You are a people holy to the LORD your God: the Israelites were not allowed to do the things mentioned in the previous verse because they were dedicated to Yahweh alone; they belonged to him and served and worshiped only him. So Good News Translation has “You belong to the LORD your God”; in order to connect this verse logically with verse 1, we may say “Because you belong to Yahweh the God you worship.”

The LORD has chosen you to be a people of his own possession: this again emphasizes the fact that they are exclusively his.

Out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth: of all the human race, Yahweh chose the Israelites to be his special people. It is possible to place this phrase at the beginning of the verse, as follows:

• Because out of all the people who live on this earth, the LORD your God chose you to be his own people. You belong to him.

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 .