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Deuteronomy 7-8
Easy-to-Read Version
Deuteronomy 7-8
Easy-to-Read Version
Israel, God’s Special People
7 “The Lord your God will lead you into the land that you are entering to take for your own. He will force out many nations for you—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—seven nations greater and more powerful than you. 2 The Lord your God will put these nations under your power. And you will defeat them. You must destroy them completely. Don’t make an agreement with them or show them mercy. 3 Don’t marry any of them, and don’t let your sons or daughters marry any of the people from those other nations. 4 If you do, they will turn your children away from following me. Then your children will serve other gods, and the Lord will be very angry with you. He will quickly destroy you!
Destroy False Gods
5 “This is what you must do to those nations: You must smash their altars and break their memorial stones into pieces. Cut down their Asherah poles and burn their statues. 6 Do this because you are the Lord’s own people. From all the people on earth, the Lord your God chose you to be his special people—people who belong only to him. 7 Why did the Lord love and choose you? It was not because you are such a large nation. You had the fewest of all people! 8 But the Lord brought you out of Egypt with great power and made you free from slavery. He freed you from the control of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. The Lord did this because he loves you and he wanted to keep the promise he made to your ancestors.
9 “So remember that the Lord your God is the only God, and you can trust him! He keeps his agreement. He shows his love and kindness to all people who love him and obey his commands. He continues to show his love and kindness through a thousand generations, 10 but the Lord punishes people who hate him. He will destroy them. He will not be slow to punish those who hate him. 11 So you must be careful to obey the commands, laws, and rules that I give you today.
12 “If you listen to these laws, and if you are careful to obey them, the Lord your God will keep his agreement of love with you. He promised this to your ancestors. 13 He will love you and bless you. He will make your nation grow. He will bless your children. He will bless your fields with good crops and will give you grain, new wine, and oil. He will bless your cows with calves and your sheep with lambs. You will have all these blessings in the land that he promised your ancestors to give you.
14 “You will be blessed more than all people. Every husband and wife will be able to have children. Your cows will be able to have calves. 15 The Lord will take away all sickness from you and he will not let you catch any of the terrible diseases that you had in Egypt. But he will make your enemies catch those diseases. 16 You must destroy all the people the Lord your God helps you defeat. Don’t feel sorry for them, and don’t worship their gods! They will trap you—they will ruin your life.
The Lord Promises to Help His People
17 “Don’t say in your heart, ‘These nations are stronger than we are. How can we force them out?’ 18 You must not be afraid of them. You must remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all the people of Egypt. 19 You saw the great troubles he gave them and the amazing things he did. You saw the Lord use his great power and strength to bring you out of Egypt. The Lord your God will use that same power against all the people you fear.
20 “The Lord your God will send the hornet[a] against them. He will do this until he destroys all the people who escaped and tried to hide. 21 Don’t be afraid of them, because the Lord your God is with you. He is a great and awesome God. 22 The Lord your God will force those nations to leave your country little by little. You will not destroy them all at once. If you did, the wild animals would grow to be too many for you. 23 But the Lord your God will let you defeat those nations. He will confuse them in battle, until they are destroyed. 24 He will help you defeat their kings. You will kill them, and the world will forget they ever lived. No one will be able to stop you. You will destroy them all!
25 “You must throw the statues of their gods into the fire and burn them. You must not want to keep the silver or the gold that is on those statues for yourselves. It will be like a trap to you—it will ruin your life. The Lord your God hates those idols. 26 You must not bring any of those disgusting idols into your homes, or you will be destroyed just as they will be. You must treat them as the disgusting things they are! They are to be destroyed.
Remember the Lord
8 “You must obey all the commands that I give you today, because then you will live and grow to become a great nation. You will get the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. 2 And you must remember the entire trip that the Lord your God has led you through these 40 years in the desert. He was testing you. He wanted to make you humble. He wanted to know what is in your heart. He wanted to know if you would obey his commands. 3 He humbled you and let you be hungry. Then he fed you with manna—something you did not know about before. It was something your ancestors had never seen. Why did the Lord do this? Because he wanted you to know that it is not just bread that keeps people alive. People’s lives depend on what the Lord says. 4 These past 40 years, your clothes did not wear out, and your feet did not swell. 5 You must remember that the Lord your God teaches and corrects you as a father teaches and corrects his son.
6 “You must obey the commands of the Lord your God. Follow him and respect him. 7 The Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with rivers and pools of water. Water flows out of the ground in the valleys and hills. 8 It is a land with wheat and barley, grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates. It is a land with olive oil and honey. 9 There you will have plenty of food and everything you need. It is a land where the rocks are iron. You can dig copper out of the hills. 10 You will have all you want to eat. Then you will praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
Don’t Forget What the Lord Did
11 “Be careful. Don’t forget the Lord your God! Be careful to obey the commands, laws, and rules that I give you today. 12 Then you will have plenty to eat, and you will build good houses and live in them. 13 Your cattle, sheep, and goats will grow large. You will get plenty of gold and silver. You will have plenty of everything. 14 When that happens, you must be careful not to become proud. You must not forget the Lord your God. You were slaves in Egypt, but he made you free and brought you out of that land. 15 He led you through that great and terrible desert where there were poisonous snakes and scorpions. The ground was dry, and there was no water anywhere. But he gave you water out of a solid rock. 16 In the desert he fed you manna—something your ancestors had never seen. He tested you to make you humble so that everything would go well for you in the end. 17 Don’t ever say to yourself, ‘I got all this wealth by my own power and ability.’ 18 Remember the Lord your God is the one who gives you power to do these things. He does this because he wants to keep the agreement that he made with your ancestors, as he is doing today!
19 “Don’t ever forget the Lord your God. Don’t ever follow other gods or worship and serve them. If you do that, I warn you today: You will surely be destroyed! 20 The Lord is destroying other nations for you. But if you stop listening to the Lord your God, you will be destroyed just like them!
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 7:20 hornet A stinging insect like a large wasp or bee. Here, it might mean God’s angel or his great power.
Deuteronomy 7-8
New International Version
Deuteronomy 7-8
New International Version
Driving Out the Nations
7 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— 2 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) 3 Do not intermarry with them.(N) Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4 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. 5 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) 6 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)
7 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) 8 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. 9 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
8 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) 2 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. 3 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) 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.(CC) 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.(CD)
6 Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him(CE) and revering him.(CF) 7 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) 8 a land with wheat and barley,(CI) vines(CJ) and fig trees,(CK) pomegranates, olive oil and honey;(CL) 9 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)
Footnotes
- 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.
- Deuteronomy 7:5 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah; here and elsewhere in Deuteronomy
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
New International Version (NIV) 
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