Deuteronomy 13
Evangelical Heritage Version
False Prophets and Fortune Tellers
13 If a prophet or an interpreter of dreams arises among you, and he predicts a sign or wonder for you,[a] 2 and the sign or wonder that he promised you comes true, and he says, “Let’s go after other gods that you do not know, and let’s serve them,” 3 do not listen to the words of that prophet or that interpreter of dreams, because the Lord your God is testing you to see whether you really love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 Follow the Lord your God, fear him, keep his commandments, listen to his voice, serve him, and cling to him.
5 That prophet or that interpreter of dreams is to be put to death because he advised you to turn against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, in order to draw you away from the path on which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. Purge the evil from among you.
The Penalty for Idolatry
6 If your full brother or your mother’s son, your son or your daughter, the wife you embrace, or your closest friend tempts you by saying secretly, “Let’s go and serve other gods,”—gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 from among the gods of the peoples around you, either near or far from you, anywhere from one end of the land to the other— 8 do not be influenced by him and do not listen to him. Your eye is not to look on him with compassion. Do not spare him and do not pardon him, 9 but kill him. Your hand is to be the first one on him when putting him to death, and afterward the hands of all the other people. 10 Stone him to death, because he tried to pull you away from the Lord your God, who led you out of the land of Egypt, where you were slaves. 11 Then all of Israel will hear and fear, and such an evil thing as this will not be done among you again.
12 If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you so that you can live in them, 13 men of worthless character have gone out from among you and have pulled the inhabitants of their city away from the Lord, saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods,” gods whom you have not known, 14 then investigate, search out the truth, and inquire diligently. If it becomes established truth that this abomination has been done among you, 15 you are to strike down the inhabitants of that city with the blade of the sword. Devote it and everything in it to complete destruction by the blade of the sword, including its cattle. 16 Gather all its plunder at the center of its town square. Then burn the city and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It is to be a permanent mound of ruins, never to be rebuilt.
17 Let nothing that has been devoted to destruction stick to your hands, so that the Lord will turn away from his anger and show you compassion. In his compassion he will increase your population, as he swore to your fathers, 18 if you obey the voice of the Lord your God by keeping all of his commandments that I am commanding you today, by doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 13:1 In the Hebrew text, chapter 13 starts with English verse 12:32. In chapter 13, the remaining Hebrew verse numbers are one number higher than the corresponding English verse numbers.
Deuteronomy 13
Lexham English Bible
13 “If a prophet stands up in your midst or a dreamer of dreams[a] and he gives to you a sign or wonder, 2 and the sign or[b] the wonder comes about that he spoke[c] to you, saying,[d] ‘Let us go after other gods (those whom you have not known), and let us serve them,’ 3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer, for Yahweh your God is testing you to know whether you love[e] Yahweh your God with all of your heart and with all of your inner self.[f] 4 You shall go after Yahweh your God, and him you shall revere, and his commandment you shall keep, and to his voice you shall listen, and him you shall serve, and to him you shall hold fast. 5 But that prophet or the dreamer of that dream shall be executed, for he spoke falsely about Yahweh your God, the one bringing you out from the land of Egypt and the one redeeming you from the house of slavery, in order to seduce you from the way that Yahweh your God commanded you to go in it; so in this way you shall purge the evil from your midst.
6 “If your brother, the son of your mother or your son or your daughter or your wife whom you embrace[g] or your intimate friend[h] in secrecy says,[i] ‘Let us go and let us serve other gods!’ gods that you and your ancestors[j] have not known, 7 from among the gods of the people who are around you, those near you or those far from you,[k] from one end of the earth and up to the other end of the earth, 8 you must not give in to him, and you shall not listen to him, and your eye shall not take pity on him, and you shall not have compassion, and you shall not cover up[l] for him. 9 But you shall certainly kill him; your hand shall be first against him to kill him and next the hand of all of the people. 10 And you shall stone him with stones and let him die, for he tried to seduce you from Yahweh your God, the one bringing you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 11 And all of Israel shall hear, and they shall fear, and they shall not continue to act[m] according to this evil thing in your midst.
12 “If you hear in one of your towns which Yahweh your God is giving to you to live in, someone saying that[n] 13 worthless men[o] have gone out from your midst and have seduced the inhabitants of their town, saying,[p] ‘Let us go and serve other gods!’ whom you have not known, 14 then you shall inquire and examine and interrogate thoroughly, and, look! It is true; the thing has actually been done, this detestable thing in your midst, 15 then you shall certainly strike down the inhabitants of that town with the edge[q] of the sword; you shall destroy it and everything in it, its domestic animals with the edge[r] of the sword. 16 And then you shall gather all of its booty into the middle of its public square, and you shall burn the town and all of its war-booty totally for Yahweh your God, and it shall be a pile of rubble forever;[s] it shall not be built again. 17 And let not something cling to your hand from the things devoted to destruction, so that Yahweh may turn back from his burning anger,[t] and he may show compassion to you and he may continue to show compassion and so multiply you just as he swore[u] to your ancestors,[v] 18 if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep all of his commandments that I am commanding to you today[w] so as to do the right thing in the eyes of Yahweh your God.”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 13:1 Hebrew “dream”
- Deuteronomy 13:2 Hebrew “and”
- Deuteronomy 13:2 Or “promised/declared”
- Deuteronomy 13:2 Literally “to say”
- Deuteronomy 13:3 Literally “a testing of Yahweh your God concerning you in order to know whether there is you loving”
- Deuteronomy 13:3 Or “soul”
- Deuteronomy 13:6 Literally “or the wife of your embrace”
- Deuteronomy 13:6 Literally “your friend who is like your soul/inner self”
- Deuteronomy 13:6 Literally “to say”
- Deuteronomy 13:6 Or “fathers”
- Deuteronomy 13:7 Literally “the near ones to you or the distant ones from you”
- Deuteronomy 13:8 Or “conceal” him
- Deuteronomy 13:11 Literally “they shall not add to do”
- Deuteronomy 13:12 Literally “to say”
- Deuteronomy 13:13 Literally “sons of Belial”
- Deuteronomy 13:13 Literally “to say”
- Deuteronomy 13:15 Literally “mouth”
- Deuteronomy 13:15 Literally “mouth”
- Deuteronomy 13:16 Literally “a tell/ruin forever”
- Deuteronomy 13:17 Literally “from the burning of his nose”
- Deuteronomy 13:17 Literally “as that he swore”
- Deuteronomy 13:17 Or “fathers”
- Deuteronomy 13:18 Literally “the day”
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