1 W hen the Lord thy God 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;

“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 the Lord thy God 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:

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 N either shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto 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 they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

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 destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, 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 thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God 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 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 T he Lord 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:

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 the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath 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 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 K now therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

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 their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to 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 T hou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, 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 W herefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware 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: 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.

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 people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your 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 the Lord 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 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 people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will 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 shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more 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 T hou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;

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 temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the Lord thy God brought thee out: so shall the Lord thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.

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 the Lord thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be 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 affrighted at them: for the Lord thy God is among you, a mighty God 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 the Lord thy God 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.

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 the Lord thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be 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 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.

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 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 the Lord 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 N either 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.

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.