Deuteronomy 7:2-16

2When the Lord your God gives them to you and you defeat them, destroy every one of them because they have been claimed by the Lord. Don’t make any treaties with them or show them any mercy.

3Never marry any of them. Never let your daughters marry their sons or your sons marry their daughters.

4These people will turn your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the Lord will get very angry with you and will quickly destroy you.

5But this is what you must do to these people: Tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah, and burn their idols.

6You are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. He chose you to be his own special possession out of all the nations on earth.

7The Lord set his heart on you and chose you, even though you didn’t outnumber all the other people. You were the smallest of all nations.

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

9Keep in mind that the Lord your God is ⌞the only⌟ God. He is a faithful God, who keeps his promise  and is merciful to thousands of generations of those who love him and obey his commands.

10But he sends destruction to pay back everyone who hates him. He never takes long to pay back anyone who hates him.

11So obey the commands, laws, and rules I’m giving you today.

12If you listen to these rules and faithfully obey them, the Lord your God will keep his promise to you and be merciful to you, as he swore to your ancestors.

13He 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 the Lord will give you, as he swore to your ancestors.

14You will be blessed more than any other people. Your men and women will be able to have children, and your animals will be able to have offspring.

15The Lord will keep you from having any kind of illness. He will not strike you with any of the terrible diseases you experienced in Egypt. Instead, he will strike all those who hate you.

16You must destroy all the people the Lord your God hands over to you. Have no pity on them, and never worship their gods, because they will be a trap for you.