TSK · Deuteronomy 7:16

They must not live in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, then those whom you allow to remain will be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your side, and will cause you trouble in the land where you will be living.

After they have been destroyed from your presence, be careful not to be ensnared like they are; do not pursue their gods and say,“How do these nations serve their gods? I will do the same.”

Instead, you must kill him without fail! Your own hand must be the first to strike him, and then the hands of the whole community.

You must not show pity; the principle will be a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot.

know for certain that the LORD our God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. They will trap and ensnare you; they will be a whip that tears your sides and thorns that blind your eyes until you disappear from this good land the LORD your God gave you.

They abandoned the LORD God of their ancestors who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods– the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped them and made the LORD angry.

Gideon used all this to make an ephod, which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.

Then I, the LORD, promise that I will hand over King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and any of the people who survive the war, starvation, and disease. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their enemies who want to kill them. He will slaughter them with the sword. He will not show them any mercy, compassion, or pity.’