1 W hen Jehovah thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and shall cast out many nations from 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,

“The Lord your God will bring you into the land you are taking for your own. He will drive away many nations in front of you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations bigger and stronger than you.

2 a nd when Jehovah thy God shall give them up before thee and thou shalt smite them, then shalt thou utterly destroy them: thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them.

When the Lord your God gives them to you and you win the battles against them, you must destroy all of them. Make no agreement with them and show no favor to them.

3 A nd thou shalt make no marriages with them: thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor take his daughter for thy son;

Do not take any of them in marriage. Do not give your daughters to their sons. And do not take their daughters for your sons.

4 f or he will turn away thy son from following me, and they will serve other gods, and the anger of Jehovah will be kindled against you, and he will destroy thee quickly.

For 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 be quick to destroy you.

5 B ut thus shall ye deal with them: ye shall break down their altars, and shatter their statues, and hew down their Asherahs, and burn their graven images with fire.

But do this to them: Break down their altars. Crush their objects of worship. Cut down their female goddess Asherim. And burn their false gods with fire.

6 F or a holy people art thou unto Jehovah thy God: Jehovah thy God hath chosen thee to be unto him a people for a possession, above all the peoples that are upon the face of the earth.

“For you are a holy nation to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the nations on the earth, to be His own.

7 N ot because ye were more in number than all the peoples, hath Jehovah been attached to you and chosen you, for ye are the fewest of all the peoples;

The Lord did not give you His love and choose you because you were more people than any of the nations. For the number of your people was less than all nations.

8 b ut because Jehovah loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath Jehovah brought you out with a powerful hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

But it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the promise He made to your fathers. So the Lord brought you out by a strong hand. He set you free from the land where you were servants, and from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

9 A nd thou shalt know that Jehovah thy God, he is God, the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and mercy to a thousand generations with them that love him and keep his commandments;

Know then that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God. He keeps His promise and shows His loving-kindness to those who love Him and keep His Laws, even to a thousand family groups in the future.

10 a nd repayeth them that hate him to his face, to cause them to perish: he delayeth not with him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.

But He destroys those who hate Him. He will not show kindness to the one who hates Him, but will punish him to his face.

11 A nd thou shalt keep the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which I command thee this day, to do them.

So keep and obey all the Laws I am telling you today. Good Comes to Those Who Obey

12 A nd it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these ordinances, and keep and do them, that Jehovah thy God will keep with thee the covenant and the mercy which he swore unto thy fathers;

“If you listen to these Laws and keep and obey them, the Lord your God will keep His agreement and loving-kindness as He promised to your fathers.

13 a nd he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee, and will bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground, thy corn and thy new wine, and thine oil, the offspring of thy kine, and the increase of thy sheep, in the land which he swore unto thy fathers to give thee.

He will love you and bring good to you and make you a nation of many. He will bring good to your children and the fruit of your land, your grain, your new wine and your oil. And He will give you many cattle and young ones in your flock, in the land He promised to your fathers to give you.

14 T hou shalt be blessed above all the peoples; there shall not be male or female barren with thee, or with thy cattle;

More good will come to you than to any other nation. There will be no male or female among you or your cattle that is not able to have young ones.

15 a nd Jehovah will take away from thee all sickness, and none of the evil infirmities of Egypt, which thou knowest, will he put upon thee; but he will lay them upon all them that hate thee.

The Lord will take all sickness from you. He will not let any bad diseases come upon you that you have known in Egypt. But He will give them to all who hate you.

16 A nd thou shalt consume all the peoples that Jehovah thy God will give up unto thee; thine eye shall not spare them, and thou shalt not serve their gods; for that would be a snare unto thee.

You will destroy all the nations the Lord your God will give to you. You will not pity them or worship their gods, for that would be a trap to you.

17 I f thou shouldest say in thy heart, These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?

“You may say in your heart, ‘These nations are stronger than I. How can I drive them out?’

18 f ear them not; remember well what Jehovah thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all the Egyptians;

But you will not be afraid of them. You will remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt.

19 t he great trials which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the powerful hand, and the stretched-out arm, whereby Jehovah thy God brought thee out: so will Jehovah thy God do unto all the peoples whom thou fearest.

You will remember the hard trials you saw, the powerful works, and the strong hand and powerful arm the Lord your God used to bring you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the nations who make you afraid.

20 M oreover, Jehovah thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and they that hide themselves from thee, are destroyed.

And the Lord your God will send the hornet against them. Those who are left will hide themselves from you and be destroyed.

21 T hou shalt not be afraid of them; for Jehovah thy God is in thy midst, a God great and terrible.

You will not be afraid of them. For the Lord your God is among you, a great and powerful God.

22 A nd Jehovah thy God will cast out those nations from before thee by little and little; thou shalt not be able to make an end of them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.

The Lord your God will drive away these nations in front of you one by one. You will not be able to destroy them in a short time, or the wild animals may become too many for you.

23 B ut Jehovah thy God will give them up before thee, and will confound them with great consternation, until they are destroyed.

But the Lord your God will give them to you. He will bring much trouble upon them until they are destroyed.

24 A nd he will give their kings into thy hand, and thou shalt put out their name from under the heavens; no man shall stand before thee, until thou hast destroyed them.

He will give their kings into your hand. And you will destroy their name from under heaven. No man will be able to stand in front of you until you have destroyed them.

25 T he graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire; thou shalt not covet the silver and gold on them and take it unto thee, lest thou be ensnared therein; for it is an abomination to Jehovah thy God.

You must burn with fire their objects of worship. Do not want the silver or gold that is on them, or take it for yourselves. It would be a trap to you, for it is a hated thing to the Lord your God.

26 A nd thou shalt not bring an abomination into thy house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.

Do not bring a hated thing into your house. You would become hated also. But turn from it with fear and hate, for bad will come from it.