The Promises of God
If Israel keeps the ordinances, the LORD will keep covenant love, bless their households, land, and herds, and remove sickness from among them. Yet they must still destroy the peoples given to them and refuse pity or their gods.
I12f you listen to these ordinances and keep them carefully, then the LORD your God will keep His covenant and the loving devotion that He swore to your fathers. 13He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will bless the fruit of your womb and the produce of your land— your grain, new wine, and oil, the young of your herds and the lambs of your flocks— in the land that He swore to your fathers to give you. 14You will be blessed above all peoples; among you there will be no barren man or woman or livestock. 15And the LORD will remove from you all sickness. He will not lay upon you any of the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but He will inflict them on all who hate you. 16You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
Verse 12If Israel listens to these ordinances and keeps them carefully, the LORD will keep the covenant and loyal love He swore to their fathers.
It opens the promise section by linking obedience with covenant faithfulness.
Verse 13The LORD will love, bless, and multiply Israel, blessing children, grain, wine, oil, herds, and flocks in the land He promised.
It details the fruitfulness that covenant obedience will bring.
Verse 14Israel will be blessed above all peoples, with no barrenness among their men, women, or livestock.
It heightens the promise of abundance and life.
Verse 15The LORD will remove sickness from Israel and place instead on their enemies the dreadful diseases known from Egypt.
It adds bodily protection to the promised blessings.
Verse 16Israel must destroy the peoples the LORD gives them, show no pity, and refuse their gods, since those gods would become a snare.
It turns from promise back to the uncompromising demand of obedience.
Moses anticipates Israel’s fear before stronger nations and answers it with memory: the God who defeated Pharaoh will do the same here. His presence among them makes fear misplaced, and even hidden survivors will be driven out.
17You may say in your heart, “These nations are greater than we are; how can we drive them out?” 18But do not be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt: 19the great trials that you saw, the signs and wonders, and the mighty hand and outstretched arm by which the LORD your God brought you out. The LORD your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear. 20Moreover, the LORD your God will send the hornet against them until even the survivors hiding from you have perished. 21Do not be terrified by them, for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God.
Verse 17Moses imagines Israel quietly asking how they can drive out nations greater than themselves.
It gives voice to the fear the next verses answer.
Verse 18Israel must not fear them but remember what the LORD did to Pharaoh and all Egypt.
It redirects fear into memory of the LORD’s past deliverance.
Verse 19The signs, wonders, trials, mighty hand, and outstretched arm seen in Egypt will be repeated against the peoples Israel now fears.
It extends the exodus pattern into the coming conquest.
Verse 20The LORD will also send the hornet against the nations until even those who survive and hide are destroyed.
It intensifies the assurance that no remnant will endure outside the LORD’s judgment.
Verse 21Israel must not be terrified, because the LORD their God is among them, great and awesome.
It anchors courage in the LORD’s presence rather than Israel’s strength.
The LORD will drive the nations out gradually, preventing disorder in the land while still ensuring their defeat. Israel must burn the nations’ images and refuse their precious metals, since anything devoted to destruction can ensnare and contaminate the house that receives it.
22The LORD your God will drive out these nations before you little by little. You will not be enabled to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals would multiply around you. 23But the LORD your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed. 24He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand against you; you will annihilate them. 25You must burn up the images of their gods; do not covet the silver and gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it; for it is detestable to the LORD your God. 26And you must not bring any detestable thing into your house, or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. You are to utterly detest and abhor it, because it is set apart for destruction.
Verse 22The LORD will drive the nations out little by little, not all at once, so that wild animals do not overrun the land.
It explains why victory will come gradually.
Verse 23Even so, the LORD will give those nations over and throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed.
It assures Israel that gradual conquest is still certain conquest.
Verse 24The LORD will hand over their kings, erase their names from under heaven, and leave no one able to stand against Israel.
It states the completeness of the coming victory.
Verse 25Israel must burn the images of the nations’ gods and must not covet their silver or gold, or they will be ensnared by what is detestable.
It warns that even valuable remnants of idolatry remain dangerous.
Verse 26No detestable thing may be brought into an Israelite house, or that house too will be devoted to destruction; it must be utterly abhorred.
It closes the chapter by drawing a final line against contaminated spoils.
A quiet block diagram: each row is one authored paragraph movement, with verse numbers kept visible for scanning and deeper work.
- vv. 12-16
If Israel keeps the ordinances, the LORD will keep covenant love, bless their households, land, and herds, and remove sickness from among them. Yet they must still destroy the peoples given to them and refuse pity or their gods.
This paragraph binds covenant blessing to careful obedience and restates the danger of idolatrous compromise. - vv. 17-21
Moses anticipates Israel’s fear before stronger nations and answers it with memory: the God who defeated Pharaoh will do the same here. His presence among them makes fear misplaced, and even hidden survivors will be driven out.
This paragraph answers inward fear by directing Israel back to remembered deliverance and present divine presence. - vv. 22-26
The LORD will drive the nations out gradually, preventing disorder in the land while still ensuring their defeat. Israel must burn the nations’ images and refuse their precious metals, since anything devoted to destruction can ensnare and contaminate the house that receives it.
This paragraph explains the pace of conquest and ends with a final boundary around detestable things.