1 Here then, is the land thou art to invade and conquer. To make room for thee in this land, the Lord thy God means to dispossess a multitude of nations at thy onslaught, Hethite, Gergesite, Amorrhite, Chanaanite, Pherezite, Hevite and Jebusite; seven nations thou art no match for, in number or in strength, 2 but the Lord thy God will give thee victory over them. Thy part is, to exterminate them, never parleying with them, never pitying them. 3 There must be no bonds of marriage between you; as thou wouldst deny thy daughter to any son of theirs, so thou must deny thy son to any daughter of theirs, 4 or she will tempt him away from his allegiance into the service of alien gods, rousing the Lord’s anger, to thy speedy destruction.
1 Cum introduxerit te Dominus Deus tuus in terram, quam possessurus ingredieris, et deleverit gentes multas coram te, Hethæum, et Gergezæum, et Amorrhæum, Chananæum, et Pherezæum, et Hevæum, et Jebusæum, septem gentes multo majoris numeri quam tu es, et robustiores te: 2 tradideritque eas Dominus Deus tuus tibi, percuties eas usque ad internecionem. Non inibis cum eis fœdus, nec misereberis earum, 3 neque sociabis cum eis conjugia. Filiam tuam non dabis filio ejus, nec filiam illius accipies filio tuo: 4 quia seducet filium tuum, ne sequatur me, et ut magis serviat diis alienis: irasceturque furor Domini, et delebit te cito.
5 This, rather, you must do; overthrow their altars, break their idols, cut down their sacred groves, set fire to their carved figures, 6 to shew that yours is a people set apart for its own God, chosen by its own God, out of all the nations on earth, as his own people. 7 If the Lord has held you closely to him and shewed you special favour, it was not that you overshadowed other peoples in greatness; of all nations you are the smallest. 8 No, it was because the Lord loved you, because he was true to the oath which he had sworn to your fathers, that he delivered you by force, reclaimed you from the slave’s life you were living in the power of Pharao, king of Egypt. 9 And thou wilt find it ever the same; the Lord thy God is God almighty, is God ever faithful; if men will love him and keep his commandments, he is true to his word, and shews mercy to them while a thousand generations pass; 10 if they make him their enemy, his speedy retribution overwhelms them, brings them, without more ado, the reward they have deserved.
5 Quin potius hæc facietis eis: aras eorum subvertite, et confringite statuas, lucosque succidite, et sculptilia comburite: 6 quia populus sanctus es Domino Deo tuo.Te elegit Dominus Deus tuus, ut sis ei populus peculiaris de cunctis populis, qui sunt super terram. 7 Non quia cunctas gentes numero vincebatis, vobis junctus est Dominus, et elegit vos, cum omnibus sitis populis pauciores: 8 sed quia dilexit vos Dominus, et custodivit juramentum, quod juravit patribus vestris: eduxitque vos in manu forti, et redemit de domo servitutis, de manu Pharaonis regis Ægypti. 9 Et scies, quia Dominus Deus tuus, ipse est Deus fortis et fidelis, custodiens pactum et misericordiam diligentibus se, et his qui custodiunt præcepta ejus in mille generationes: 10 et reddens odientibus se statim, ita ut disperdat eos, et ultra non differat, protinus eis restituens quod merentur.
11 Remember, then, all the laws and observances and decrees I proclaim to thee this day, and live by them. 12 Listen to those decrees, be true to them, and live by them, and the Lord thy God will be true to his covenant with thee, to the merciful promise which he made to thy fathers. 13 He will prove his love by granting thee increase, blessing womb and soil alike with fertility, corn and wine and oil, herd and flock, in the land which that promise has made thine. 14 Thou shalt be blessed as no other people is blessed; man and woman, sire and dam shall breed, 15 and the Lord will keep every kind of sickness far from thee; the fierce afflictions of Egypt, thou knowest them well, he will send not on thee but on thy enemies. 16 All the nations the Lord means thee to conquer shall fall an easy prey to thee; and for these thou shalt have no glance of pity; beware of worshipping their gods, to thy sure destruction.
11 Custodi ergo præcepta et cæremonias atque judicia, quæ ego mando tibi hodie ut facias. 12 Si postquam audieris hæc judicia, custodieris ea, et feceris, custodiet et Dominus Deus tuus pactum tibi, et misericordiam quam juravit patribus tuis: 13 et diliget te, ac multiplicabit, benedicetque fructui ventris tui, et fructui terræ tuæ, frumento tuo, atque vindemiæ, oleo, et armentis, gregibus ovium tuarum super terram, pro qua juravit patribus tuis ut daret eam tibi. 14 Benedictus eris inter omnes populos. Non erit apud te sterilis utriusque sexus, tam in hominibus quam in gregibus tuis. 15 Auferet Dominus a te omnem languorem: et infirmitates Ægypti pessimas, quas novisti, non inferet tibi, sed cunctis hostibus tuis. 16 Devorabis omnes populos, quos Dominus Deus tuus daturus est tibi. Non parcet eis oculus tuus, nec servies diis eorum, ne sint in ruinam tui.
17 But it may be the thought will come into thy mind, These nations outnumber me; shall I have the strength to dispossess them? 18 Away with these fears; remember what the Lord thy God did to Pharao and to the rest of the Egyptians, 19 the great plagues which thy eyes witnessed, the portents and the marvels, the constraining force the Lord thy God used, the display he made of his power, to rescue thee. It is thus he will deal with all these nations thou dreadest; 20 nay, the Lord thy God will send hornets among them, to destroy the very fugitives that are in hiding from thee. 21 No, do not be afraid of them; the Lord thy God fights in thy company. 22 Little by little, now here, now there, he will dispossess these nations; thou couldst not destroy them all at once without letting the wild beasts breed, to thy hurt. 23 But deliver them over he will at thy coming, beating them down till he makes an end of them, 24 leaving all their kings at thy mercy, till at last the very names of them are forgotten on earth; none shall be able to resist thy victorious onset.
17 Si dixeris in corde tuo: Plures sunt gentes istæ quam ego: quomodo potero delere eas? 18 noli metuere, sed recordare quæ fecerit Dominus Deus tuus Pharaoni, et cunctis Ægyptiis, 19 plagas maximas, quas viderunt oculi tui, et signa atque portenta, manumque robustam, et extentum brachium, ut educeret te Dominus Deus tuus: sic faciet cunctis populis, quos metuis. 20 Insuper et crabrones mittet Dominus Deus tuus in eos, donec deleat omnes atque disperdat qui te fugerint, et latere potuerint. 21 Non timebis eos, quia Dominus Deus tuus in medio tui est, Deus magnus et terribilis: 22 ipse consumet nationes has in conspectu tuo paulatim atque per partes. Non poteris eas delere pariter: ne forte multiplicentur contra te bestiæ terræ. 23 Dabitque eos Dominus Deus tuus in conspectu tuo: et interficiet illos, donec penitus deleantur. 24 Tradetque reges eorum in manus tuas, et disperdes nomina eorum sub cælo: nullus poterit resistere tibi, donec conteras eos.
25 All their images thou shalt commit to the flames, with no eye for the gold and silver they are made of; keep nothing for thyself, or it will lead thee into sin; the curse of the Lord thy God rests upon it. 26 Never must thou bring any relic of an idol into thy house; it is a forfeited thing, and thy life too shall be forfeit. Shun it with loathing, turn away from the corruption of its touch; it is a forfeited thing.
25 Sculptilia eorum igne combures: non concupisces argentum et aurum, de quibus facta sunt, neque assumes ex eis tibi quidquam, ne offendas, propterea quia abominatio est Domini tui: 26 nec inferes quippiam ex idolo in domum tuam, ne fias anathema, sicut et illud est. Quasi spurcitiam detestaberis, et velut inquinamentum ac sordes abominationi habebis, quia anathema est.
