Deuteronomy 7:23 (DRB)

Passage

But the Lord thy God shall deliver them in thy sight: and shall slay them until they be utterly destroyed.

Nearby Context

Deuteronomy 7:21 Thou shalt not fear them, because the Lord thy God is in the midst of thee, a God mighty and terrible:

Deuteronomy 7:22 He will consume these nations in thy sight by little and little and by degrees. Thou wilt not be able to destroy them altogether: lest perhaps the beasts of the earth should increase upon thee.

Deuteronomy 7:23 But the Lord thy God shall deliver them in thy sight: and shall slay them until they be utterly destroyed.

Deuteronomy 7:24 And he shall deliver their kings into thy hands, and thou shalt destroy their names from under Heaven: no man shall be able to resist thee, until thou destroy them.

Deuteronomy 7:25 Their graven things thou shalt burn with fire: thou shalt not covet the silver and gold of which they are made, neither shalt thou take to thee any thing thereof, lest thou offend, because it is an abomination to the Lord thy God.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "lord", "shall", "deliver", "sight", "slay", "until", and "utterly". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "lord" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 22's "He will consume these nations in thy..." into verse 24's "And he shall deliver their kings into...", so "lord" and "shall" 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 "lord" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.