⁹ You must certainly put them to death.^(A) Your hand^(B) must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. ¹⁰ Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away^(C) from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹¹ Then all Israel will hear and be afraid,^(D) and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.

¹² If you hear it said about one of the towns the Lord your God is giving you to live in ¹³ that troublemakers^(E) have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods you have not known), ¹⁴ then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly.^(F) And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you,^{(G) 15} you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. You must destroy it completely,^[a](H) both its people and its livestock.^{(I) 16} You are to gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town^(J) and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God.^(K) That town is to remain a ruin^(L) forever, never to be rebuilt, ¹⁷ and none of the condemned things^[b] are to be found in your hands. Then the Lord will turn from his fierce anger,^(M) will show you mercy,^(N) and will have compassion^(O) on you. He will increase your numbers,^(P) as he promised^(Q) on oath to your ancestors— ¹⁸ because you obey the Lord your God by keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right^(R) in his eyes.

⁷ The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death,^(A) and then the hands of all the people.^(B) You must purge the evil^(C) from among you.

¹³ They produced false witnesses,^(A) who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place^(B) and against the law.