you must not fear them. You must carefully recall what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt,

He, the God who leads you, will expel the nations little by little. You will not be allowed to destroy them all at once lest the wild animals overrun you.

He will hand over their kings to you and you will erase their very names from memory. Nobody will be able to resist you until you destroy them.

fed you in the desert with manna (which your ancestors had never before known) so that he might by humbling you test you and eventually bring good to you.

Just like the nations the Lord is about to destroy from your sight, so he will do to you because you would not obey him.

Understand, therefore, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is about to give you this good land as a possession, for you are a stubborn people!

Therefore Levi has no allotment or inheritance among his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance just as the Lord your God told him.

for you have not yet come to the final stop and inheritance the Lord your God is giving you.

You will not be allowed to eat in your villages your tithe of grain, new wine, olive oil, the firstborn of your herd and flock, any votive offerings you have vowed, or your freewill and personal offerings.

(13:1) You must be careful to do everything I am commanding you. Do not add to it or subtract from it!

and the sign or wonder should come to pass concerning what he said to you, namely, “Let us follow other gods” – gods whom you have not previously known – “and let us serve them.”

You must not give in to him or even listen to him; do not feel sympathy for him or spare him or cover up for him.

some evil people have departed from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities, saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods” (whom you have not known before).

However, there should not be any poor among you, for the Lord will surely bless you in the land that he is giving you as an inheritance,

However, if the servant says to you, “I do not want to leave you,” because he loves you and your household, since he is well off with you,

You must set apart for the Lord your God every firstborn male born to your herds and flocks. You must not work the firstborn of your bulls or shear the firstborn of your flocks.

If they have any kind of blemish – lameness, blindness, or anything else – you may not offer them as a sacrifice to the Lord your God.

You must not plant any kind of tree as a sacred Asherah pole near the altar of the Lord your God which you build for yourself.

You must not sacrifice to him a bull or sheep that has a blemish or any other defect, because that is considered offensive to the Lord your God.

by serving other gods and worshiping them – the sun, moon, or any other heavenly bodies which I have not permitted you to worship.