Deuteronomy 7:12-26

Promises of God

12 "1Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you His covenant and His lovingkindness which He swore to your forefathers.
13 "He will 2love you and bless you and 3multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you.
14 "You shall be blessed above all peoples; there will be no male or female 4barren among you or among your cattle.
15 "5The LORD will remove from you all sickness; and He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will lay them on all who hate you.
16 "You shall consume all the peoples whom the LORD your God will deliver to you; 6your eye shall not pity them, nor shall you serve their gods, for that would be 7a snare to you.
17 "If you should say in your heart, 'These nations are greater than I; how can I 8dispossess them?'
18 you shall not be afraid of them; you shall well 9remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt:
19 10the great trials which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the LORD your God brought you out. So shall the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.
20 "Moreover, the LORD your God will send 11the hornet against them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you perish.
21 "You shall not dread them, for 12the LORD your God is in your midst, 13a great and awesome God.
22 "14The LORD your God will clear away these nations before * you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, for the wild beasts would grow too numerous for you.
23 "15But the LORD your God will deliver them before you, and will throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed.
24 "16He will deliver their kings into your hand so that you will make their name perish from under heaven; 17no man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them.
25 "The graven images of their gods you are to 18burn with fire; you shall 19not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, or you will be 20snared by it, for it is an 21abomination to the LORD your God.
26 "You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the 22ban; you shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is something banned.

Deuteronomy 7:12-26 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 7

In this chapter the Israelites are exhorted to destroy the seven nations of the land of Canaan, when they entered into it, and to make no alliances with them of any kind, nor suffer any remains of idolatry to continue, De 7:1-5 to observe which, and other commands of God, they are urged from the consideration of their being freely chosen of God above all other people, and of their being redeemed out of the house of bondage, and of the Lord's being a covenant keeping God to them, De 7:6-11 and it is promised them, for their further encouragement to keep the commands of God, that they should have an increase of all temporal good things, and no evils and calamities should come upon them, De 6:12-16, and, lest they should be disheartened at the numbers and might of their enemies, they are put in mind of what God had done for them in Egypt, and of what he had promised to do for them now, De 7:17-20 and they are assured that the nations should be cast out before them by little and little, until they were utterly destroyed, De 7:21-24 and the chapter is concluded with an exhortation to destroy their images, and not admit anything of that sort to be brought into their houses, De 7:25,26.

Cross References 22

  • 1. Leviticus 26:3-13; Deuteronomy 28:1-14
  • 2. Psalms 146:8; Proverbs 15:9; John 14:21
  • 3. Leviticus 26:9; Deuteronomy 13:17; Deuteronomy 30:5
  • 4. Exodus 23:26
  • 5. Exodus 15:26
  • 6. Deuteronomy 7:2
  • 7. Exodus 23:33; Judges 8:27; Psalms 106:36
  • 8. Numbers 33:53
  • 9. Psalms 105:5
  • 10. Deuteronomy 4:34
  • 11. Exodus 23:28; Joshua 24:12
  • 12. Exodus 29:45; Joshua 3:10
  • 13. Deuteronomy 10:17; Nehemiah 1:5; Nehemiah 9:32
  • 14. Exodus 23:29, 30
  • 15. Exodus 23:27; Joshua 10:10
  • 16. Joshua 6:2; Joshua 10:23-25
  • 17. Deuteronomy 11:25; Joshua 1:5; Joshua 10:8; Joshua 23:9
  • 18. Exodus 32:20; Deuteronomy 12:3; 1 Chronicles 14:12
  • 19. Exodus 20:17
  • 20. Deuteronomy 7:16; Judges 8:27
  • 21. Deuteronomy 17:1
  • 22. Leviticus 27:28

Footnotes 6

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