Chapter 7

Destruction of the Nations in the Land. ^1 (A)When the Lord, your God, brings you into the land which you are about to enter to possess, and removes many nations before you—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites,^(B) seven nations more numerous and powerful than you— ² and when the Lord, your God, gives them over to you and you defeat them, you shall put them under the ban. Make no covenant with them^(C) and do not be gracious to them. ^3 (D)You shall not intermarry with them, neither giving your daughters to their sons nor taking their daughters for your sons. ⁴ For they would turn your sons from following me to serving other gods, and then the anger of the Lord would flare up against you and he would quickly destroy you.

⁵ But this is how you must deal with them:^(E) Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, chop down their asherahs,^[a] and destroy their idols by fire.

^25 (A)The images of their gods you shall destroy by fire. Do not covet the silver or gold on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it; for it is an abomination to the Lord, your God.^(B)

³³ They must not live in your land. For if you serve their gods, this will become a snare to you.^(A)

^12 (A)Take care not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land that you are to enter; lest they become a snare among you.

² but you must not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you must pull down their altars.^(A) But you did not listen to me. Look what you have done! ³ For I also said,^[a] I will not clear them out of your way; they will become traps for you, and their gods a snare for you.^(B)