13 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,

And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;

Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;

Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;

Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:

But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.

12 If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying,

13 Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;

14 Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you;

15 Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.

16 And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the Lord thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again.

17 And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers;

18 When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord thy God.

13 “If there is a prophet among you, or one who claims to foretell the future by dreams, and if his predictions come true but he says, ‘Come, let us worship the gods of the other nations,’ don’t listen to him. For the Lord is testing you to find out whether or not you really love him with all your heart and soul. You must never worship any God but Jehovah; obey only his commands and cling to him.

“The prophet who tries to lead you astray must be executed, for he has attempted to foment rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you out of slavery in the land of Egypt. By executing him you will clear out the evil from among you.

6-7 “If your nearest relative or closest friend, even a brother, son, daughter, or beloved wife whispers to you to come and worship these foreign gods, do not consent or listen, and have no pity: Do not spare that person from the penalty; don’t conceal his horrible suggestion. Execute him! Your own hand shall be the first upon him to put him to death, then the hands of all the people. 10 Stone him to death because he has tried to draw you away from the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery. 11 Then all Israel will hear about his evil deed and will fear such wickedness as this among you.

12-14 “If you ever hear it said about one of the cities of Israel that some worthless rabble have led their fellow citizens astray with the suggestion that they worship foreign gods, first check the facts to see if the rumor is true. If you find that it is, that it is certain that such a horrible thing is happening among you in one of the cities the Lord has given you, 15 you must without fail declare war against that city and utterly destroy all of its inhabitants, and even all of the cattle. 16 Afterwards you must pile all the booty into the middle of the street and burn it, then put the entire city to the torch, as a burnt offering to Jehovah your God. That city shall forever remain a lifeless mound and may never be rebuilt. 17 Keep none of the booty! Then the Lord will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you, and have compassion upon you, and make you a great nation just as he promised your ancestors.

18 “Of course, the Lord your God will be merciful only if you have been obedient to him and to his commandments that I am giving you today, and if you have been doing that which is right in the eyes of the Lord.

13 “If a prophet or (A)a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and (B)the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God (C)is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall (D)walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and (E)hold fast to him. But (F)that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. (G)So you shall purge the evil[a] from your midst.

(H)“If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or (I)the wife you embrace[b] or your friend (J)who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ (K)which neither you nor your fathers have known, some (L)of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, you shall (M)not yield to him or listen to him, nor (N)shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. But you shall kill him. (O)Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10 (P)You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 11 And (Q)all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you.

12 “If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to dwell there, 13 that certain (R)worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, 14 then you shall inquire and make search and ask (S)diligently. And behold, if it be true and certain that such an abomination has been done among you, 15 you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, devoting it to destruction,[c] all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. 16 You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its open square and (T)burn the city and all its spoil with fire, as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It shall be a (U)heap forever. It shall not be built again. 17 (V)None of the devoted things shall stick to your hand, (W)that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy and have compassion on you and multiply you, (X)as he swore to your fathers, 18 if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, (Y)keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 13:5 Or evil person
  2. Deuteronomy 13:6 Hebrew the wife of your bosom
  3. Deuteronomy 13:15 That is, setting apart (devoting) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)