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12 (A)Take care not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land that you are to enter; lest they become a snare among you. 13 Tear down their altars; smash their sacred stones, and cut down their asherahs.[a] 14 You shall not bow down to any other god, for the Lord—“Jealous”[b] his name—is a jealous God. 15 Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land; else, when they prostitute themselves with their gods and sacrifice to them, one of them may invite you and you may partake of the sacrifice. 16 And when you take their daughters as wives for your sons, and their daughters prostitute themselves with their gods, they will make your sons do the same.

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Footnotes

  1. 34:13 Asherah was the name of a Canaanite goddess. In her honor wooden poles (asherot) were erected, just as stone pillars (massebot) were erected in honor of the god Baal. Both were placed near the altar in a Canaanite shrine.
  2. 34:14 Jealous: see note on 20:5. Some, by a slight emendation, render, “The Lord is jealous for his name.” Cf. Ez 39:25.

12 Be careful not to make a treaty(A) with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare(B) among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.[a](C) 14 Do not worship any other god,(D) for the Lord, whose name(E) is Jealous, is a jealous God.(F)

15 “Be careful not to make a treaty(G) with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute(H) themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices.(I) 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wives(J) for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods,(K) they will lead your sons to do the same.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 34:13 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah

and when the Lord, your God, gives them over to you and you defeat them, you shall put them under the ban. Make no covenant with them(A) and do not be gracious to them. (B)You shall not intermarry with them, neither giving your daughters to their sons nor taking their daughters for your sons. For they would turn your sons from following me to serving other gods, and then the anger of the Lord would flare up against you and he would quickly destroy you.

But this is how you must deal with them:(C) Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, chop down their asherahs,[a] and destroy their idols by fire. For you are a people holy to the Lord, your God; the Lord, your God, has chosen you from all the peoples on the face of the earth to be a people specially his own.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 7:5 Sacred pillars…asherahs: cut or uncut stones and wooden poles or trees (cf. 16:21) that had some cultic function. Fairly common religious artifacts, their association with the non-Israelite cults of Canaan and perhaps with Canaanite gods and goddesses, specifically the goddess Asherah, led to their condemnation in the Deuteronomic reform and possibly earlier.

and when the Lord your God has delivered(A) them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy(B) them totally.[a](C) Make no treaty(D) with them, and show them no mercy.(E) Do not intermarry with them.(F) Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods,(G) and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy(H) you. This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles[b](I) and burn their idols in the fire.(J) For you are a people holy(K) to the Lord your God.(L) The Lord your God has chosen(M) you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.(N)

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 7:2 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verse 26.
  2. Deuteronomy 7:5 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah; here and elsewhere in Deuteronomy