And requites to their face … by destroying them: this is not natural English. New Revised Standard Version “repays in their own person” is better, but Revised English Bible is even better: “he repays with destruction.” We can say something like “pays them back by destroying them,” “punishes them with destruction,” or “punishes them by destroying them.”

Those who hate him: see the same expression, with the same meaning, in 5.9. Here New Revised Standard Version has “reject,” and Revised English Bible “defy and reject,” which may serve as good models.

The second part of the verse is practically redundant, but it is better to keep the redundancy, if it is emphatic, as in Hebrew. The Hebrew text switches from the plural to the singular person of address.

He will not be slack: this means he will not hesitate (Good News Translation), he will not be slow, he will not delay. Contemporary English Version has “He will quickly destroy you.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .