⁶ “^(A)If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife ^[a]you cherish, or your friend who is like your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, ‘^(B)Let’s go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, ⁷ of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you, or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), ^8 (C)you shall not consent to him or listen to him; ^(D)and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him. ^9 (E)Instead, you shall most certainly kill him; ^(F)your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. ¹⁰ So you shall stone him ^[b]to death, because he has attempted ^(G)to drive you away from the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of ^[c]slavery. ¹¹ Then ^(H)all Israel will hear about it and be afraid, and will not do such a wicked thing among you again.

^16 (A)If a malicious witness rises up against a person to testify against him of wrongdoing, ¹⁷ then both people who have the dispute shall stand ^(B)before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. ¹⁸ And the judges ^(C)shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has testified against his brother falsely, ¹⁹ then ^(D)you shall do to him just as he had planned to do to his brother. So you shall eliminate the evil from among you. ²⁰ And ^(E)the rest of the people will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you. ²¹ So ^[a](F)you shall not show pity: ^(G)life for life, ^(H)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.

³ For ^(A)rulers are not a cause of fear for ^[a]good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; ⁴ for it is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a servant of God, an ^(B)avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.