The Lord Will Drive Out Many Nations
1The Lord your God will bring you into the land. You are going to enter it and take it as your own. He’ll drive out many nations to make room for you. He’ll drive out the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Those seven nations are larger and stronger than you are. 2The Lord your God will hand them over to you. You will win the battle over them. You must completely destroy them. Don’t make a peace treaty with them. Don’t show them any mercy. 3Don’t marry any of their people. Don’t give your daughters to their sons. And don’t take their daughters for your sons. 4If you do, those people will turn your children away from serving the Lord. Then your children will serve other gods. The Lord will be very angry with you. He will quickly destroy you. 5So here is what you must do to those people. Break down their altars. Smash their sacred stones. Cut down the poles they use to worship the female god named Asherah. Burn the statues of their gods in the fire. 6You are a holy nation. The Lord your God has set you apart for himself. He has chosen you to be his special treasure. He chose you out of all the nations on the face of the earth to be his people.
7The Lord chose you because he loved you very much. He didn’t choose you because you had more people than other nations. In fact, you had the smallest number of all. 8The Lord chose you because he loved you. He wanted to keep the promise he had made to your people of long ago. That’s why he used his mighty hand to bring you out of Egypt. He bought you back from the land where you were slaves. He set you free from the power of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. 9So I want you to realize that the Lord your God is God. He is the faithful God. He keeps his covenant for all time to come. He keeps it with those who love him and obey his commandments. He shows them his love. 10But he will pay back those who hate him. He’ll destroy them. He’ll quickly pay back those who hate him. 11So be careful to obey the commands, rules and laws I’m giving you today.
12Pay attention to the laws of the Lord your God. Be careful to obey them. Then he will keep his covenant of love with you. That’s what he promised to your people of long ago. 13The Lord will love you and bless you. He’ll cause there to be many of you. He’ll give you many children. He’ll bless the crops of your land. He’ll give you plenty of grain, olive oil and fresh wine. He’ll bless your herds with many calves. He’ll give your flocks many lambs. He’ll do all these things for you in the land of Canaan. It’s the land he promised your people of long ago that he would give you. 14He will bless you more than any other nation. All your men and women will have children. All your livestock will have little ones. 15The Lord will keep you from getting sick. He won’t send on you any of the horrible sicknesses you saw all around you in Egypt. But he’ll send them on everyone who hates you. 16You must destroy all the nations the Lord your God hands over to you. Don’t feel sorry for them. Don’t serve their gods. If you do, they will be a trap for you.
17You might say to yourselves, “These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?” 18But don’t be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all the Egyptians. 19With your own eyes you saw what the Lord did to them. You saw the signs and amazing things he did. He reached out his mighty hand and powerful arm. The Lord your God used all those things to bring you out. You are now afraid of the nations that are in the land the Lord promised you. But the Lord your God will do to them the same things he did to Egypt. 20The Lord your God will also send hornets among those nations. Some of the people left alive will hide from you. But even they will die. 21So don’t be terrified by them. The Lord your God is with you. He is a great and wonderful God. 22The Lord your God will drive out those nations to make room for you. But he will do it little by little. You won’t be allowed to get rid of them all at once. If you did, wild animals would multiply all around you. 23But the Lord your God will hand those nations over to you. He will throw them into a panic until they are destroyed. 24He will hand their kings over to you. You will wipe out their names from the earth. No one will be able to stand up against you. You will destroy them. 25Burn the statues of their gods in the fire. Don’t wish for the silver and gold on those statues. Don’t take it for yourselves. If you do, it will be a trap for you. The Lord your God hates it. 26Don’t bring anything he hates into your house. If you do, you will be completely destroyed along with it. So hate it with all your heart. It is set apart to be destroyed.
Ang Piniling Mamamayan ng Dios
(Exo. 34:10-16)
1“Kapag dinala na kayo ng Panginoon na inyong Dios doon sa lupain na inyong titirhan at aangkinin, itataboy niya sa harapan ninyo ang pitong bansa na mas malaki at mas makapangyarihan pa kaysa sa inyo: ang mga Heteo, Gergaseo, Amoreo, Cananeo, Perezeo, Hiveo at mga Jebuseo. 2Kapag ibinigay na sila ng Panginoon sa inyo at natalo ninyo sila, lipulin ninyo sila ng lubusan bilang handog sa Panginoon. Huwag kayong gagawa ng kasunduan o magpapakita ng awa sa kanila. 3Huwag kayong magpapakasal sa kanila, at huwag din ninyong papayagan ang mga anak ninyo na maikasal sa kanila. 4Sapagkat ilalayo nila sa Panginoon ang inyong mga anak para paglingkuran ang ibang mga dios. At kapag nangyari ito, ipapalasap ng Panginoon ang galit niya sa inyo at agad kayong malilipol. 5Sa halip, ito ang gawin ninyo: Gibain ninyo ang mga altar nila, durugin ang mga alaalang bato nila, putulin ang kanilang mga posteng simbolo ng diosang si Ashera, at sunugin ninyo ang mga dios-diosan nila. 6Sapagkat ibinukod kayo ng Panginoon na inyong Dios. Sa lahat ng mga tao, kayo ang pinili ng Panginoon na inyong Dios na maging espesyal niyang mamamayan.
7“Pinili kayo ng Panginoon at minahal, hindi dahil mas marami kayo sa ibang mga mamamayan, dahil kayo pa nga ang pinakakaunti sa lahat. 8Pinili niya kayo dahil sa pag-ibig niya sa inyo at tinutupad niya ang kanyang ipinangako sa inyong mga ninuno. Iyan ang dahilan na inilabas niya kayo sa Egipto sa pamamagitan ng kanyang kapangyarihan, at pinalaya sa pagkaalipin sa Faraon na hari ng Egipto. 9Isipin ninyo na ang Panginoon na inyong Dios ay iisang Dios. Matapat siya at tinutupad niya ang kanyang kasunduan hanggang sa mga salinlahi ng mga nagmamahal sa kanya at sumusunod sa kanyang mga utos. 10Ngunit hindi siya magdadalawang-isip na ibagsak ang mga napopoot sa kanya.
Ang Gantimpala sa Katapatan
(Lev. 26:3-13; Deu. 28:1-14)
11“Kaya sundin ninyong mabuti ang mga utos at mga tuntunin na ibinigay ko sa inyo sa araw na ito. 12Kung tutuparin at susundin ninyong mabuti ang mga utos, tutuparin ng Panginoon na inyong Dios ang kanyang kasunduan na mamahalin7:12 mamahalin: o, pagpapalain. niya kayo, gaya ng ipinangako niya sa inyong mga ninuno. 13Mamahalin niya kayo, pagpapalain at padadamihin. Bibigyan niya kayo ng maraming anak at pagpapalain ang mga pananim sa inyong lupa: ang inyong mga trigo, bagong katas ng ubas at langis. At padadamihin niya ang inyong mga hayop doon sa lupaing ipinangako niyang ibibigay sa inyong mga ninuno at sa inyo. 14Pagpapalain niya kayo ng higit pa sa sinumang mga mamamayan sa mundo. Walang lalaki o babae sa inyo na magiging baog, ganoon din sa inyong mga hayop. 15Poprotektahan kayo ng Panginoon sa lahat ng karamdaman. Hindi niya kayo padadalhan ng nakapangingilabot na mga karamdaman na nakita ninyo sa Egipto, pero ipapadala niya ito sa lahat ng mga napopoot sa inyo. 16Dapat ninyong patayin ang lahat ng tao na ibinigay ng Panginoon na inyong Dios sa inyo. Huwag ninyo silang kaaawaan, at huwag kayong maglilingkod sa kanilang mga dios dahil magiging bitag ito para sa inyo.
17“Baka sabihin ninyo sa inyong mga sarili, ‘Mas makapangyarihan pa ang bansang ito kaysa sa atin. Paano ba natin sila maitataboy?’ 18Pero huwag kayong matatakot sa kanila, kundi alalahanin ninyong mabuti kung ano ang ginawa ng Panginoon na inyong Dios sa Faraon at sa lahat ng Egipcio. 19Nakita ninyo ang mga pagsubok, mga himala at kamangha-manghang bagay, at ang dakilang kapangyarihang ipinakita ng Panginoon na inyong Dios nang ilabas niya kayo. Katulad din nito ang gagawin ng Panginoon na inyong Dios sa lahat ng taong kinatatakutan ninyo. 20At ngayon, padadalhan sila ng Panginoon na inyong Dios ng mga putakti hanggang sa malipol kahit pa ang mga natitirang nagtatago. 21Huwag kayong matakot sa kanila dahil kasama ninyo ang Panginoon na inyong Dios; ang makapangyarihan at kamangha-manghang Dios. 22Unti-unting palalayasin ng Panginoon na inyong Dios sa inyong harapan ang mga bansang iyon. Huwag ninyo silang paalisin agad, dahil kung gagawin ninyo iyon, dadami ang mababangis na hayop. 23Pero ibibigay sila ng Panginoon na inyong Dios sa inyo. Magkakagulo sila hanggang sa malipol silang lahat. 24Ibibigay niya sa inyo ang kanilang mga hari. Papatayin ninyo sila, at hindi na sila maaalala pa. Wala ni isa man sa kanila na makakatalo sa inyo, at papatayin ninyo silang lahat. 25Sunugin ninyo ang mga imahen na dios-diosan nila, at huwag ninyong hahangarin ang mga ginto at pilak nito. Huwag na huwag ninyo itong kukunin dahil magiging bitag ito sa inyo, at kasuklam-suklam ito sa Panginoon na inyong Dios. 26Huwag kayong magdadala sa mga bahay ninyo ng anumang kasuklam-suklam na bagay, para hindi kayo malipol kasama ng mga bagay na iyon. Kamuhian ninyo ito, dahil itong mga bagay ay dapat wasakin ng lubusan.
