For your part, you were not to make any covenants with the people living in this land; instead, you were to destroy their altars. But you disobeyed my command. Why did you do this?

你们也不可与这地的居民立约，要拆毁他们的祭坛。你们竟没有听从我的话！为何这样行呢？’

你们不可与这地的居民立约，要拆毁他们的祭坛。’你们竟没有听从我的话。你们为何这样做呢！

你们不可与这地的居民立约，要拆毁他们的祭坛。’你们竟没有听从我的话。你们为何这样做呢！

你们不可跟这里的居民立约，要毁掉他们的祭坛。’可是你们为什么不听呢？

你们不可与这地的居民立约，要拆毁他们的祭坛。’你们竟没有听从我的话；你们作的是什么呢？

你們也不可與這地的居民立約，要拆毀他們的祭壇。你們竟沒有聽從我的話！為何這樣行呢？』

你們不可與這地的居民立約，要拆毀他們的祭壇。』你們竟沒有聽從我的話。你們為何這樣做呢！

你們不可與這地的居民立約，要拆毀他們的祭壇。』你們竟沒有聽從我的話。你們為何這樣做呢！

你們不可跟這裡的居民立約，要毀掉他們的祭壇。』可是你們為什麼不聽呢？

你們不可與這地的居民立約，要拆毀他們的祭壇。’你們竟沒有聽從我的話；你們作的是甚麼呢？

你們呢、也不可和這地的居民立約；他們的祭壇你們要拆毁。」你們竟沒有聽我的話；為甚麼你們這樣行呢？

勿與斯土之民立約、必毀其壇、而爾不聽我言、果何為哉、

爾與斯土之民、不可立約、必摧其壇、汝不遵命、果何為哉。

惟爾不可與斯地之居民立約、當毀其祭壇、爾竟不遵我言、爾何為哉、

and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this?

So you must not make a covenant with the people of this land. Instead, you must tear down their altars.’ But you have disobeyed me. Why did you do it?

and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done?

You are not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You are to tear down their altars. But you have not obeyed me. What have you done?

and as for you, you shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed Me; what is this thing that you have done?

And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this?

and ye shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall break down their altars. But ye have not hearkened unto my voice: why have ye done this?

You are not to make a covenant with the people who are living in this land, and you are to tear down their altars. But you have not obeyed Me. What is this you have done?

And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?

but you must not make an agreement with the people who live in this land. You should tear down the altars where they worship.’ But you have disobeyed me. Why would you do such a thing?

You shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You shall break down their altars.’ But you have not listened to my voice. Why have you done this?

When the Lord your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy.You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters,for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you.

First here, then there— you flit from one ally to another asking for help. But your new friends in Egypt will let you down, just as Assyria did before.

This is what the Lord says:“ What did your ancestors find wrong with me that led them to stray so far from me? They worshiped worthless idols, only to become worthless themselves.

For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News?

“ And now, O our God, what can we say after all of this? For once again we have abandoned your commands!Your servants the prophets warned us when they said,‘ The land you are entering to possess is totally defiled by the detestable practices of the people living there. From one end to the other, the land is filled with corruption.Don’t let your daughters marry their sons! Don’t take their daughters as wives for your sons. Don’t ever promote the peace and prosperity of those nations. If you follow these instructions, you will be strong and will enjoy the good things the land produces, and you will leave this prosperity to your children forever.’“ Now we are being punished because of our wickedness and our great guilt. But we have actually been punished far less than we deserve, for you, our God, have allowed some of us to survive as a remnant.

Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land, as the Lord had commanded them.Instead, they mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs.They worshiped their idols, which led to their downfall.They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons.They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters. By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan, they polluted the land with murder.They defiled themselves by their evil deeds, and their love of idols was adultery in the Lord’s sight.That is why the Lord’s anger burned against his people, and he abhorred his own special possession.

In those towns that the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession, destroy every living thing.You must completely destroy the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, just as the Lord your God has commanded you.This will prevent the people of the land from teaching you to imitate their detestable customs in the worship of their gods, which would cause you to sin deeply against the Lord your God.

“ Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked.“ Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”The man replied,“ It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

“ You must destroy all the nations the Lord your God hands over to you. Show them no mercy, and do not worship their gods, or they will trap you.

“ What have you gained by your alliances with Egypt and your covenants with Assyria? What good to you are the streams of the Nile or the waters of the Euphrates River?

“ Be very careful never to make a treaty with the people who live in the land where you are going. If you do, you will follow their evil ways and be trapped.Instead, you must break down their pagan altars, smash their sacred pillars, and cut down their Asherah poles.You must worship no other gods, for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you.“ You must not make a treaty of any kind with the people living in the land. They lust after their gods, offering sacrifices to them. They will invite you to join them in their sacrificial meals, and you will go with them.Then you will accept their daughters, who sacrifice to other gods, as wives for your sons. And they will seduce your sons to commit adultery against me by worshiping other gods.

But the Lord said,“ What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground!

you must drive out all the people living there. You must destroy all their carved and molten images and demolish all their pagan shrines.Take possession of the land and settle in it, because I have given it to you to occupy.

So the Lord burned with anger against Israel. He said,“ Because these people have violated my covenant, which I made with their ancestors, and have ignored my commands,

“ O my people, listen to the words of the Lord! Have I been like a desert to Israel? Have I been to them a land of darkness? Why then do my people say,‘ At last we are free from God! We don’t need him anymore!’Does a young woman forget her jewelry, or a bride her wedding dress? Yet for years on end my people have forgotten me.“ How you plot and scheme to win your lovers. Even an experienced prostitute could learn from you!

He drove out the nations before them; he gave them their inheritance by lot. He settled the tribes of Israel into their homes.But they kept testing and rebelling against God Most High. They did not obey his laws.They turned back and were as faithless as their parents. They were as undependable as a crooked bow.They angered God by building shrines to other gods; they made him jealous with their idols.

“ You must burn their idols in fire, and you must not covet the silver or gold that covers them. You must not take it or it will become a trap to you, for it is detestable to the Lord your God.Do not bring any detestable objects into your home, for then you will be destroyed, just like them. You must utterly detest such things, for they are set apart for destruction.

Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said:“ I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.

“ When you drive out the nations that live there, you must destroy all the places where they worship their gods— high on the mountains, up on the hills, and under every green tree.Break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars. Burn their Asherah poles and cut down their carved idols. Completely erase the names of their gods!

Finally, he turned to Aaron and demanded,“ What did these people do to you to make you bring such terrible sin upon them?”

When these things had been done, the Jewish leaders came to me and said,“ Many of the people of Israel, and even some of the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the other peoples living in the land. They have taken up the detestable practices of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.For the men of Israel have married women from these people and have taken them as wives for their sons. So the holy race has become polluted by these mixed marriages. Worse yet, the leaders and officials have led the way in this outrage.”When I heard this, I tore my cloak and my shirt, pulled hair from my head and beard, and sat down utterly shocked.

This is what I told them:‘ Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’“ But my people would not listen to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward.From the day your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have continued to send my servants, the prophets— day in and day out.But my people have not listened to me or even tried to hear. They have been stubborn and sinful— even worse than their ancestors.“ Tell them all this, but do not expect them to listen. Shout out your warnings, but do not expect them to respond.Say to them,‘ This is the nation whose people will not obey the Lord their God and who refuse to be taught. Truth has vanished from among them; it is no longer heard on their lips.

“ Make no treaties with them or their gods.They must not live in your land, or they will cause you to sin against me. If you serve their gods, you will be caught in the trap of idolatry.”

in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus.