12 If you pay attention to these instructions and always obey them, then your god Yahweh will keep the agreement that he promised to your ancestors and continue to display his loyal commitment to you,[ref] 13 and he will love you and bless you. He’ll grant you many children and make your farming productive, producing grain and grapes for wine, and olive oil. Your cattle and sheep and goats will multiply on the land that he promised your ancestors that he’d give you. 14 You’ll be blessed more than any other people group. All of you will be able to have children, and all of your livestock will produce offspring. 15 Yahweh will keep sickness away from you. All those horrible diseases that your ancestors saw in Egypt won’t affect you, but instead he’ll give them to those who hate you. 16 You must destroy all the peoples that your god Yahweh gives you victory over—don’t allow yourselves to pity them, and don’t serve their gods because that would end up trapping you.

17 Don’t tell yourselves that because those groups have many more people than you, that you won’t be able to drive them out. 18 You mustn’t be afraid of them, but rather you should think back to what your god Yahweh did to Far-oh and to all Egypt. 19 Remember the terrible plagues that you saw, and the powerful miracles that your god Yahweh used to bring you out. That’s what he’ll do to the people groups that you’re still afraid of now. 20 What’s more, after that your god Yahweh will send hornets against any who are left or in hiding, until they’re all destroyed. 21 Don’t be afraid of those people, because your god Yahweh will be with you. He’s a powerful god that people are in awe of. 22 He’ll drive those people groups out bit by bit—don’t try to destroy them all at once or else the wild animals would multiply up and cause problems. 23 Your god Yahweh will enable you to defeat those people groups and cause them to panic until they are destroyed. 24 He’ll enable you to defeat their kings and their names will be forgotten from history. No one will be able to stand against you until you finally destroy them. 25 You must burn their idols in a fire—don’t be tempted to take any gold or silver decorations off them in case you get trapped by it, because your god Yahweh hates every part of those idols. 26 Don’t take any of those disgusting idols into your homes or you too might become a target for destruction. You should hate and detest them because they’re destined for destruction.

28 If you, Yisrael, listen to what god Yahweh says and follow all his instructions that I’m giving you today, then he will make you the greatest of all the nations in the world,[ref] 2 and all these blessings will come to you if you listen to his voice:

3 You’ll be blessed in the city, and blessed in the countryside.

4 Your children, your harvests, and your calves, and lambs and kids will all be blessed.

5 Your basket and your kneading bowl will be blessed.

6 You’ll be blessed when you’re coming in and when you’re going out.

7 Yahweh will enable you to defeat your enemies who come to attack you—they’ll march in all orderly, but will flee from you in all directions.

8 Yahweh will decree a blessing on your barns and on all the work you do, and he’ll bless you in the land that he’s giving to you.

9 If you follow your God Yahweh’s instructions and do what he wants, he will establish you as his sacred people just like he promised. 10 Then all the peoples around the world will realise that Yahweh’s name is attached to you, and they’ll be afraid of you. 11 Yahweh will help you to really prosper through your children, your animals, and your harvests in the land that he promised to your ancestors that he’d give to you. 12 Yahweh will open his treasure house in the sky and send good rain when it’s needed and bless everything you do, so that you’ll lend money to many nations instead of needing to borrow it. 13 Yahweh will make you the head, not the tail. You’ll be above, not beneath, if you listen to your god Yahweh’s instructions that I’m giving you today, and follow them 14 Make sure you don’t turn away from those instructions, and never worship other gods.