Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options
Close GW

Deuteronomy 13
GOD’S WORD Translation

How Israel Is to Deal with False Prophets

13 [a]One of your people, claiming to be a prophet or to have prophetic dreams, may predict a miraculous sign or an amazing thing. 2 What he predicts may even take place. But don’t listen to that prophet or dreamer [b] if he says, “Let’s worship and serve other gods.” (Those gods may be gods you’ve never heard of.) 3 The Lord your God is testing you to find out if you really love him with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 Worship the Lord your God, fear him, obey his commands, listen to what he says, serve him, and be loyal to him. 5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death because he preached rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and freed you from slavery. He was trying to lead you away from following the directions the Lord your God gave you. You must get rid of this evil.

6 Your own brother, son, or daughter, the wife you love, or your best friend may secretly tempt you, saying, “Let’s go worship other gods.” (Those gods may be gods that you and your ancestors never knew. 7 They may be the gods of the people around you, who live near or far, from one end of the land to the other.) 8 Don’t be influenced by any of these people or listen to them. Have no pity on them. Don’t feel sorry for them or protect them. 9 You must put them to death. You must start the execution. Then all the other people will join you in putting them to death. 10 Stone them to death because they were trying to lead you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of slavery in Egypt. 11 All Israel will hear about it and be afraid. Then no one among you will ever do such a wicked thing again.

12 You may hear that the residents in one of the cities which the Lord your God is giving you to live in 13 have been led away from the Lord your God by worthless people. You may hear that these people have been saying, “Let’s worship other gods.” (Those gods may be gods you’ve never heard of.) 14 Then make a thorough investigation. If it is true, and you can prove that this disgusting thing has been done among you, 15 you must kill the residents of that city with swords and destroy that city and everyone in it, including the animals, because they are claimed by God. 16 Gather their goods into the middle of the city square. Then burn their city and all their goods as a burnt offering to the Lord your God. It must remain a mound of ruins and never be rebuilt. 17 Don’t ever take any of the things claimed for destruction. Then the Lord will stop being angry and will show you mercy. In his mercy he will make your population increase, as he swore to your ancestors. 18 The Lord your God will do this if you listen to him, obey all the commands that I’m giving you today, and do what he considers right.

Footnotes

  1. 13:1 Deuteronomy 13:1–18 in English Bibles is Deuteronomy 13:2–19 in the Hebrew Bible.
  2. 13:2 The first part of verse 3 (in Hebrew) has been placed in verse 2 to express the complex Hebrew paragraph structure more clearly in English.
Listen to Deuteronomy 13
Close NKJV

Deuteronomy 13
New King James Version

Punishment of Apostates

13 “If there arises among you a prophet or a (A)dreamer of dreams, (B)and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and (C)the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God (D)is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall (E)walk[a] after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and (F)hold fast to Him. 5 But (G)that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall 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 from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. (H)So you shall [b]put away the evil from your midst.

6 (I)“If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, (J)the wife [c]of your bosom, or your friend (K)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 (L)not [d]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 (M)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 (N)fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you.

12 (O)“If you hear someone in one of your cities, which the Lord your God gives you to dwell in, saying, 13 [e]‘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 [f]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 [g]completely (P)burn with fire the city and all its plunder, for the Lord your God. It shall be (Q)a [h]heap forever; it shall not be built again. 17 (R)So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the Lord may (S)turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and [i]multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers, 18 because you have listened to the voice of the Lord your God, (T)to keep all His commandments which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 13:4 follow the Lord
  2. Deuteronomy 13:5 exterminate
  3. Deuteronomy 13:6 Whom you cherish
  4. Deuteronomy 13:8 yield
  5. Deuteronomy 13:13 Lit. Sons of Belial
  6. Deuteronomy 13:14 detestable action
  7. Deuteronomy 13:16 Or as a whole-offering
  8. Deuteronomy 13:16 Lit. mound or ruin
  9. Deuteronomy 13:17 increase
Listen to Deuteronomy 13
Close NIV

Deuteronomy 13
New International Version

Worshiping Other Gods

13 [a]If a prophet,(A) or one who foretells by dreams,(B) appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, 2 and if the sign(C) or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods”(D) (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” 3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet(E) or dreamer.(F) The Lord your God is testing(G) you to find out whether you love(H) him with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 It is the Lord your God you must follow,(I) and him you must revere.(J) Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast(K) to him. 5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death(L) for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn(M) you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil(N) from among you.

6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices(O) you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods”(P) (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, 7 gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), 8 do not yield(Q) to them or listen to them. Show them no pity.(R) Do not spare them or shield them. 9 You must certainly put them to death.(S) Your hand(T) must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. 10 Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away(U) from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 11 Then all Israel will hear and be afraid,(V) and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.

12 If you hear it said about one of the towns the Lord your God is giving you to live in 13 that troublemakers(W) have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods you have not known), 14 then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly.(X) And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you,(Y) 15 you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. You must destroy it completely,[b](Z) both its people and its livestock.(AA) 16 You are to gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town(AB) and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God.(AC) That town is to remain a ruin(AD) forever, never to be rebuilt, 17 and none of the condemned things[c] are to be found in your hands. Then the Lord will turn from his fierce anger,(AE) will show you mercy,(AF) and will have compassion(AG) on you. He will increase your numbers,(AH) as he promised(AI) on oath to your ancestors— 18 because you obey the Lord your God by keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right(AJ) in his eyes.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 13:1 In Hebrew texts 13:1-18 is numbered 13:2-19.
  2. Deuteronomy 13:15 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
  3. Deuteronomy 13:17 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
Listen to Deuteronomy 13
Close ESV

Deuteronomy 13
English Standard Version

13 “If a prophet or (A)a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 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,’ 3 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. 4 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. 5 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.

6 (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, 7 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, 8 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. 9 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)
Next
Deuteronomy 12
Deuteronomy 14
Next
dropdown
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.

New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Learn the Bible in 30 days
New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.

July Summer Surge

More on the NIV

English Standard Version (ESV)

The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.

ESV Study Bible