1 »Jehovah your God will bring you into the land you are to possess. He will clear away many nations ahead of you. The nations he will clear: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, Hivites, and the Jebusites. These seven nations are larger and mightier than you.

2 »Jehovah your God will deliver them to you. You must crush them! Completely destroy them. You should make no covenant with them. Do not show them mercy.

3 »Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons.

4 »They will lead your young people away from me to serve other gods. So the anger of Jehovah will be kindled against you and will destroy you suddenly.

5 »Deal with them in this way: Destroy their altars and break down their sacred pillars. Cut down their idols and burn them with fire.

6 »You are a holy people to Jehovah your God. Jehovah your God has chosen you to be his own special people out of all the nations of the earth.

7 »Jehovah set his heart on you. He chose you, even though you did not outnumber all the other people. You were the smallest of all nations.

8 »You were chosen because Jehovah loved you and kept the oath he swore to your fathers. So he used his mighty hand to bring you out. He freed you from slavery under Pharaoh king of Egypt.

9 »Keep in mind that Jehovah your God is the only true God. He is the faithful God. He keeps his promise and is merciful to thousands of generations of those who love him and obey his commandments.

10 »He destroys everyone who hates him. He never takes long to pay back anyone who hates him.

11 »So obey the commandments, laws, and judgments I give you today.

12 »If you listen to these rules and faithfully obey them, Jehovah your God will keep his covenant with you and be merciful to you, as he swore to your fathers.

13 »He will love you, bless you, and increase the number of your descendants. He will bless you with children. He will bless your land with produce: grain, new wine, and olive oil. He will bless your herds with calves, and your flocks with lambs and kids. This will all happen in the land Jehovah will give you, as he swore to your fathers.

14 »God will bless you more than any other people. There will not be a male or a female barren among you or your livestock.

15 »Jehovah will take away every sickness from you. He will not afflict you with any of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you have known. He will put them on all who hate you.

16 »Destroy all the peoples whom Jehovah your God gives you. Do not look at them with pity. Do not serve their gods. For that would be a snare to you.

17 »You may say in your heart: These nations are stronger then we are, how can we throw them out of their land?

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

19 »You saw with your own eyes the terrible plagues, the miraculous signs, and the amazing things Jehovah did. He used his mighty hand and powerful arm to bring you out. He will do the same thing to all the people who frighten you.

20 »Jehovah your God will send the hornet against them. Those who are left will hide from you and perish.

21 »Do not be terrified of them. Jehovah your God is with you. He is great and awesome God.

22 »Jehovah your God will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be able to put an end to them quickly. This is because the wild beasts are too numerous and will multiply around you.

23 »Jehovah your God will deliver them over to you. He will throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed.

24 »He will deliver their kings into your hand. You will make their name perish from under heaven. They will not be able to stand before you for you will destroy them.

25 »Burn the carved images of their gods with fire. Do not covet the silver or the gold that is on them. Do not take it for yourselves, or you will be snared by it. It is an abomination to Jehovah your God.

26 »Do not bring an abomination into your house. You must utterly detest it and you must utterly abhor it, for it is something banned.«