Deuteronomy 13-14
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
13 [a]“If prophets or those who divine by dreams appear among you and show you omens or portents,(A) 2 and the omens or the portents declared by them take place, and they say, ‘Let us follow other gods’ (whom you have not known) ‘and let us serve them,’(B) 3 you must not heed the words of those prophets or those who divine by dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you indeed love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.(C) 4 The Lord your God you shall follow, him alone you shall fear, his commandments you shall keep, his voice you shall obey, him you shall serve, and to him you shall hold fast.(D) 5 But those prophets or those who divine by dreams shall be put to death for having spoken treason against the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to turn you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.(E)
6 “If anyone secretly entices you—even if it is your brother, your father’s son or[b] your mother’s son, or your own son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your most intimate friend—saying, ‘Let us go serve other gods,’ whom neither you nor your ancestors have known,(F) 7 any of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far away from you, from one end of the earth to the other, 8 you must not yield to or heed any such persons. Show them no pity or compassion, and do not shield them. 9 But you shall surely kill them; your own hand shall be first against them to execute them and afterward the hand of all the people.(G) 10 Stone them to death for trying to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 11 Then all Israel shall hear and be afraid and never again do any such wickedness.(H)
12 “If you hear it said about one of the towns that the Lord your God is giving you to live in, 13 that scoundrels from among you have gone out and led the inhabitants of the town astray, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ whom you have not known,(I) 14 then you shall inquire and make a thorough investigation. If the charge is established that such an abhorrent thing has been done among you, 15 you shall put the inhabitants of that town to the sword, utterly destroying it and everything in it, even putting its livestock to the sword.(J) 16 All of its spoil you shall gather into its public square, then burn the town and all its spoil with fire as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It shall remain a perpetual ruin, never to be rebuilt.(K) 17 Do not let anything devoted to destruction stick to your hand, so that the Lord may turn from his fierce anger and show you compassion, and in his compassion multiply you, as he swore to your ancestors,(L) 18 if you obey the voice of the Lord your God by keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.(M)
Pagan Practices Forbidden
14 “You are children of the Lord your God. You must not lacerate yourselves or shave your forelocks for the dead.(N) 2 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God; it is you the Lord has chosen out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession.(O)
Clean and Unclean Foods
3 “You shall not eat any abhorrent thing. 4 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,(P) 5 the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. 6 Any animal that divides the hoof and has the hoof cleft in two and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. 7 Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cleft you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger because they chew the cud but do not divide the hoof; they are unclean for you. 8 And the pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. You shall not eat their meat, and you shall not touch their carcasses.(Q)
9 “Of all that live in water you may eat these: whatever has fins and scales you may eat.(R) 10 And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
11 “You may eat any clean birds. 12 But these are the ones that you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey,(S) 13 the buzzard, the kite of any kind; 14 every raven of any kind; 15 the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind; 16 the little owl and the great owl, the water hen 17 and the desert owl,[c] the carrion vulture and the cormorant, 18 the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.[d] 19 And all winged insects are unclean for you; they shall not be eaten.(T) 20 You may eat any clean winged creature.
21 “You shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to aliens residing in your towns for them to eat, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.
“You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.(U)
Regulations concerning Tithes
22 “Set apart a tithe of all the yield of your seed that is brought in yearly from the field.(V) 23 In the presence of the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose as a dwelling for his name, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, your wine, and your oil, as well as the firstlings of your herd and flock, so that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.(W) 24 But if, when the Lord your God has blessed you, the distance is so great that you are unable to transport it, because the place where the Lord your God will choose to set his name is too far away from you,(X) 25 then you may turn it into money. With the money secure in hand, go to the place that the Lord your God will choose; 26 spend the money for whatever you wish: oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink, or whatever you desire. And you shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your household rejoicing together.(Y) 27 As for the Levites resident in your towns, do not neglect them, because they have no allotment or inheritance with you.(Z)
28 “Every third year you shall bring out the full tithe of your produce for that year and store it within your towns;(AA) 29 the Levites, because they have no allotment or inheritance with you, as well as the resident aliens, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, may come and eat their fill so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work that you undertake.(AB)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.