Deuteronomy 13:6-18
New King James Version
6 (A)“If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, (B)the wife [a]of your bosom, or your friend (C)who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, 7 of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, 8 you shall (D)not [b]consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; 9 but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to (E)death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10 And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he 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 So all Israel shall hear and (F)fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you.
12 (G)“If you hear someone in one of your cities, which the Lord your God gives you to dwell in, saying, 13 [c]‘Corrupt men have gone out from among you and enticed 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. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an [d]abomination was committed among you, 15 you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its livestock—with the edge of the sword. 16 And you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of the street, and [e]completely (H)burn with fire the city and all its plunder, for the Lord your God. It shall be (I)a [f]heap forever; it shall not be built again. 17 (J)So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the Lord may (K)turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and [g]multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers, 18 because you have listened to the voice of the Lord your God, (L)to keep all His commandments which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Deuteronomy 13:6 Whom you cherish
- Deuteronomy 13:8 yield
- Deuteronomy 13:13 Lit. Sons of Belial
- Deuteronomy 13:14 detestable action
- Deuteronomy 13:16 Or as a whole-offering
- Deuteronomy 13:16 Lit. mound or ruin
- Deuteronomy 13:17 increase
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.