in thi siyt, litil and litil, and bi partis; thou schalt not mow do awey `tho naciouns togidere, lest peraventure beestis of erthe be multiplied ayens thee;
He will expel those people-groups gradually. You should not [try to] expel all of them at one time, because if you did that, the number of wild animals would quickly increase, [and you would not be able to get rid of them].
23 and thi Lord God schal yyue hem in thi siyt, and he schal sle hem, til thei be doon awey outerly.
Instead, Yahweh will enable you to defeat your enemies [one people-group at a time]. He will cause them to panic until they are destroyed.
24 And he schal bitake the kyngis `of hem in to thin hondis, and thou schalt destrie the names `of hem vndur heuene; noon schal mow ayenstonde thee, til thou al to-breke hem.
He will enable you to defeat [IDM] their kings. After you kill them, their names will be forgotten {people will forget about them}. No people-group will be able to stop you; you will destroy all of them.
25 Thou schalt brenne in fier the grauun ymagis `of hem; thou schalt not coueite the siluer and gold, of whiche tho ymagis ben maad, nether thou schalt take of tho ony thing to thee, lest thou offende therfor, for it is abhominacioun of thi Lord God.
You must burn the wooden idols [that represent] their gods. Do not desire to take the silver or gold [decorations] that are on those idols, because if you take them for yourselves, they will be like a trap [to cause you to want to worship those idols]. Yahweh hates [the worship of those idols].
26 Nether thou schalt brynge ony thing of the idol in to thin hous, lest thou be maad cursid, as also that idol is; thou schalt wlate it as filthe, and thou schalt haue it as defoulyng, and filthis of abhomynacioun, for it is cursid.
You must not bring any of those disgusting idols into your houses, because if you do that, God will curse you like he curses them. You must hate and despise [DOU] those idols, because they are things that [Yahweh] has cursed.”
