²¹ “^(A)You shall not plant for yourself an ^[a]Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the Lord your God, which you shall make for yourself. ²² And ^(B)you shall not set up for yourself a memorial stone, which the Lord your God hates.

² “^(A)If there is found in your midst, in any of your ^[a]towns which the Lord your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, by violating His covenant, ³ and that person has gone and ^(B)served other gods and worshiped them, ^(C)or the sun, the moon, or any of the heavenly ^[b]lights, ^(D)which I have commanded not to do, ⁴ and if it is reported to you and you have heard about it, then you shall investigate thoroughly. And ^[c]if it is true and the report is trustworthy that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, ⁵ then you are to bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil deed, that is, the man or the woman, and ^(E)you shall stone them to ^[d]death. ^6 (F)On the ^[e]testimony of two witnesses or three witnesses, the ^[f]condemned shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the ^[g]testimony of only one witness. ^7 (G)The hands of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. ^(H)So you shall eliminate the evil from your midst.

Spiritism Forbidden

⁹ “When you enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to ^[a](A)imitate the detestable things of those nations. ¹⁰ There shall not be found among you anyone ^(B)who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, a ^(C)soothsayer, one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, ¹¹ or one who casts a spell, ^(D)or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who consults the dead. ¹² For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord; and ^(E)because of these detestable things the Lord your God is going to drive them out before you. ^13 (F)You are to be blameless before the Lord your God. ¹⁴ For these nations, which you are going to dispossess, listen to ^(G)soothsayers and diviners, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so.