Deuteronomy 13-15
Complete Jewish Bible
13 (12:32) “Everything I am commanding you, you are to take care to do. Do not add to it or subtract from it.
2 (1) “If a prophet or someone who gets messages while dreaming arises among you and he gives you a sign or wonder, 3 (2) and the sign or wonder comes about as he predicted when he said, ‘Let’s follow other gods, which you have not known; and let us serve them,’ 4 (3) you are not to listen to what that prophet or dreamer says. For Adonai your God is testing you, in order to find out whether you really do love Adonai your God with all your heart and being. 5 (4) You are to follow Adonai your God, fear him, obey his mitzvot, listen to what he says, serve him and cling to him; 6 (5) and that prophet or dreamer is to be put to death; because he urged rebellion against Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from a life of slavery; in order to seduce you away from the path Adonai your God ordered you to follow. This is how you are to rid your community of this wickedness.
7 (6) “If your brother the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or your wife whom you love, or your friend who means as much to you as yourself, secretly tries to entice you to go and serve other gods, which you haven’t known, neither you nor your ancestors — 8 (7) gods of the peoples surrounding you, whether near or far away from you, anywhere in the world — 9 (8) you are not to consent, and you are not to listen to him; and you must not pity him or spare him; and you may not conceal him. 10 (9) Rather, you must kill him! Your own hand must be the first one on him in putting him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people. 11 (10) You are to stone him to death; because he has tried to draw you away from Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of a life of slavery. 12 (11) Then all Isra’el will hear about it and be afraid, so that they will stop doing such wickedness as this among themselves.
13 (12) “If you hear it told that in one of your cities which Adonai your God is giving you to live in, 14 (13) certain scoundrels have sprung up among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city by saying, ‘Let’s go and serve other gods, which you haven’t known,’ 15 (14) then you are to investigate the matter, inquiring and searching diligently. If the rumor is true, if it is confirmed that such detestable things are being done among you, 16 (15) you must put the inhabitants of that city to death with the sword, destroying it completely with the sword, everything in it, including its livestock. 17 (16) Heap all its spoils in an open space, and burn the city with its spoils to the ground for Adonai your God; it will remain a tel forever and not be built again — 18 (17) none of what has been set apart for destruction is to stay in your hands. Then Adonai will turn from his fierce anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and increase your numbers, as he swore to your ancestors — 19 (18) provided you listen to what Adonai says and obey all his mitzvot that I am giving you today, thus doing what Adonai your God sees as right.
14 (iv) “You are the people of Adonai your God. You are not to gash yourselves or shave the hair above your foreheads in mourning for the dead, 2 because you are a people set apart as holy for Adonai your God. Adonai your God has chosen you to be his own unique treasure out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.
3 “You are not to eat anything disgusting. 4 The animals which you may eat are: ox, sheep, goat, 5 deer, gazelle, roebuck, ibex, antelope, oryx and mountain sheep. 6 Any animal that has a separate hoof that is completely divided and also chews the cud, these animals you may eat. 7 But you are not to eat those that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof. For example, the camel, the hare and the coney are unclean for you because they chew the cud but don’t have a separate hoof; 8 while the pig is unclean for you because, although it has a separate hoof, it doesn’t chew the cud. You are not to eat meat from these or touch their carcasses.
9 “Of all that lives in the water, you may eat these: anything in the water that has fins and scales, these you may eat. 10 But whatever lacks fins and scales you are not to eat; it is unclean for you.
11 “You may eat any clean bird; 12 but these you are not to eat: eagles, vultures, ospreys, 13 kites, any kind of buzzard, 14 any kind of raven, 15 ostriches, screech-owls, seagulls, any kind of hawk, 16 little owls, great owls, horned owls, 17 pelicans, barn owls, cormorants, 18 storks, any kind of heron, hoopoes and bats.
19 “All winged swarming creatures are unclean for you; they are not to be eaten; 20 but all clean flying creatures you may eat.
21 “You are not to eat any animal that dies naturally; although you may let a stranger staying with you eat it, or sell it to a foreigner; because you are a holy people for Adonai your God.
“You are not to boil a young animal in its mother’s milk.
(v) 22 “Every year you must take one tenth of everything your seed produces in the field, 23 and eat it in the presence of Adonai your God. In the place where he chooses to have his name live you will eat the tenth of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the firstborn of your cattle and sheep, so that you will learn to fear Adonai your God always. 24 But if the distance is too great for you, so that you are unable to transport it, because the place where Adonai chooses to put his name is too far away from you; then, when Adonai your God prospers you, 25 you are to convert it into money, take the money with you, go to the place which Adonai your God will choose, 26 and exchange the money for anything you want — cattle, sheep, wine, other intoxicating liquor, or anything you please — and you are to eat there in the presence of Adonai your God, and enjoy yourselves, you and your household.
27 “But don’t neglect the Levi staying with you, because he has no share or inheritance like yours. 28 At the end of every three years you are to take all the tenths of your produce from that year and store it in your towns. 29 Then the Levi, because he has no share or inheritance like yours, along with the foreigner, the orphan and the widow living in your towns, will come, eat and be satisfied — so that Adonai your God will bless you in everything your hands produce.
15 (vi) “At the end of every seven years you are to have a sh’mittah. 2 Here is how the sh’mittah is to be done: every creditor is to give up what he has loaned to his fellow member of the community — he is not to force his neighbor or relative to repay it, because Adonai’s time of remission has been proclaimed. 3 You may demand that a foreigner repay his debt, but you are to release your claim on whatever your brother owes you. 4 In spite of this, there will be no one needy among you; because Adonai will certainly bless you in the land which Adonai your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess — 5 if only you will listen carefully to what Adonai your God says and take care to obey all these mitzvot I am giving you today. 6 Yes, Adonai your God will bless you, as he promised you — you will lend money to many nations without having to borrow, and you will rule over many nations without their ruling over you.
7 “If someone among you is needy, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which Adonai your God is giving you, you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand from giving to your needy brother. 8 No, you must open your hand to him and lend him enough to meet his need and enable him to obtain what he wants. 9 Guard yourself against allowing your heart to entertain the mean-spirited thought that because the seventh year, the year of sh’mittah is at hand, you would be stingy toward your needy brother and not give him anything; for then he may cry out to Adonai against you, and it will be your sin. 10 Rather, you must give to him; and you are not to be grudging when you give to him. If you do this, Adonai your God will bless you in all your work, in everything you undertake — 11 for there will always be poor people in the land. That is why I am giving you this order, ‘You must open your hand to your poor and needy brother in your land.’
12 “If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, he is to serve you for six years; but in the seventh year, you are to set him free. 13 Moreover, when you set him free, don’t let him leave empty-handed; 14 but supply him generously from your flock, threshing-floor and winepress; from what Adonai your God has blessed you with, you are to give to him. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Adonai your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this order today. 16 But if he says to you, ‘I don’t want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your household, and because his life with you is a good one; 17 then take an awl, and pierce his ear through, right into the door; and he will be your slave forever. Do the same with your female slave. 18 Don’t resent it when you set him free, since during his six years of service he has been worth twice as much as a hired employee. Then Adonai your God will bless you in everything you do.
(vii) 19 “All the firstborn males in your herd of cattle and in your flock you are to set aside for Adonai your God; you are not to do any work with a firstborn from your herd or shear a firstborn sheep. 20 Each year you and your household are to eat it in the presence of Adonai your God in the place which Adonai will choose. 21 But if it has a defect, is lame or blind, or has some other kind of fault, you are not to sacrifice it to Adonai your God; 22 rather, eat it on your own property; the unclean and the clean alike may eat it, like the gazelle or the deer. 23 Just don’t eat its blood, but pour it out on the ground like water.
Devarim 13-15
Orthodox Jewish Bible
13 If there arise among you a navi, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee an ot (sign) or a mofet (wonder),
2 (13:3) And the ot (sign) or the mofet (wonder) come to pass, whereof he spoke unto thee, saying, Let us go after elohim acherim, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
3 (13:4) Thou shalt not give heed unto the devarim of that navi, or that dreamer of dreams; for Hashem Eloheichem is testing you, to know whether ye love Hashem Eloheichem with all your lev and with all your nefesh.
4 (13:5) Ye shall walk after Hashem Eloheichem, and fear Him, and be shomer over His mitzvot, and obey His voice, and ye shall serve Him, and have deveykus unto Him.
5 (13:6) And that navi, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from Hashem Eloheichem, which brought you out of Eretz Mitzrayim, and redeemed you out of the bais avadim, to entice thee from HaDerech which Hashem Eloheicha commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put harah away from the midst of thee.
6 (13:7) If achicha (thy brother), the ben of thy em, or thy ben, or thy bat, or the eshet kheyk of thee (wife of thy bosom), or thy friend, which is as thine own nefesh, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve elohim acherim, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy avot;
7 (13:8) Namely, of the elohei ha’amim which are round about you, near unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one ketzeh ha’aretz (end of the earth) even unto the other ketzeh ha’aretz;
8 (13:9) Thou shalt not yield unto him, nor give heed unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him;
9 (13:10) But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of kol HaAm.
10 (13:11) And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from Hashem Eloheicha, which brought thee out of Eretz Mitzrayim, from the bais avadim.
11 (13:12) And kol Yisroel shall hear, and fear, and shall not again do such wickedness as this is among you.
12 (13:13) If thou shalt hear say in one of thy towns, which Hashem Eloheicha hath given thee to dwell there, saying,
13 (13:14) Certain men, the bnei Beliyaal (reprobate, worthless men), are gone out from among you, and have enticed the inhabitants of their town, saying, Let us go and serve elohim acherim, which ye have not known;
14 (13:15) Then shalt thou inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, hinei, if it be emes, and the thing certain, that such to’evah (abomination, detestable action) is wrought among you;
15 (13:16) Thou shalt surely strike the inhabitants of that town with the edge of the cherev, in cherem destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the cherev.
16 (13:17) And thou shalt gather all the plunder of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with eish the town, and all the plunder thereof completely for Hashem Eloheicha; and it shall be a tel olam (heap forever); it shall not be built again.
17 (13:18) And there shall cling none of the accursed thing to thine hand; that Hashem may turn from the fierceness of His anger, and show thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as He hath sworn unto Avoteicha;
18 (13:19) When thou shalt give heed to the voice of Hashem Eloheicha, to be shomer over all His mitzvot which I command thee today, to do that which is yashar (right, straight) in the eyes of Hashem Eloheicha.
14 Ye are the bnei Hashem Eloheichem; ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
2 For thou art an Am Kadosh unto Hashem Eloheicha, and Hashem hath chosen thee to be an Am Segullah (treasured people) unto Himself, above kol haamim that are upon ha’adamah.
3 Thou shalt not eat any to’evah (detestable thing).
4 These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the shor, the seh, and the izzim,
5 The deer, and the gazelle, and the yachmur, and the akko, and the antelope, and the wild ox, and the wild goat.
6 And every beast that parteth the hoof, and is separated in two hooves, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat.
7 Nevertheless, these ye shall not eat of them that only chew the cud, or of them that only divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney; for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are tameh (unclean) unto you.
8 And the chazir, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is tameh (unclean) unto you; ye shall not eat of their basar, nor touch their nevelah (dead carcass).
9 These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat,
10 And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is tameh (unclean) unto you.
11 Of all tahorah (clean) birds ye shall eat.
12 But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the nesher, and the vulture, and the bearded vulture,
13 And the kite, and the buzzard after its kind,
14 And every raven after its kind,
15 And the owl, and the night hawk, and the seagull, and the hawk after its kind,
16 The little owl, and the great owl, and the horned owl,
17 And the pelican, and the osprey, and the cormorant,
18 And the stork, and the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat.
19 And every creeping thing that flieth is tameh (unclean) unto you; they shall not be eaten.
20 But of all tahor (clean) fowls ye may eat.
21 Ye shall not eat of anything that dieth of itself; thou shalt give it unto the ger that is in thy she’arim, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto an alien; for thou art an Am Kadosh unto Hashem Eloheicha. Thou shalt not boil a young goat in its mother’s cholov.
22 Thou shalt truly give ma’aser (tithe) of all the increase of thy zera, that the sadeh bringeth forth year by year.
23 And thou shalt eat before Hashem Eloheicha, in the place which He shall choose to place Shmo there, the ma’aser (tithe) of thy dagan (grain), of thy tirosh (new wine), and of thine yitzhar (fresh oil), and the bekhorot (firstlings) of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to stand in awe of Hashem Eloheicha always.
24 And if the journey be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which Hashem Eloheicha shall choose to set Shmo there, when Hashem Eloheicha hath blessed thee;
25 Then shalt thou exchange it for kesef, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which Hashem Eloheicha shall choose;
26 And thou shalt spend that kesef for whatsoever thy nefesh desireth after, for cattle, or for sheep, or for yayin, or for shekhar (fermented drink), or for whatsoever thy nefesh desireth; and thou shalt eat there before Hashem Eloheicha, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,
27 And the Levi that is within thy she’arim; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no chelek nor nachalah with thee.
28 At the end of shalosh shanim thou shalt bring forth all the ma’aser (tithe) of thine increase the same year, and shalt store it up within thy she’arim:
29 And the Levi (because he hath no chelek nor nachalah with thee) and the ger, and the yatom, and the almanah, which are within thy she’arim, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that Hashem Eloheicha may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.
15 At the end of every shevat shanim thou shalt make a shemittah (release).
2 And this is the manner of the shemittah: Every creditor that lendeth whatever unto his neighbor shall cancel the debt; he shall not exact it of his neighbor, or of his brother; because it is called Hashem’s Shemittah.
3 Of a nokhri thou mayest require a debt to be repaid; but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release the claim;
4 There shall be no evyon (needy, poor) among you; for Hashem shall greatly bless thee in ha’aretz which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee for a nachalah to possess it;
5 If only thou carefully give heed unto the voice of Hashem Eloheicha to be shomer to do all these mitzvot which I command thee today.
6 For Hashem Eloheicha blesseth thee, as He promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto Goyim rabbim, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over Goyim rabbim, but they shall not reign over thee.
7 If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy she’arim in thy land which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine lev, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:
8 But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his machsor (need), in that which he wanteth.
9 Beware that there be not a thought in thy lev beliyaal, saying, The seventh year, the shnat hashemittah (the year of release), is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto Hashem against thee, and it be chet (sin) unto thee.
10 Thou shalt surely give him, and thine lev shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him; because that for this thing Hashem Eloheicha shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.
11 For the poor shall never cease out of ha’aretz; therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
12 And if thy brother, an Ivri (a Hebrew), or an Ivriyyah (Hebrew woman), be sold unto thee, and serve thee shesh shanim; then in the shanah hashevi’it thou shalt let him go free from thee.
13 And when thou sendest him out chafshi (free) from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty-handed:
14 Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy tzon, and out of thy threshing floor, and out of thy winepress; of that wherewith Hashem Eloheicha hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.
15 And thou shalt remember that thou wast an eved in Eretz Mitzrayim, and Hashem Eloheicha redeemed thee; therefore I command thee this thing today.
16 And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine bais, because he fares well with thee;
17 Then thou shalt take an awl, and thrust it through his ear unto the delet, and he shall be thy eved olam. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise.
18 It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away chafshi (free) from thee; for he hath been worth twice that of a hired eved to thee, in serving thee shesh shanim; and Hashem Eloheicha shall bless thee in all that thou doest.
19 Kol habechor (all firstling males) that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt set apart as kodesh unto Hashem Eloheicha; thou shalt do no work with the bechor of thy ox, nor shear the bechor of thy sheep.
20 Thou shalt eat it before Hashem Eloheicha shanah b’shanah (year by year) in the place which Hashem shall choose, thou and thy household.
21 And if there be any mum therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any serious defect, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto Hashem Eloheicha.
22 Thou shalt eat it within thy she’arim; the tameh (unclean) and the tahor (clean) person shall eat it alike, as the gazelle, and as the deer.
23 Only thou shalt not eat the dahm thereof; thou shalt pour it upon ha’aretz as mayim.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
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