GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
You saw with your own eyes the terrible plagues, the miraculous signs, and the amazing things the LORD did. He used his mighty hand and powerful arm to bring you out. He will do the same thing to all the people you're afraid of.

King James Bible
The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.

Douay-Rheims Bible
The exceeding great plagues, which thy eyes saw, and the signs and wonders, and the strong hand, and the stretched out arm, with which the Lord thy God brought thee out: so will he do to all the people, whom thou fearest.

Darby Bible Translation
the great trials which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the powerful hand, and the stretched-out arm, whereby Jehovah thy God brought thee out: so will Jehovah thy God do unto all the peoples whom thou fearest.

English Revised Version
the great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the peoples of whom thou art afraid.

Webster's Bible Translation
The great temptations which thy eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the out-stretched arm, by which the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do to all the people of whom thou art afraid.

World English Bible
the great trials which your eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which Yahweh your God brought you out: so shall Yahweh your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.

Young's Literal Translation
the great trials which thine eyes have seen, and the signs, and the wonders, and the strong hand, and the stretched-out arm, with which Jehovah thy God hath brought thee out; so doth Jehovah thy God to all the peoples of whose presence thou art afraid.

Cross References

Deuteronomy 4:34 "Or has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

Deuteronomy 29:3 the great trials which your eyes have seen, those great signs and wonders.

Psalm 136:12 With a strong hand and an outstretched arm, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Jeremiah 32:21 'You brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders, and with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with great terror;

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

Verses 12-26

Here, I. The caution against idolatry is repeated, and against communion with idolaters: "Thou shalt consume the people, and not serve their gods." v. 16. We are in danger of having fellowship with the works of darkness if we take pleasure in fellowship with those that do those works. Here is also a repetition of the charge to destroy the images, v. 25, 26. The idols which the heathen had worshipped were an abomination to God, and therefore must be so to them: all that truly love God hat what he hates. Observe how this is urged upon them: Thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; such a holy indignation as this must we conceive against sin, that abominable thing which the Lord hates. They must not retain the images to gratify their covetousness: Thou shalt not desire the silver nor gold that is on them, nor think it a pity to have that destroyed. Achan paid dearly for converting that to his own use which was an anathema. Nor must they retain them to gratify their curiosity: "Neither shalt thou bring it into thy house, to be hung up as an ornament, or preserved as a monument of antiquity. No, to the fire with it, that is the fittest place for it." Two reasons are given for this caution:-1. Lest thou be snared therein (v. 25), that is, "Lest thou be drawn, ere thou art aware, to like it and love it, to fancy it and pay respect to it" 2. Lest thou be a cursed thing like it, v. 26. Those that make images are said to be like the, stupid and senseless; here they are said to be in a worse sense like them, accursed of God and devoted to destruction. Compare these two reasons together, and observe that whatever brings us into a snare brings us under a curse.

II. The promise of God's favour to them, if they would be obedient, is enlarged upon with a most affecting copiousness and fluency of expression, which intimates how much it is both God's desire and our own interest that we be religious. All possible assurance is here given them,

1. That, if they would sincerely endeavour to do their part of the covenant, God would certainly perform his part. He shall keep the mercy which he swore to thy fathers, v. 12. Let us be constant in our duty, and we cannot question the constancy of God's mercy.

2. That if they would love God and serve him, and devote themselves and theirs to him, he would love them, and bless them, and multiply them greatly, v. 13, 14. What could they desire more to make them happy? (1.) "He will love thee." He began in love to us (1 Jn. 4:10), and, if we return his love in filial duty, then, and then only, we may expect the continuance of it, Jn. 14:21. (2.) "He will bless thee with the tokens of his love above all people." If they would distinguish themselves from their neighbours by singular services, God would dignify them above their neighbours by singular blessings. (3.) "He will multiply thee." Increase was the ancient blessing for the peopling of the world, once and again (Gen. 1:28; 9:1), and here for the peopling of Canaan, that little world by itself. The increase both of their families and of their stock is promised: they should neither have estates without heirs nor heirs without estates, but should have the complete satisfaction of having many children and plentiful provisions and portions for them.

3. That, if they would keep themselves pure from the idolatries of Egypt, God would keep them clear form the diseases of Egypt, v. 15. It seems to refer not only to those plagues of Egypt by the force of which they were delivered, but to some other epidemical country disease (as we call it), which they remembered the prevalency of among the Egyptians, and by which God had chastised them for their national sins. Diseases are God's servants; they go where he sends them, and do what he bids them. It is therefore good for the health of our bodies to mortify the sin of our souls.

4. That, if they would cut off the devoted nations, they should cut them off, and none should be able to stand before them. Their duty in this matter would itself be their advantage: Thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee-this is the precept (v. 16); and the Lord thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them-this is the promise, v. 23. Thus we are commanded not to let sin reign, not to indulge ourselves in it nor give countenance to it, but to hate it and strive against it; and then God has promised that sin shall not have dominion over us (Rom. 6:12,14), but that we shall be more than conquerors over it. The difficulty and doubtfulness of the conquest of Canaan having been a stone of stumbling to their fathers, Moses here animates them against those things which were most likely to discourage them, bidding them not to be afraid of them, v. 18, and again, v. 21. (1.) Let them not be disheartened by the number and strength of their enemies: Say not, They are more than I, how can I dispossess them? v. 17. We are apt to think that the most numerous must needs be victorious: but, to fortify Israel against this temptation, Moses reminds them of the destruction of Pharaoh and all the power of Egypt, v. 18, 19. They had seen the great temptations, or miracles (so the Chaldee reads it), the signs and wonders, wherewith God had brought them out of Egypt, in order to his bringing them into Canaan, and thence might easily infer that God could dispossess the Canaanites (who, though formidable enough, had not such advantages against Israel as the Egyptians had; he that had done the greater could do the less), and that he would dispossess them, otherwise his bringing Israel out of Egypt had been no kindness to them. He that begun would finish. Thou shalt therefore well remember this, v. 18. The word and works of God are well remembered when they are improved as helps to our faith and obedience. That is well laid up which is ready to us when we have occasion to use it. (2.) Let them not be disheartened by the weakness and deficiency of their own forces; for God will send them in auxiliary troops of hornets, or wasps, as some read it (v. 20), probably larger than ordinary, which would so terrify and molest their enemies (and perhaps be the death of many to them) that their most numerous armies would become an easy prey to Israel. God plagued the Egyptians with flies, but the Canaanites with hornets. Those who take not warning by less judgments on others may expect greater on themselves. But the great encouragement of Israel was that they had God among them, a mighty God and terrible, v. 21. And if God be for us, if God be with us, we need not fear the power of any creature against us. (3.) Let them not be disheartened by the slow progress of their arms, nor think that the Canaanites would never be subdued if they were not expelled the first year; no, they must be put out by little and little, and not all at once, v. 22. Note, We must not think that, because the deliverance of the church and the destruction of its enemies are not effected immediately, therefore they will never be effected. God will do his own work in his own method and time, and we may be sure that they are always the best. Thus corruption is driven out of the hearts of believers by little and little. The work of sanctification is carried on gradually; but that judgment will at length be brought forth into a complete victory. The reason here given (as before, Ex. 23:29, 30) is, Lest the beast of the field increase upon thee. The earth God has given to the children of men; and therefore there shall rather be a remainder of Canaanites to keep possession till Israel become numerous enough to replenish it than that it should be a habitation of dragons, and a court for the wild beasts of the desert, Isa. 34:13, 14. Yet God could have prevented this mischief from the beasts, Lev. 26:6. But pride and security, and other sins that are the common effects of a settled prosperity, were enemies more dangerous than the beasts of the field, and these would be apt to increase upon them. See Judges 3:1, 4.

Calvin's Commentary

16. And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.

16. Absumesque omnes populos quos Jehova Deus tuus dat tibi: non parcel oculus tuus els, nec coles deos eorum, quid laqueus erunt tibi.

17. If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?

17. Quum dixeris in corde tuo, Plures sunt gentes illae quam ego: quomodo potero expellere eas?

18. Thou shalt not be afraid of them; but shalt well remember what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;

18. Ne timeas tibi ab eis: recordando recorderis quae fecerit Jehova Deus tuus ipsi Plaraoni, et omnibus Aegyptiis;

19. The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out; so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.

19. Probationum magnarum quas viderunt oculi tui, et signorum, portentorumque, et manus validae, brachiique extenti quo eduxit to Jehova Deus tuus: sic faciet Jehova Deus tuus omnibus populis a quorum conspectu times tibi.

20. Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.

20. Praeterea crabronem immittet Jehova Deus tuus in cos, donec pereant qui superfuerint, et quia absconderint sea facie tua.

21. Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the LORD thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.

21. Ne paveas a facie eorum: quia Jehova Deus tuus est in medio tui, Deus maximus et terribilis.

22. And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.

22. Expelletque Jehova Deus tuus gentes illas a facie tua paulatim paulatim: non poteris absumere eas cito, ne multiplicetur contra to bestia agri.

23. But the LORD thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed.

23. Attamen tradet eas Jehova Deus tuus coram to, et conteret eas contritione maxima, donec perdantur ipsae.

24. And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them.

24. Tradetque reges earum in manum tuam, et perdes nomen earum de sub coelo: non consistet quisquam coram te, donec perdas cos.

25. The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God.

25. Sculptilia deorum ipsorum combures igni: non concupisces argentum, et aurum quae sunt super ca, et capias tibi: ne illaquees to in illo: abominatio enim Jehovae Dei tui est.

26. Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.

26. Neque introduces abominationem in domum tuam, et sis anathema sicut illud: detestando detestaberis illud, et abominando abominaberis illud, quia est anathema.

16. And thou shalt consume all the people. It is plain from the second part of the verse wherefore He commands the people of Canaan to be destroyed, when He forbids their gods to be worshipped. This precept, therefore, corresponds with the others, where He dooms in like manner these nations to utter destruction. I now pass over what I have explained elsewhere, i.e., that the vengeance which God exercised against these obstinate and ten-times lost people cannot be ascribed to cruelty. For since 400 years ago it had been said to Abraham that their iniquity was not yet full, they could not be treated with severity equal to their deserts, when they had so licentiously and wickedly abused God's long-suffering. But we must take notice of God's design in so particularly enjoining on the Israelites utterly to destroy whatever should be found there; for besides that He had once doomed them all to the destruction they merited, He would have the land also, in which His name was to be invoked, purged from all pollutions. Now, if any of the old inhabitants had survived, they would soon have endeavored to revive their corruptions, and since the Israelites were otherwise more disposed than enough to superstition, they would easily have been attracted to the worship of idols. This, then, is the reason why God forbids them to shew these people any humanity or clemency, as I have reminded you to be clear from the context; for these things stand in connection, that they should not spare the nations nor worship their gods. The reason which is subjoined, "for it will be a snare or stumblingblock to you," must be extended to the whole context, viz., that it would be fatal to the Jews if they should spare the nations which would allure them to impiety.

17 If thou shalt say in thine heart. Since it was a matter of great difficulty to destroy such a multitude of men, and despair itself would drive them to madness, so that it would be frivolous for the Israelites to cut off all hope of mercy, God anticipates their fear, and exhorts them to the strenuous execution of His sentence. From whence we gather some useful instruction; whenever God commands anything which exceeds our power, we must still obey and boldly break through whatever obstacles present themselves to impede us. In all arduous matters, therefore, let this doctrine come to our aid, that whatever is contrary to God's will may easily be annihilated by His almighty power. But since terror, presented to our eyes, immediately so lays hold of all our senses that we lie as it were torpid, God recalls to the recollection of the Israelites what abundant grounds of confidence He had supplied them with. For all the miracles He had wrought were so many proofs of His invincible power; and hence they should conclude that nothing was to be dreaded, provided God should go before them, and that, therefore, being assured of victory, they should not descend to any treaties.

20. Moreover, the Lord thy God will send the hornet. Since the destruction of their enemies might seem long, if they were only to be slain by their hands and weapons, and again, because it was scarcely credible that, without defending themselves, they would voluntarily stretch forth their own throats, God promises that in another way also He would supply the means of their conquest. Therefore, lest the Israelites, imagining that their enemies would be prompt and vigorous in resistance, should be alarmed or affrighted, God declares that other forces should be at hand, for that hornets or other poisonous insects should destroy all the fugitives. The same declaration is found in Exodus 23; and what God had promised, Joshua relates that He performed. (Joshua 24:12.) But inasmuch as these nations were not to be destroyed in a moment, lest the people should therefore grow weary or become inactive, God anticipates this, and reminds them that this delay would be advantageous, for when all the inhabitants were exterminated, the wild beasts would occupy the empty land. The prolongation of the war, therefore, ought not to trouble them, for by it God provided for His people's welfare, since, if the men were speedily destroyed, they should have to contend with wild beasts. But though the passage which I have quoted from Exodus is similar in terms, yet I have designedly placed it under another head; for God here refers to the extermination of the Gentile nations with another object, i.e., lest any of the ancient pollutions should remain in the land, and lest the Israelites should mingle with the ungodly, by whose arts they might at length be drawn away to spurious religions.

25. The graven images of their gods. He again impresses upon them the object of the destruction of the nations, but he goes further than before. He had before forbidden them to worship their gods. He now commands them to consume their graven images with fire, for since the people were prone to superstition, such snares might easily have alienated them from God's pure worship. Nor does he command them merely to melt the gold and silver so as to alter its shape, but he altogether interdicts its use, since it would be a contagious plague; for he shews how greatly God abominates idols, inasmuch as whosoever should touch the materials of which they were molten, would contract pollution and become accursed. This great severity might indeed seem to condemn the metals which were created for man's use, as if they were impure, and as if the perfectness of natural things was liable to be corrupted by man. But in this way idolaters would contaminate the sun and moon, when falsely regarding them as objects of corrupt worship; and it must be answered that the gold and silver itself was by no means polluted by this impious abuse; but that, although free from all stain in itself, it was polluted in respect to the people. Such was the uncleanness of animals, not that they had in themselves any pollution, but because God had interdicted their being eaten. The pollution therefore which is now mentioned arises from a similar prohibition; for otherwise the ignorant people could not be restrained, and hence God would have that to be abominable which in itself was pure. Still this was a political precept, and only given temporarily to the ancient people; yet we gather from it how detestable idolatry is, which even infects the works of God themselves with its own filthiness.

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Match-Making.
SECTION I. THE RELATION OF PARENTS TO THE MARRIAGE CHOICE OF THEIR CHILDREN. "Youth longeth for a kindred spirit, and yet yearneth for a heart that can commune with his own; Take heed that what charmeth thee is real, nor springeth of thine own imagination; And suffer not trifles to win thy love; for a wife is thine unto death!" One of the most affecting scenes of home-life is that of the bridal hour! Though in one sense it is a scene of joy and festivity; yet in another, it is one of deep sadness. …
Samuel Philips—The Christian Home

"The Prophets of God Helping Them"
Close by the Israelites who had set themselves to the task of rebuilding the temple, dwelt the Samaritans, a mixed race that had sprung up through the intermarriage of heathen colonists from the provinces of Assyria with the remnant of the ten tribes which had been left in Samaria and Galilee. In later years the Samaritans claimed to worship the true God, but in heart and practice they were idolaters. It is true, they held that their idols were but to remind them of the living God, the Ruler of the …
Ellen Gould White—The Story of Prophets and Kings

The First Covenant
"Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice, and keep My covenant, ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me."--EX. xix. 5. "He declared unto you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even ten commandments."--DEUT. iv. 13.i "If ye keep these judgments, the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant,"--DEUT. vii. 12. "I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, which My covenant they brake."--JER. xxxi. 31, 32. WE have …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants

That the Employing Of, and Associating with the Malignant Party, According as is Contained in the Public Resolutions, is Sinful and Unlawful.
That The Employing Of, And Associating With The Malignant Party, According As Is Contained In The Public Resolutions, Is Sinful And Unlawful. If there be in the land a malignant party of power and policy, and the exceptions contained in the Act of Levy do comprehend but few of that party, then there need be no more difficulty to prove, that the present public resolutions and proceedings do import an association and conjunction with a malignant party, than to gather a conclusion from clear premises. …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Sovereignty of God in Reprobation
"Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God" (Rom. 11:22). In the last chapter when treating of the Sovereignty of God the Father in Salvation, we examined seven passages which represent Him as making a choice from among the children of men, and predestinating certain ones to be conformed to the image of His Son. The thoughtful reader will naturally ask, And what of those who were not "ordained to eternal life?" The answer which is usually returned to this question, even by those who profess …
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God

The vineyard of the Lord
It was for the purpose of bringing the best gifts of Heaven to all the peoples of earth that God called Abraham out from his idolatrous kindred and bade him dwell in the land of Canaan. "I will make of thee a great nation," He said, "and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing." Genesis 12:2. It was a high honor to which Abraham was called--that of being the father of the people who for centuries were to be the guardians and preservers of the truth of God to the world, …
Ellen Gould White—The Story of Prophets and Kings

Why all Things Work for Good
1. The grand reason why all things work for good, is the near and dear interest which God has in His people. The Lord has made a covenant with them. "They shall be my people, and I will be their God" (Jer. xxxii. 38). By virtue of this compact, all things do, and must work, for good to them. "I am God, even thy God" (Psalm l. 7). This word, Thy God,' is the sweetest word in the Bible, it implies the best relations; and it is impossible there should be these relations between God and His people, and …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial

John's Introduction.
^D John I. 1-18. ^d 1 In the beginning was the Word [a title for Jesus peculiar to the apostle John], and the Word was with God [not going before nor coming after God, but with Him at the beginning], and the Word was God. [Not more, not less.] 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him [the New Testament often speaks of Christ as the Creator--see ver. 10; I. Cor. viii. 6; Col. i. 13, 17; Heb. i. 2]; and without him was not anything made that hath been made. [This …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Holiness of God
The next attribute is God's holiness. Exod 15:51. Glorious in holiness.' Holiness is the most sparkling jewel of his crown; it is the name by which God is known. Psa 111:1. Holy and reverend is his name.' He is the holy One.' Job 6:60. Seraphims cry, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory.' Isa 6:6. His power makes him mighty, his holiness makes him glorious. God's holiness consists in his perfect love of righteousness, and abhorrence of evil. Of purer eyes than …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Covenant of Grace
Q-20: DID GOD LEAVE ALL MANKIND TO PERISH 1N THE ESTATE OF SIN AND MISERY? A: No! He entered into a covenant of grace to deliver the elect out of that state, and to bring them into a state of grace by a Redeemer. 'I will make an everlasting covenant with you.' Isa 55:5. Man being by his fall plunged into a labyrinth of misery, and having no way left to recover himself, God was pleased to enter into a new covenant with him, and to restore him to life by a Redeemer. The great proposition I shall go …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Deuteronomy
Owing to the comparatively loose nature of the connection between consecutive passages in the legislative section, it is difficult to present an adequate summary of the book of Deuteronomy. In the first section, i.-iv. 40, Moses, after reviewing the recent history of the people, and showing how it reveals Jehovah's love for Israel, earnestly urges upon them the duty of keeping His laws, reminding them of His spirituality and absoluteness. Then follows the appointment, iv. 41-43--here irrelevant (cf. …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament