13:12–18 In the third instance of apostasy the case of a whole town is considered. First, investigation is undertaken (vv. 12–14). If the thing is true, the town must be destroyed (vv. 14–15). Note that the plunder of the town is not to be taken for private gain (vv. 16–18). The thought of gain might cloud the judgment of those who investigated. The Hebrew for “heap” is tel, the word now used by archaeologists for the mounds comprising the ruins of successive generations of the buried cities they excavate.