Exodus 23:20-33

New International Reader's Version

God’s Angel Will Prepare the Way

²⁰ “I am sending an angel ahead of you. He will guard you along the way. He will bring you to the place I have prepared. ²¹ Pay attention to him. Listen to what he says. Do not refuse to obey him. He will not forgive you if you turn against him. He has my full authority. ²² Listen carefully to what he says. Do everything I say. Then I will be an enemy to your enemies. I will fight against those who fight against you. ²³ My angel will go ahead of you. He will bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites. I will wipe them out. ²⁴ Do not do what they do. Do not bow down to their gods or worship them. You must destroy the statues of their gods. You must break their sacred stones to pieces. ²⁵ Worship the Lord your God. Then he will bless your food and water. I, the Lord, will take away any sickness you may have. ²⁶ In your land no woman will give birth to a dead baby. Every woman will be able to have children. I will give you a long life.

²⁷ “I will send my terror ahead of you. I will throw every nation you meet into a panic. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run away. ²⁸ I will send hornets ahead of you. They will drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. ²⁹ But I will not drive them out in just one year. If I did, the land would be deserted. There would be too many wild animals for you. ³⁰ I will drive them out ahead of you little by little. I will do that until there are enough of you to take control of the land.

³¹ “I will make your borders secure from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. They will go from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will hand over to you the people who live in the land. You will drive them out to make room for yourselves. ³² Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. ³³ Do not let them live in your land. If you do, they will cause you to sin against me. If you worship their gods, that will certainly be a trap for you.”