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Idolatry

13 If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass concerning that which he spoke to you, saying, “Let us go after other gods,” which you have not known, “and let us serve them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You must follow after the Lord your God, fear Him, and keep His commandments, obey His voice, and you must serve Him, and cling to Him. That prophet or that dreamer of dreams must be put to death because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to entice you away from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you must put the evil away from your midst.

If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or your beloved wife, or your friend, who is as your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods,” which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, namely, of the gods of the people who are all around you, near you or far away from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, you shall not consent to him or listen to him, neither should your eye pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him, but you must surely kill him. Your hand must be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards, the hand of all the people. 10 You shall stone him with stones so that he dies because he has sought to entice you away from the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 11 All Israel shall hear and fear and no more do any such wickedness as this among you.

12 If you hear it said in one of your cities, in which the Lord your God has given you to dwell, saying, 13 “Certain men, the sons of wickedness, are gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ ” which you have not known, 14 then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently. If it be true and certain that such an abomination has been among you, 15 you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its livestock—with the edge of the sword. 16 You must gather all the spoils of it into the middle of the street and burn the city with fire along with all the spoils within it for the Lord your God, and it will be a heap forever. It must not be rebuilt. 17 Nothing of the cursed thing there must cling to your hand, so that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you, and multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers, 18 if you listen to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you today, and do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.

13 “If a prophet stands up in your midst or a dreamer of dreams[a] and he gives to you a sign or wonder, 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,’ 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] 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. 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.

“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, 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, 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. 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

  1. Deuteronomy 13:1 Hebrew “dream”
  2. Deuteronomy 13:2 Hebrew “and”
  3. Deuteronomy 13:2 Or “promised/declared”
  4. Deuteronomy 13:2 Literally “to say”
  5. Deuteronomy 13:3 Literally “a testing of Yahweh your God concerning you in order to know whether there is you loving”
  6. Deuteronomy 13:3 Or “soul”
  7. Deuteronomy 13:6 Literally “or the wife of your embrace”
  8. Deuteronomy 13:6 Literally “your friend who is like your soul/inner self”
  9. Deuteronomy 13:6 Literally “to say”
  10. Deuteronomy 13:6 Or “fathers”
  11. Deuteronomy 13:7 Literally “the near ones to you or the distant ones from you”
  12. Deuteronomy 13:8 Or “conceal” him
  13. Deuteronomy 13:11 Literally “they shall not add to do”
  14. Deuteronomy 13:12 Literally “to say”
  15. Deuteronomy 13:13 Literally “sons of Belial”
  16. Deuteronomy 13:13 Literally “to say”
  17. Deuteronomy 13:15 Literally “mouth”
  18. Deuteronomy 13:15 Literally “mouth”
  19. Deuteronomy 13:16 Literally “a tell/ruin forever”
  20. Deuteronomy 13:17 Literally “from the burning of his nose”
  21. Deuteronomy 13:17 Literally “as that he swore”
  22. Deuteronomy 13:17 Or “fathers”
  23. Deuteronomy 13:18 Literally “the day”