Deuteronomy 7:16 (DRB)

Passage

Thou shalt consume all the people, which the Lord thy God will deliver to thee. Thy eye shall not spare them, neither shalt thou serve their gods, lest they be thy ruin.

Nearby Context

Deuteronomy 7:14 Blessed shalt thou be among all people. No one shall be barren among you of either sex, neither of men nor cattle.

Deuteronomy 7:15 The Lord will take away from thee all sickness: and the grievous infirmities of Egypt, which thou knowest, he will not bring upon thee, but upon thy enemies.

Deuteronomy 7:16 Thou shalt consume all the people, which the Lord thy God will deliver to thee. Thy eye shall not spare them, neither shalt thou serve their gods, lest they be thy ruin.

Deuteronomy 7:17 If thou say in thy heart: These nations are more than I, how shall I be able to destroy them?

Deuteronomy 7:18 Fear not, but remember what the Lord thy God did to Pharao and to all the Egyptians,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "shalt", "consume", "people", "lord", "deliver", "thee", and "shall". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "shalt", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "The Lord will take away from thee..." into verse 17's "If thou say in thy heart These...", so "thou" and "shalt" belong inside that flow. In Deuteronomy context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thou" and "shalt" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.