Deuteronomy 12:29
New International Version
The LORD your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land,

New Living Translation
“When the LORD your God goes ahead of you and destroys the nations and you drive them out and live in their land,

English Standard Version
“When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land,

Berean Standard Bible
When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations you are entering to dispossess, and you drive them out and live in their land,

King James Bible
When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;

New King James Version
“When the LORD your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land,

New American Standard Bible
“When the LORD your God cuts off from you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and live in their land,

NASB 1995
“When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land,

NASB 1977
“When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land,

Legacy Standard Bible
“When Yahweh your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and inhabit their land,

Amplified Bible
“When the LORD your God cuts off and destroys before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and settle in their land,

Christian Standard Bible
“When the LORD your God annihilates the nations before you, which you are entering to take possession of, and you drive them out and live in their land,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
When the LORD your God annihilates the nations before you, which you are entering to take possession of, and you drive them out and live in their land,

American Standard Version
When Jehovah thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest in to dispossess them, and thou dispossessest them, and dwellest in their land;

Contemporary English Version
Israel, as you go into the land and attack the nations that are there, the LORD will get rid of them, and you can have their land.

English Revised Version
When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest in to possess them, and thou possessest them, and dwellest in their land;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The LORD your God will destroy the nations where you're going and force them out of your way. You will take possession of their land and live there.

Good News Translation
"The LORD your God will destroy the nations as you invade their land, and you will occupy it and settle there.

International Standard Version
"When the LORD your God eliminates the nations that you are about to dispossess so you can live in their land,

Majority Standard Bible
When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations you are entering to dispossess, and you drive them out and live in their land,

NET Bible
When the LORD your God eliminates the nations from the place where you are headed and you dispossess them, you will settle down in their land.

New Heart English Bible
When the LORD your God shall cut off the nations from before you, where you go in to dispossess them, and you dispossess them, and dwell in their land;

Webster's Bible Translation
When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;

World English Bible
When Yahweh your God cuts off the nations from before you where you go in to dispossess them, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land,
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
When your God YHWH cuts off the nations—to where you are going in to possess them—from your presence, and you have possessed them, and have dwelt in their land—

Young's Literal Translation
'When Jehovah thy God doth cut off the nations -- whither thou art going in to possess them -- from thy presence, and thou hast possessed them, and hast dwelt in their land --

Smith's Literal Translation
For Jehovah thy God shall cut off the nations where thou goest in there to possess them, from before thee, and thou shalt inherit them, and thou shalt dwell in their land.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
When the Lord thy God shall have destroyed before thy face the nations, which then shalt go in to possess, and when thou shalt possess them, and dwell in their land:

Catholic Public Domain Version
When the Lord your God will have abolished before your face the nations, which you shall enter so as to possess them, and when you will possess them and live in their land,

New American Bible
When the LORD, your God, cuts down from before you the nations you are going in to dispossess, and you have dispossessed them and are settled in their land,

New Revised Standard Version
When the LORD your God has cut off before you the nations whom you are about to enter to dispossess them, when you have dispossessed them and live in their land,
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
When the LORD your God shall destroy the nations against whom you are going, and shall cut them off from before you, and you shall possess them and dwell in their land;

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And when LORD JEHOVAH your God will destroy the nations to which you go, and he will destroy them from before you and you will possess them and you will dwell in their land;
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest in to dispossess them, and thou dispossessest them, and dwellest in their land;

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And if the Lord thy God shall utterly destroy the nations, to whom thou goest in thither to inherit their land, from before thee, and thou shalt inherit it, and dwell in their land;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
A Warning Against Idolatry
29When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations you are entering to dispossess, and you drive them out and live in their land, 30be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”…

Cross References
Exodus 23:23-24
For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will annihilate them. / You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.

Exodus 34:11-16
Observe what I command you this day. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. / Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst. / Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles. ...

Leviticus 18:24-30
Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves. / Even the land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants. / But you are to keep My statutes and ordinances, and you must not commit any of these abominations—neither your native-born nor the foreigner who lives among you. ...

Numbers 33:51-56
“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, / you must drive out before you all the inhabitants of the land, destroy all their carved images and cast idols, and demolish all their high places. / You are to take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess. ...

Deuteronomy 7:1-5
When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you— / and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy. / Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, ...

Deuteronomy 18:9-14
When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. / Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery, / casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead. ...

Joshua 23:12-13
For if you turn away and cling to the rest of these nations that remain among you, and if you intermarry and associate with them, / know for sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become for you a snare and a trap, a scourge in your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that the LORD your God has given you.

Judges 2:1-3
Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I had promised to your fathers, and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you, / and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done? / So now I tell you that I will not drive out these people before you; they will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.”

1 Kings 11:1-2
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women. / These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love.

2 Kings 17:7-18
All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods / and walked in the customs of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites, as well as in the practices introduced by the kings of Israel. / The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city, they built high places in all their cities. ...

Psalm 106:34-39
They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them, / but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs. / They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them. ...

Jeremiah 10:2-3
This is what the LORD says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by the signs in the heavens, though the nations themselves are terrified by them. / For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman.

Ezekiel 11:12
Then you will know that I am the LORD. For you have neither followed My statutes nor practiced My ordinances, but you have conformed to the ordinances of the nations around you.”

Matthew 5:17-19
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. / For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. / So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 15:3-9
Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? / For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ / But you say that if anyone says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever you would have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ ...


Treasury of Scripture

When the LORD your God shall cut off the nations from before you, where you go to possess them, and you succeed them, and dwell in their land;

cut off

Deuteronomy 9:3
Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.

Deuteronomy 19:1
When the LORD thy God hath cut off the nations, whose land the LORD thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses;

Exodus 23:23
For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.

succeedest [heb] inherited.

Jump to Previous
Cut Cuts Cutteth Dispossess Driven Dwell Dwellest Dwelt Invade Nations Possess Possessed Possession Presence Settled Succeedest Whither
Jump to Next
Cut Cuts Cutteth Dispossess Driven Dwell Dwellest Dwelt Invade Nations Possess Possessed Possession Presence Settled Succeedest Whither
Deuteronomy 12
1. Monuments of idolatry to be destroyed
4. The place of God's service to be kept
15. Blood is forbidden
17. Holy things must be eaten in the holy place
19. The Levite is not to be forsaken
20. Blood is again forbidden
26. and holy things must be eaten in the holy place
29. Idolatry is not to be enquired after














When the LORD your God
This phrase emphasizes the covenant relationship between God and Israel. The Hebrew word for "LORD" is "YHWH," the sacred name of God, signifying His eternal and self-existent nature. "Your God" underscores the personal and communal relationship God has with His people, highlighting His role as their divine protector and provider. This relationship is foundational to Israel's identity and mission.

cuts off before you
The Hebrew root for "cuts off" is "karath," which often implies a decisive action of separation or destruction. In the context of Deuteronomy, it signifies God's sovereign intervention in history to fulfill His promises to Israel. This action is not merely military but also spiritual, as it involves the removal of pagan influences that could lead Israel astray.

the nations you are entering to dispossess
The term "nations" refers to the various Canaanite peoples inhabiting the Promised Land. Historically, these nations were known for their idolatrous practices, which were abominable to God. The word "dispossess" comes from the Hebrew "yarash," meaning to inherit or take possession. This reflects the divine mandate given to Israel to claim the land promised to their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.

and you drive them out
The phrase "drive them out" involves the Hebrew verb "garash," which means to expel or cast out. This action is both a physical and spiritual cleansing of the land. It signifies Israel's active participation in God's plan, requiring obedience and faithfulness. The driving out of these nations is a divine judgment against their wickedness and a means to protect Israel from corruption.

and live in their land
The word "live" is derived from the Hebrew "yashab," meaning to dwell or settle. This indicates not just physical habitation but also establishing a community that honors God. "Their land" refers to the land of Canaan, which God promised to Abraham and his descendants. Living in this land is contingent upon Israel's faithfulness to God's commandments, serving as a constant reminder of His grace and provision.

Verses 29, 30. - Here the speaker reverts to the admonition with which he began this part of his address (ver. 2); and warns the people against having any intercourse with the Canaanites in their idolatrous practices. That thou enquire not after their gods. It was a general belief among the heathen that to ignore or neglect the deities of a country was sure to bring calamity (cf. 2 Kings 17:26); hence the need of cautioning the Israelites against inquiring after the gods of the Canaanites when they should be settled in their land,

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
When
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

the LORD
יְהוָ֨ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

your God
אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ (’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā)
Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

cuts off
יַכְרִית֩ (yaḵ·rîṯ)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3772: To cut, to destroy, consume, to covenant

before you
מִפָּנֶ֑יךָ (mip·pā·ne·ḵā)
Preposition-m | Noun - common plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 6440: The face

the nations
הַגּוֹיִ֗ם (hag·gō·w·yim)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 1471: A foreign nation, a Gentile, a troop of animals, a flight of locusts

you
אַתָּ֥ה (’at·tāh)
Pronoun - second person masculine singular
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

are entering
בָא־ (ḇā-)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

to dispossess,
לָרֶ֥שֶׁת (lā·re·šeṯ)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 3423: To occupy, to seize, to rob, to inherit, to expel, to impoverish, to ruin

and you drive them out
וְיָרַשְׁתָּ֣ (wə·yā·raš·tā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 3423: To occupy, to seize, to rob, to inherit, to expel, to impoverish, to ruin

and live
וְיָשַׁבְתָּ֖ (wə·yā·šaḇ·tā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

in their land,
בְּאַרְצָֽם׃ (bə·’ar·ṣām)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 776: Earth, land


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OT Law: Deuteronomy 12:29 When Yahweh your God shall cut off (Deut. De Du)
Deuteronomy 12:28
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