כי עם קדוש אתה, and it is not appropriate for you to desecrate your sanctity through women committed to alien deities, who will bear you children that are already genetically corrupted. It is this that the prophet Maleachi 2,11 had in mind when he spoke of כי חלל יהודה קדש ה' אשר אהב ובעל בת נכר,”for Yehudah profaned what is holy to the Lord, what He desires, by sleeping with daughters of alien gods.”

בך בחר, as distinct from corrupt seed; our sages referred to this concept as “the benevolent presence of G’d is present (rests on) only families who are genetically offspring of families with good Jewish pedigrees.” (Kidushin 70)

לא מרבכם, not in order to be honoured by a multitude.

כי מאהבת ה' אתכם, seeing that you are the seed of someone who loved Him and who was more familiar with His name than any member of any of the other nations.

הא-ל הנאמן, Who is constant, not subject to change.

שומר הברית ומשלם לשונאיו, the meaning of the words רשע וטוב לו, [a favourite argument of the heretics who point to the afflictions suffered by the pious and the good life enjoyed by the pious in this life. Ed.] can be understood on two levels: 1) the “good” the wicked appear to enjoy in this life is due to merits accumulated by their forefathers who had not been recompensed for these as yet by G’d. A prominent example of this is the enjoyable life lived by Ishmael who benefited by Avraham’s merits. G’d Himself referred to this in Genesis 21,13 when He said כי זרעך הוא, “because he is your seed. 2) The wicked person himself has accumulated some merits; seeing that on balance he does not qualify for life in the hereafter, G’d has to compensate him while he is on earth. This He does by letting him enjoy the transient joys available in this life to the extent his merits entitle him to.

והיה עקב תשמעון, Moses explains that the reason why the King, i.e. G’d, commands them to observe all these commandments is in order to be able to fulfill the promises made to their forefathers regarding them. The people were meant to observe these commandments out of a feeling of love for G’d, not because they did so in order to earn a reward. [If I understand the author correctly, the wordsואת החסד in the phrase את הברית והחסד, are to establish reciprocity of G’d’s loving care for the patriarchs, the parties to the covenant, and their descendants’ feeling of love on their part towards the Creator. Ed.]

את המשפטים, for the earth’s continued existence is linked to performance of justice by its inhabitants. (Proverbs 29,4)

ושמרתם, and study them, (according to Sifri)

ועשיתם אותם, as a result of studying them you will perform them in accordance with halachah.

ושמר ה' אלוקיך לך את הברית, the one He swore, when He said (Genesis 17,7) “I will give My covenant between Me and you, and between your descendants after you for all generations as an eternal covenant, to be your G’d and that of your descendants after you.” Being our G’d means that He will supervise our fates not by means of some intermediary, such as the fates which are supervised by appointees of G’d, including horoscopes, and angels assigned to each nation. Besides, anything which is done by G’d personally, without His having recourse to an intermediary, is something that endures forever. Compare Kohelet 3,14 כי כל אשר יעשה האלוקים הוא אשר יהיה לעולם,”anything which G’d does Himself is something that will endure forever.” By contrast, transient phenomena, [such as extinct species, for instance, Ed.] are proof of the fact that they were the products of intermediaries of G’d. [G’d had commanded the waters to produce the living creatures of the waters, and He had commanded the earth to produce vegetation and the mammals, etc. Water and the earth are both intermediaries. Ed.]

ואת החסד, as He had said in Genesis 17,8 when He promised the land of Canaan to Avraham’s descendants. Such acts are acts of loving kindness and have nothing to do with the reward awaiting us as compensation for performing the commandments in the world to come. (based on the statement in Kidushin 39 that reward, in the sense of compensation, for commandments performed is not something that is due while we are on earth.)

ואהבך, He loved you, in the sense that you are “children,” reflecting His image; our sages (Avot 3,10) paraphrased this when they said: “Israel is beloved of the Lord,” as we know from the fact that He refers to them as בנים,”children of the Lord.” By performing the commandments the eternal nature of the covenant will be reinforced so that it is perfect.

וברכך, with material wealth, measurable in terms of money. This blessing improves the quality of the transient life on earth. By means of this blessing He insures your ability to enjoy the loving kindness of living in the land of Israel successfully, happily.

כל חולי, any manner of illness including those that are the result of climactic conditions.

הרעים, the ones which are contagious.

אשר ידעת, that the Egyptians were smitten with at the Sea of Reeds.

לא ישימם בך ונתנם בכל שונאך, even though these diseases will strike your enemies they will not infect you, as described in Psalms 91,7 “thousands may fall by your side….but the source of the death will not reach you.”

לא תחוס עיניך עליהם ולא תעבוד את אלוהיהם. By not ignoring idolatry in your country by people remaining there you will ensure that no Israelites will worship such deities. If you will turn a blind eye to their practices they will undoubtedly lead you into sin.

כי מוקש הוא לך, although you relate to them by protecting their freedom of worship, they will turn out to be a stumbling block for you by seducing you to join them in their religious rites.

כי תאמר...איכה אוכל להורישם, לא תירא מהם, for you will say that they outnumber you. Do not say this in a manner which will inspire fear in you, but reflect on the fact that this would be an argument only if the Lord your G’d had not already demonstrated that with His help you can overcome. זכור תזכור את אשר עשה ה' אלוקיך לפרעה וכל מצרים, they outnumbered you by a far greater margin than the Canaanites and they were stronger than the Canaanites.

ונתן מלכיהם בידך והאבדת את שמם, for allowing any of these Canaanites to survive would become an ongoing source of irritation for you, as demonstrated by the young Haddad, sole survivor of the people of Edom, who became a lifelong source of irritation (militarily) for such a powerful king as Solomon. (Kings I 11,14 and onwards)

פן תוקש בו, for sometimes, especially if you are successful with the investment of silver and gold deriving from idolatrous sources, you will attribute this to the goodwill of their idols, which in turn will become a trap for you (theologically speaking).

תתעבנו כי חרם הוא, you must treat that silver and gold as if it were an abomination;

כי חרם הוא, not only would you not benefit by their silver and gold, but neither by their other possessions. It is out of bounds for you, it would bring harm to your other properties, the ones you acquired legally, with the approval of the Torah.