3. Don't get married to any of them. Don't give your daughters to their sons. And don't take their daughters for your sons.
4. If you do, those people will turn your children away from following the Lord. Then your children will serve other gods. The Lord's anger will burn against you. It will quickly destroy you.
5. So here is what you must do to those people. Break down their altars. Smash their sacred stones. Cut down the poles they use to worship the goddess Asherah. Burn the statues of their gods in the fire.
6. You are a holy nation. The Lord your God has set you apart for himself. He has chosen you to be his special treasure. He chose you out of all of the nations on the face of the earth to be his people.
7. The Lord chose you because he loved you very much. He didn't choose you because you had more people than other nations. In fact, you had the smallest number of all.
8. The Lord chose you because he loved you. He wanted to keep the promise he had made with an oath to your people long ago. That's why he brought you out of Egypt with a mighty hand. He bought you back from the land where you were slaves. He set you free from the power of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.
9. So I want you to realize that the Lord your God is God. He is the faithful God. He keeps his covenant for all time to come. He keeps it with those who love him and obey his commands. He shows them his love.
10. But he will pay back those who hate him. He'll destroy them. He'll quickly pay back those who hate him.
11. So be careful to follow the commands, rules and laws I'm giving you today.
12. Pay attention to the laws of the Lord your God. Be careful to obey them. Then he will keep his covenant of love with you. That's what he promised with an oath to your people long ago.
13. The Lord will love you and bless you. He'll increase your numbers. He'll give you many children. He'll bless the crops of your land. He'll give you plenty of grain, olive oil and fresh wine. He'll bless your herds with many calves. He'll give your flocks many lambs. He'll do all of those things for you in the land of Canaan. It's the land he promised your people long ago that he would give you.
14. He will bless you more than any other nation. All of your men and women will have children. All of your livestock will have little ones.