Deuteronomy 7

1 "When Yahweh your God brings you into the land that you are about to enter into it*Literally "there" to take possession of it, and he drives*Or "he will drive out" out many nations before you,*Literally "from your faces" the Hittites*Hebrew "Hittite" and the Girgashites*Hebrew "Girgashite" and the Amorites*Hebrew "Amorite" and the Canaanites*Hebrew "Canaanite" and the Hivites*Hebrew "Hivite" and the Jebusites,*Hebrew "Jebusite" seven nations mightier and more numerous than you, 2 and Yahweh your God will give them over to you*Literally "to your faces" or "before you" and you defeat them, you must utterly destroy them;*Literally "set them aside for destruction" you shall not make a covenant with them, and you shall not show mercy to them. 3 And you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughter to their son; and you shall not take his daughter for your son.*Grammatically singular pronominal suffixes here can also be rendered "their"4 For their*Or "his" sons and daughters will cause your son*Or "sons" to turn away from following me,*Literally from "behind/after me" and so they will serve other gods, and the anger of Yahweh would be kindled*Literally "and it would become hot the nose of Yahweh" against you, and he would quickly destroy you. 5 But this is what you must do to them: you shall break down their altars, and their stone pillars you shall smash, and their Asherah poles you shall hew down, and you shall burn their idols with fire. 6 For you are a holy people for Yahweh your God; Yahweh your God has chosen you to be for him a people, a treasured possession from among all the peoples that are on the face*Or "surface" of the earth.

7 "Yahweh loved you and chose you not because of your great number*Literally "from your multitude/abundance" exceeding all other peoples, for you are fewer than all of the peoples, 8 but*Or "for" because of*Literally "from" the love of Yahweh for you and because of his keeping of the sworn oath that he swore to your ancestors,*Or "fathers" Yahweh brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. 9 So know that Yahweh your God, he is God, the trustworthy God, maintaining his*Hebrew "the" covenant and his*Hebrew "the" loyal love with those who love him and with those who keep his commandments to a thousand generations,*Hebrew "generation"10 but repaying those*Hebrew "the one" who hate him in their own person*Literally "to their faces" to destroy them;*Hebrew "him"; "them" in sense he is not slow with those who hate him in their own person;*Literally "to their faces" he repays them.*Hebrew "him"11 And so you shall keep the commandment and the rules and the regulations that I am commanding you today*Literally "the day" to observe them.

12 "And then*Literally "And it will happen" because you listen to these regulations and you diligently keep and you do them, then Yahweh your God will maintain his*Hebrew "the" covenant and his*Or "fathers" loyal love that he swore to your ancestors.*Or "fathers"13 And he will love you, and he will bless you, and he will multiply you, and he will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your soil, your grain, your wine, and your olive oil, and newborn calves of your cattle, and the newborn lambs*Or "increase of" of your flocks in the land that he swore to your ancestors*Or "fathers" to give you. 14 You shall be blessed more than all of the peoples; among you there shall not be sterility and bareness, even*Hebrew "and" among domestic animals.*Hebrew "animal"15 And Yahweh will turn away from you all the illness and all the harmful diseases of Egypt that you experienced; he will not lay them on you, but he will lay them on all of those who hate you. 16 And you shall devour all of the peoples that Yahweh your God is giving to you; you shall not pity them,*Literally "your eye shall not take pity on them" and you shall not serve their gods, which will be a snare for you.

17 "If you think in your heart, ‘These nations are more numerous than I, so how can I dispossess them?’ 18 then remember you must not be afraid of them; you must well remember what Yahweh your God did to Pharaoh and to all of Egypt: 19 the great trials that your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the workings of the strong hand and the outstretched arm by which Yahweh your God brought you out; so Yahweh your God will do to all of the peoples because of whom*Literally "from them" you are in fear before them.*Literally "from their presence"20 And, moreover, Yahweh your God will send the hornets*Hebrew "hornet" among them until both the survivors and the fugitives are destroyed*Literally "the destroying of" before you.*Literally "from your faces"21 You must not be in dread from the presence of them, because Yahweh your God, who is in your midst, is a great and awesome God. 22 And Yahweh your God will clear away these nations from before you*Literally "from your faces" little by little; you will not be able to finish them off quickly, lest*Literally "so that not" the wild animals*Literally "animals of the field" multiply*Literally "will become numerous" against you.*Literally "on you"23 But Yahweh your God will give them to you,*Literally "give them to your face" and he will throw them into great panic until they are destroyed.*Literally "until their destroying"24 And he will give their kings into your hand, and you shall blot out their names*Hebrew "name" from under the heaven; anyone will not be able to stand against you*Literally "in your faces" until you destroy them.*Literally "until your destroying them"25 You shall burn the images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, and so you take it for yourself, so that you are not ensnared by it, for it is a detestable thing to Yahweh your God. 26 And you must not bring a detestable thing into your house, or you will become a thing devoted to destruction like it; you must utterly detest it, and you must utterly abhor it, for it is an object devoted to destruction.