2. When the Lord your God places these people in your power and you defeat them, you must put them all to death. Do not make an alliance with them or show them any mercy.
3. Do not marry any of them, and do not let your children marry any of them,
4. because then they would lead your children away from the Lord to worship other gods. If that happens, the Lord will be angry with you and destroy you at once.
5. So then, tear down their altars, break their sacred stone pillars in pieces, cut down the symbols of their goddess Asherah, and burn their idols.
6. Do this because you belong to the Lord your God. From all the peoples on earth he chose you to be his own special people.
7. “The Lord did not love you and choose you because you outnumbered other peoples; you were the smallest nation on earth.
8. But the Lord loved you and wanted to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors. That is why he saved you by his great might and set you free from slavery to the king of Egypt.
9. Remember that the Lord your God is the only God and that he is faithful. He will keep his covenant and show his constant love to a thousand generations of those who love him and obey his commands,
10. but he will not hesitate to punish those who hate him.
11. So now, obey what you have been taught; obey all the laws that I have given you today.
12. “If you listen to these commands and obey them faithfully, then the Lord your God will continue to keep his covenant with you and will show you his constant love, as he promised your ancestors.
13. He will love you and bless you, so that you will increase in number and have many children; he will bless your fields, so that you will have corn, wine, and olive oil; and he will bless you by giving you a lot of cattle and sheep. He will give you all these blessings in the land that he promised your ancestors he would give to you.