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When Jehovah thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and shall [a]cast out many nations before thee, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; and when Jehovah thy God shall deliver them up before thee, and thou shalt smite them; then thou shalt [b]utterly destroy them: thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them; neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For he will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of Jehovah be kindled against you, and he will destroy thee quickly. But thus shall ye deal with them: ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their [c]pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire.

For thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God: Jehovah thy God hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, [d]above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth. Jehovah 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 peoples: but because Jehovah loveth you, and because he would keep the oath which he sware unto your fathers, hath Jehovah brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that Jehovah thy God, he is God, the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and lovingkindness with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations, 10 and 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. 11 Thou shalt therefore keep the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which I command thee this day, to do them.

12 And it shall come to pass, because ye hearken to these ordinances, and keep and do them, that Jehovah thy God will keep with thee the covenant and the lovingkindness which he sware unto thy fathers: 13 and he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee; he will also bless the fruit of thy body and the fruit of thy ground, thy grain and thy new wine and thine oil, the increase of thy cattle and the young of thy flock, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 14 Thou shalt be blessed above all peoples: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. 15 And Jehovah will take away from thee all sickness; and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, will he put upon thee, but will lay them upon all them that hate thee. 16 And thou shalt consume all the peoples that Jehovah thy God shall deliver unto thee; thine eye shall not pity them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.

17 If thou shalt say in thy heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them? 18 thou shalt not be afraid of them: thou shalt well remember what Jehovah thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt; 19 the great trials which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, whereby Jehovah thy God brought thee out: so shall Jehovah thy God do unto all the peoples of whom thou art afraid. 20 Moreover Jehovah thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and [e]hide themselves, perish from before thee. 21 Thou shalt not be affrighted at them; for Jehovah thy God is in the midst of thee, a great God and a terrible. 22 And Jehovah thy God will cast out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them [f]at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee. 23 But Jehovah thy God will deliver them up before thee, and will discomfit them with a great discomfiture, until they be destroyed. 24 And he will deliver their kings into thy hand, and thou shalt make their name to perish from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them. 25 The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein; for it is an abomination to Jehovah thy God. 26 And thou shalt not bring an abomination into thy house, and become a devoted thing like unto it: thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a devoted thing.

All the commandment which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which Jehovah sware unto your fathers. And thou shalt remember all the way which Jehovah thy God hath led thee these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble thee, to prove thee, to know what was in thy heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or not. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of Jehovah doth man live. Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years. And thou shalt consider in thy heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so Jehovah thy God chasteneth thee. And thou shalt keep the commandments of Jehovah thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. For Jehovah thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates; a land of olive-trees and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig copper. 10 And thou shalt eat and be full, and thou shalt bless Jehovah thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.

11 Beware lest thou forget Jehovah thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his ordinances, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: 12 lest, when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; 13 and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; 14 then thy heart be lifted up, and thou forget Jehovah thy God, who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; 15 who led thee through the great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions, and thirsty ground where was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; 16 who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not; that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end: 17 and lest thou say in thy heart, My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth. 18 But thou shalt remember Jehovah thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth; that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as at this day. 19 And it shall be, if thou shalt forget Jehovah thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. 20 As the nations that Jehovah maketh to perish before you, so shall ye perish; because ye would not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah your God.

Hear, O Israel: thou art to pass over the Jordan this day, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the sons of Anak? Know therefore this day, that Jehovah thy God is he who goeth over before thee as a devouring fire; he will destroy them, and he will bring them down before thee: so shalt thou drive them out, and make them to perish quickly, as Jehovah hath spoken unto thee. Speak not thou in thy heart, after that Jehovah thy God hath thrust them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness Jehovah hath brought me in to possess this land; whereas for the wickedness of these nations Jehovah doth drive them out from before thee. Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thy heart, dost thou go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations Jehovah thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may establish the word which Jehovah sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Know therefore, that Jehovah thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people. Remember, forget thou not, how thou provokedst Jehovah thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou wentest forth out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against Jehovah. Also in Horeb ye provoked Jehovah to wrath, and Jehovah was angry with you to destroy you. When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which Jehovah made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights; I did neither eat bread nor drink water. 10 And Jehovah delivered unto me the two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which Jehovah spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. 11 And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that Jehovah gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant. 12 And Jehovah said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people that thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image. 13 Furthermore Jehovah spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: 14 let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they. 15 So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount was burning with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against Jehovah your God; ye had made you a molten calf: ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which Jehovah had commanded you. 17 And I took hold of the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and brake them before your eyes. 18 And I fell down before Jehovah, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I did neither eat bread nor drink water; because of all your sin which ye sinned, in doing that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger. 19 For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith Jehovah was wroth against you to destroy you. But Jehovah hearkened unto me that time also. 20 And Jehovah was very angry with Aaron to destroy him: and I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. 21 And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.

22 And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah, ye provoked Jehovah to wrath. 23 And when Jehovah sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you; then ye rebelled against the commandment of Jehovah your God, and ye believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice. 24 Ye have been rebellious against Jehovah from the day that I knew you.

25 So I fell down before Jehovah the forty days and forty nights that I fell down, because Jehovah had said he would destroy you. 26 And I prayed unto Jehovah, and said, O Lord Jehovah, destroy not thy people and thine inheritance, that thou hast redeemed through thy greatness, that thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27 Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin, 28 lest the land whence thou broughtest us out say, Because Jehovah was not able to bring them into the land which he promised unto them, and because he hated them, he hath brought them out to slay them in the wilderness. 29 Yet they are thy people and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest out by thy great power and by thine outstretched arm.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 7:1 Hebrew pluck off.
  2. Deuteronomy 7:2 Hebrew devote.
  3. Deuteronomy 7:5 Or, obelisks
  4. Deuteronomy 7:6 Or, out of
  5. Deuteronomy 7:20 Or, hide themselves from thee, perish. Thou
  6. Deuteronomy 7:22 Or, quickly

Driving Out the Nations

When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess(A) and drives out before you many nations(B)—the Hittites,(C) Girgashites,(D) Amorites,(E) Canaanites, Perizzites,(F) Hivites(G) and Jebusites,(H) seven nations larger and stronger than you— and when the Lord your God has delivered(I) them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy(J) them totally.[a](K) Make no treaty(L) with them, and show them no mercy.(M) Do not intermarry with them.(N) Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods,(O) and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy(P) you. This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles[b](Q) and burn their idols in the fire.(R) For you are a people holy(S) to the Lord your God.(T) The Lord your God has chosen(U) you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.(V)

The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous(W) than other peoples, for you were the fewest(X) of all peoples.(Y) But it was because the Lord loved(Z) you and kept the oath he swore(AA) to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand(AB) and redeemed(AC) you from the land of slavery,(AD) from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God;(AE) he is the faithful God,(AF) keeping his covenant of love(AG) to a thousand generations(AH) of those who love him and keep his commandments.(AI) 10 But

those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction;
    he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.(AJ)

11 Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.

12 If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your ancestors.(AK) 13 He will love you and bless you(AL) and increase your numbers.(AM) He will bless the fruit of your womb,(AN) the crops of your land—your grain, new wine(AO) and olive oil(AP)—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.(AQ) 14 You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor will any of your livestock be without young.(AR) 15 The Lord will keep you free from every disease.(AS) He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt,(AT) but he will inflict them on all who hate you.(AU) 16 You must destroy all the peoples the Lord your God gives over to you.(AV) Do not look on them with pity(AW) and do not serve their gods,(AX) for that will be a snare(AY) to you.

17 You may say to yourselves, “These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?(AZ) 18 But do not be afraid(BA) of them; remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt.(BB) 19 You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand(BC) and outstretched arm, with which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear.(BD) 20 Moreover, the Lord your God will send the hornet(BE) among them until even the survivors who hide from you have perished. 21 Do not be terrified by them, for the Lord your God, who is among you,(BF) is a great and awesome God.(BG) 22 The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little.(BH) You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you. 23 But the Lord your God will deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are destroyed.(BI) 24 He will give their kings(BJ) into your hand,(BK) and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand up against you;(BL) you will destroy them.(BM) 25 The images of their gods you are to burn(BN) in the fire. Do not covet(BO) the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared(BP) by it, for it is detestable(BQ) to the Lord your God. 26 Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction.(BR) Regard it as vile and utterly detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.

Do Not Forget the Lord

Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live(BS) and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.(BT) Remember how the Lord your God led(BU) you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test(BV) you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled(BW) you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna,(BX) which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach(BY) you that man does not live on bread(BZ) alone but on every word that comes from the mouth(CA) of the Lord.(CB) Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.(CC) Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.(CD)

Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him(CE) and revering him.(CF) For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land(CG)—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills;(CH) a land with wheat and barley,(CI) vines(CJ) and fig trees,(CK) pomegranates, olive oil and honey;(CL) a land where bread(CM) will not be scarce and you will lack nothing;(CN) a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.(CO)

10 When you have eaten and are satisfied,(CP) praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget(CQ) the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down,(CR) 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget(CS) the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness,(CT) that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes(CU) and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.(CV) 16 He gave you manna(CW) to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known,(CX) to humble and test(CY) you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself,(CZ) “My power and the strength of my hands(DA) have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth,(DB) and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

19 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods(DC) and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.(DD) 20 Like the nations(DE) the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.(DF)

Not Because of Israel’s Righteousness

Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan(DG) to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you,(DH) with large cities(DI) that have walls up to the sky.(DJ) The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: “Who can stand up against the Anakites?”(DK) But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you(DL) like a devouring fire.(DM) He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly,(DN) as the Lord has promised you.

After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself,(DO) “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness(DP) of these nations(DQ) that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity(DR) that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness(DS) of these nations,(DT) the Lord your God will drive them out(DU) before you, to accomplish what he swore(DV) to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.(DW) Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.(DX)

The Golden Calf

Remember this and never forget how you aroused the anger(DY) of the Lord your God in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious(DZ) against the Lord.(EA) At Horeb you aroused the Lord’s wrath(EB) so that he was angry enough to destroy you.(EC) When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant(ED) that the Lord had made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days(EE) and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water.(EF) 10 The Lord gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God.(EG) On them were all the commandments the Lord proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.(EH)

11 At the end of the forty days and forty nights,(EI) the Lord gave me the two stone tablets,(EJ) the tablets of the covenant. 12 Then the Lord told me, “Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt.(EK) They have turned away quickly(EL) from what I commanded them and have made an idol for themselves.”

13 And the Lord said to me, “I have seen this people(EM), and they are a stiff-necked people indeed! 14 Let me alone,(EN) so that I may destroy them and blot out(EO) their name from under heaven.(EP) And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.”

15 So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands.(EQ) 16 When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf.(ER) You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you. 17 So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.

18 Then once again I fell(ES) prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water,(ET) because of all the sin you had committed,(EU) doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and so arousing his anger. 19 I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you.(EV) But again the Lord listened to me.(EW) 20 And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too. 21 Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust(EX) and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.(EY)

22 You also made the Lord angry(EZ) at Taberah,(FA) at Massah(FB) and at Kibroth Hattaavah.(FC)

23 And when the Lord sent you out from Kadesh Barnea,(FD) he said, “Go up and take possession(FE) of the land I have given you.” But you rebelled(FF) against the command of the Lord your God. You did not trust(FG) him or obey him. 24 You have been rebellious against the Lord ever since I have known you.(FH)

25 I lay prostrate before the Lord those forty days and forty nights(FI) because the Lord had said he would destroy you.(FJ) 26 I prayed to the Lord and said, “Sovereign Lord, do not destroy your people,(FK) your own inheritance(FL) that you redeemed(FM) by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.(FN) 27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness(FO) of this people, their wickedness and their sin. 28 Otherwise, the country(FP) from which you brought us will say, ‘Because the Lord was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them,(FQ) he brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.’(FR) 29 But they are your people,(FS) your inheritance(FT) that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.(FU)

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 7:2 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verse 26.
  2. Deuteronomy 7:5 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah; here and elsewhere in Deuteronomy