(A)“If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or (B)the wife you embrace[a] or your friend (C)who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ (D)which neither you nor your fathers have known, some (E)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 (F)not yield to him or listen to him, nor (G)shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. But you shall kill him. (H)Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10 (I)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 (J)all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 13:6 Hebrew the wife of your bosom

Similarly, if one of your relatives—even one of your own siblings—or your own son or daughter or your dear spouse or best friend entices you secretly, if someone like that says: “Come on! We should follow and worship other gods”—ones that neither you nor your ancestors have experienced, gods from all the neighboring peoples, whether nearby or far away, from one end of the earth to the other— don’t give in to them! Don’t obey them! Don’t have any mercy on them! Don’t have compassion on them and don’t protect them! Instead, you must execute them. Your own hand must be against them from the beginning of the execution; the hand of all the people will be involved at the end. 10 Stone them until they are dead because they desired to lead you away from the Lord your God, the one who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 11 All Israel will hear about this and be afraid. They won’t do that sort of evil thing among you again.

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