Deuteronomy 7

When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, 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 thou;

1The LORD your God is bringing you into the land you are going to take. He will push out many nations ahead of you. They are the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are bigger and stronger than you are.

2And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:

2The LORD your God will hand them over to you. You must defeat them and destroy them completely. Do not make any peace agreement with them. Do not spare them.

3Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.

3Do not marry into their families. Do not give your daughter to their son. Do not take their daughter for your son.

4For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

4They would turn your son away from following me. He would serve other gods instead. Then the LORD would be very angry with you. He would destroy you quickly.

5But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.

5Here is what you must do instead. Break down the altars where they give gifts to their gods. Smash their stone pillars. Cut down their wooden poles. Burn their idols in the fire.

NoteThe KJV says "groves." These were tall wooden poles set up to honor a goddess. They were not gardens or woods.

6For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

6You belong to the LORD your God in a special way. He chose you out of all the people on earth. You are his own treasured people.

7The LORD 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 people:

7The LORD did not love you and choose you because you were a big nation. You were the smallest of all the peoples.

8But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

8He chose you because he loved you. He also kept the promise he made to your great-grandparents. So he brought you out with great power. He set you free from Egypt, where you were slaves. He rescued you from Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.

9Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

9So know this. The LORD your God is God, and he can always be trusted. He keeps his promise and his kind love for a thousand generations of families. He does this for those who love him and obey his commands.

10And 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.

10But he pays back those who hate him. He destroys them himself, face to face. He does not wait to pay back the one who hates him.

11Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.

11So keep the commands, the rules, and the laws I am giving you today. Obey them.

12Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:

12Listen to these laws and carefully obey them. Then the LORD your God will keep his side too. He will keep his promise and his kind love. He promised this to your great-grandparents.

13And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.

13He will love you and bless you. He will give you many children. He will bless your fields with grain, new wine, and olive oil. He will give you many calves and lambs. All this will happen in the land he promised your great-grandparents.

NoteThe KJV word "corn" means grain of any kind, like wheat or barley. "Kine" is an old word for cows.

14Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.

14You will be blessed more than any other people. Every family among you will be able to have children. Your animals will have young ones too.

15And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.

15The LORD will take away every sickness from you. He will not put the terrible diseases of Egypt on you. You know all about those diseases. He will put them on the people who hate you.

16And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.

16You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God hands over to you. Do not feel sorry for them and let them stay. Do not worship their gods. That would be a trap for you.

17If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?

17You might think, "These nations are bigger than we are. How can we drive them out?"

18Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;

18Do not be afraid of them. Remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt.

19The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.

19You saw the hard troubles God sent. You saw the signs and the wonders. You saw his strong hand and his powerful arm. That is how the LORD your God brought you out. He will do the same to the peoples you fear now.

NoteThe KJV says "temptations." Here it means hard tests and troubles, not being tempted to do wrong.

20Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.

20The LORD your God will also send the hornet against them. Some of them will run and hide from you. Even those ones will die.

21Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the LORD thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.

21Do not be terrified by them. The LORD your God is right there with you. He is great, and people are right to fear him.

NoteThe KJV calls God "terrible." In 1611 that meant awesome, so great that people are filled with wonder and fear.

22And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.

22The LORD your God will drive these nations out slowly, a little at a time. You cannot wipe them all out at once. If you did, the wild animals would grow too many for you.

23But the LORD thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed.

23But the LORD your God will hand them over to you. He will throw them into great confusion until they are gone.

24And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them.

24He will hand their kings over to you. You will wipe their names off the earth. No one will be able to stand against you. You will destroy them all.

25The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God.

25Burn the idols of their gods in the fire. Do not want the silver or gold that is on them. Do not take it for yourself. It would trap you. The LORD your God hates those things.

26Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.

26Do not bring a hated thing into your house. If you do, you will be marked for destruction like it. Hate it, and stay far away from it. It is set apart to be destroyed.