Deuteronomy 7
7
Israel to Destroy Idolatrous Nations
1“When the Lord your God brings you into the land # 7:1–5 Ex 23:23–26 you are entering to possess, # 7:1 Dt 3:12 and he drives out many nations before you — the Hethites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations # 7:1 Ac 13:19 more numerous and powerful than you # 7:1 Ex 1:9 — 2and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you and you defeat them, you must completely destroy # 7:2 Dt 20:17 them. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy. # 7:2 Pr 6:34; Is 9:17; 13:18; 27:11; 47:6; Jr 13:14; Hs 1:6,8; 2:4,23 3You must not intermarry with them, and you must not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, # 7:3 Jos 23:12–13; 1Kg 11:1–2; Ezr 9:12,14 4because they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. # 7:4 Dt 13:6,13; 17:3; 28:36,64; 29:26; Jos 23:16; 24:16; 1Sm 26:19; Jr 16:13 Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, # 7:4 Ex 22:24; Dt 11:17; 31:17; Jos 23:16 and he will swiftly destroy you. 5Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, # 7:5 Ex 34:13; Dt 12:2–3; Jdg 2:2 and burn their carved images. 6For you are a holy people # 7:6 Ex 22:31; Dt 14:2,21; 26:19; 28:9; Ps 16:3; Is 62:12; 63:18; Dn 8:24; 12:7 belonging to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be his own possession # 7:6 Ex 19:5; Dt 14:2; 26:18–19; Ps 135:4; Ec 2:8; Mal 3:17 out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.
7“The Lord had his heart set on you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8But because the Lord loved # 7:8 Dt 4:37 you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors, he brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed # 7:8 Dt 9:26; 15:15; 24:18 you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9Know that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps his gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commands. # 7:9 Neh 1:5; Dn 9:4 10But he directly pays back # 7:10 Lit He pays back to their faces and destroys those who hate him. # 7:10 Ex 34:6–7 He will not hesitate to pay back directly # 7:10 Lit to pay back to their faces the one who hates him. 11So keep the command — the statutes and ordinances — that I am giving you to follow today.
12“If you listen to and are careful to keep these ordinances, the Lord your God will keep his covenant loyalty with you, as he swore to your ancestors. # 7:12 Dt 4:31 13He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will bless your offspring, # 7:13 Lit bless the fruit of your womb,# 7:13 Dt 28:4 and the produce of your land — your grain, new wine, and fresh oil — the young of your herds, and the newborn of your flocks, in the land he swore to your ancestors that he would give you. 14You will be blessed above all peoples; there will be no infertile male or female among you or your livestock. 15The Lord will remove all sickness from you; he will not put on you # 7:15 Ex 15:26; 23:25; Dt 28:27,60 all the terrible diseases of Egypt that you know about, but he will inflict them on all who hate you. 16You must destroy all the peoples the Lord your God is delivering over to you and not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
17“If you say to yourself, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I drive them out? ’ 18do not be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt: 19the great trials that you saw, the signs and wonders, the strong hand and outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you fear. 20The Lord your God will also send hornets against them until all the survivors and those hiding from you perish. # 7:20 Ex 23:28; Jos 24:12 21Don’t be terrified of them, for the Lord your God, a great and awesome God, is among you. 22The Lord your God will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be able to destroy them all at once; otherwise, the wild animals will become too numerous for you. # 7:22 Ex 23:29–30 23The Lord your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed. 24He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their names under heaven. No one will be able to stand against you; you will annihilate them. 25Burn up the carved images of their gods. Don’t covet the silver and gold on the images and take it for yourself, or else you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the Lord your God. 26Do not bring any detestable thing into your house, or you will be set apart for destruction like it. You are to abhor and detest it utterly because it is set apart for destruction.
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Deuteronomy 7: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Deuteronomy 7
7
Force the other nations out of the land
(Exodus 34.11-16)
Moses said:
1People of Israel, the LORD your God will help you take the land of the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. These seven nations have more people and are stronger than Israel, but when you attack them,#Ac 13.19. 2the LORD will force them out of the land. Then you must destroy them without mercy. Don't make any peace treaties with them, 3and don't let your sons and daughters marry any of them. 4If you do, those people will lead your descendants to worship other gods and to turn their backs on the LORD. That will make him very angry, and he will quickly destroy Israel.
5So when you conquer these nations, tear down the altars where they worship their gods. Break up their sacred stones, cut down the poles that they use in worshipping the goddess Asherah, and throw their idols in the fire.#Dt 12.3.
The LORD's chosen people
Moses said:
6Israel, you are the chosen people of the LORD your God. There are many nations on this earth, but he chose only Israel to be his very own.#Ex 19.5; Dt 4.20; 14.2; 26.18; Titus 2.14; 1 P 2.9. 7You were the weakest of all nations, 8but the LORD chose you because he loves you and because he had made a promise to your ancestors. Then with his mighty arm, he rescued you from the king of Egypt, who had made you his slaves.
9You know that the LORD your God is the only true God. So love him and obey his commands, and he will faithfully keep his agreement with you and your descendants for a thousand generations.#Ex 20.5,6; 34.6,7; Nu 14.18; Dt 5.9,10. 10But if you turn against the LORD, he will quickly destroy you. 11So be sure to obey his laws and teachings I am giving you today.
The LORD will bless you if you obey
(Deuteronomy 28.1-14; Leviticus 26.3-13)
Moses said to Israel:
12If you completely obey these laws, the LORD your God will be loyal and keep the agreement he made with you, just as he promised our ancestors.#Dt 11.13-17. 13The LORD will love you and bless you by giving you many children and plenty of food, wine, and olive oil. Your herds of cattle will have many calves, and your flocks of sheep will have many lambs. 14God will bless you more than any other nation—your families will grow and your livestock increase. 15You will no longer suffer with the same horrible diseases that you sometimes had in Egypt. You will be healthy, but the LORD will make your enemies suffer from those diseases.
Destroy the nations and their gods
Moses said to Israel:
16When the LORD helps you defeat your enemies, you must destroy them without pity! And don't get trapped into worshipping their gods.
17You may be thinking, “How can we destroy these nations? They are more powerful than we are.” 18But stop worrying! Just remember what the LORD your God did to Egypt and its king. 19You saw how the LORD used his tremendous power to work great miracles and bring you out of Egypt. And he will again work miracles for you when you face these enemies you fear so much. 20Some of them may try to survive by hiding from you, but the LORD will make them panic, and soon they will be dead.#7.20 make them…dead: Or “send hornets to kill them”. 21So don't be frightened when you meet them in battle. The LORD your God is great and fearsome, and he will fight at your side.
22As you attack these nations, the LORD will force them out little by little. He won't let you get rid of them all at once—if he did, there wouldn't be enough people living in the land to keep down the number of wild animals. 23-24But when you attack your enemies, the LORD will make them panic, and you will easily destroy them. You will defeat them one after another until they are gone, and no one will remember they ever lived.
25After you conquer a nation, burn their idols. Don't get trapped into wanting the silver or gold on an idol. Even the metal on an idol is disgusting to the LORD, 26so destroy it. If you bring it home with you, both you and your house will be destroyed. Stay away from those disgusting idols!
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012