Study Desk

"When the Lord your God brings you into the land^(a) you are entering to possess,^(b) and He drives out many nations before you—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and powerful than you—

and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you and you defeat them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.

Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,^(c)

because they will turn your sons away from Me to worship other gods. Then the Lord 's anger will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you.

Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles,^(d) and burn up their carved images.

For you are a holy people^(e) belonging to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be His own possession^(f) out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.

"The Lord was devoted to you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.

But because the Lord loved^(g) you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed^(h) you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Know that Yahweh 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.⁽ⁱ⁾

But He directly pays back^[a] and destroys those who hate Him.^(j) He will not hesitate to directly pay back^[b] the one who hates Him.

So keep the command—the statutes and ordinances—that I am giving you to follow today.

"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 fathers.^(k)

He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will bless your descendants,^[c](l) and the produce of your land—your grain, new wine, and oil—the young of your herds, and the newborn of your flocks, in the land He swore to your fathers that He would give you.

You will be blessed above all peoples; there will be no infertile male or female among you or your livestock.

The Lord will remove all sickness from you; He will not put on you^(m) all the terrible diseases of Egypt that you know about, but He will inflict them on all who hate you.

You 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.

"If you say to yourself, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I drive them out?'

do not be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt:

the 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.

The Lord your God will also send the hornet against them until all the survivors and those hiding from you perish.⁽ⁿ⁾

Don't be terrified of them, for the Lord your God, a great and awesome God, is among you.

The 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.^(o)

The Lord your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed.

He 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.

You must burn 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 abhorrent to the Lord your God.

You must not bring any abhorrent thing into your house, or you will be set apart for destruction like it. You are to utterly detest and abhor it, because it is set apart for destruction.

"You must carefully follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase, and may enter and take possession of the land^(a) the Lord swore to your fathers.

Remember that the Lord your God led you on the entire journey these 40 years in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands.

He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then He gave you manna to eat, which you and your fathers had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord .^(b)

Your clothing did not wear out, and your feet did not swell these 40 years.^(c)

Keep in mind that the Lord your God has been disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.

So keep the commands of the Lord your God by walking in His ways and fearing Him.

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land,^(d) a land with streams of water, springs, and deep water sources, flowing in both valleys and hills;

a land of wheat, barley, vines, figs, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey;

a land where you will eat food without shortage, where you will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and from whose hills you will mine copper.

When you eat and are full,^(e) you will praise the Lord your God for the good land^(f) He has given you.

"Be careful that you don't forget the Lord your God by failing to keep His command—the ordinances and statutes—I am giving you today.

When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in,

and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases,

be careful that your heart doesn't become proud and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.^(g)

He led you through the great and terrible wilderness with its poisonous^[a] snakes and scorpions, a thirsty land where there was no water. He brought water out of the flint-like rock for you.

He fed you in the wilderness with manna^(h) that your fathers had not known, in order to humble and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.

You may say to yourself, ‘My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me,'

but remember that the Lord your God gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant He swore to your fathers,⁽ⁱ⁾ as it is today.

If you ever forget the Lord your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will perish.^(j)

Like the nations the Lord is about to destroy before you, you will perish if you do not obey the Lord your God.