4. Those people will turn your children away from me. Your children will begin serving other gods. The Lord will be very angry with you. And he will quickly destroy you.
5. This is what you must do to those people: Tear down their altars. Smash their holy stone pillars. Cut down their Asherah idols and burn their idols in the fire.
6. You are holy people. You belong to the Lord your God. He has chosen you from all the people on earth. You are his very own.
7. The Lord did not care for you and choose you because there were many of you. You are the smallest nation of all.
8. But the Lord chose you because he loved you. And he kept his promise to your ancestors. So he brought you out of Egypt by his great power. He brought you back from the land of slavery. He bought you back from the power of the king of Egypt.
9. So know that the Lord your God is God. He is the faithful God. He will keep his agreement of love for a thousand lifetimes. He does this for people who love him and obey his commands.
10. But he will pay back those people who hate him. He will destroy them. And he will not be slow to pay back those who hate him.