1 “ When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, 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,

“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 your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to 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 or shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your 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 your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you 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 you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved 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 “ For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on 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 on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all 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 the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from 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 “ Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who 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 He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates 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 herefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them. Blessings of Obedience

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

12 “ Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your 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 you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you.

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 Y ou shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your livestock.

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 you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you.

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 lso you shall destroy all the peoples whom the Lord your God delivers over to you; your eye shall have no pity on them; nor shall you serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

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 “ If you should say in your 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 y ou shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to 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 trials which your eyes saw, the signs and the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out. So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are 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 your God will send the hornet among them until those who are left, who hide themselves from you, 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 Y ou shall not be terrified of them; for the Lord your God, the great and awesome God, is among you.

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 your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.

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 your God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them 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 deliver their kings into your hand, and you will destroy their name from under heaven; no one shall be able to stand against you until you 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 Y ou shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to the Lord your 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 or shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed 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.