Deuteronomy 16:21-17:7

English Standard Version

Forbidden Forms of Worship

²¹ “You shall not plant any tree as ^(A)an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord your God that you shall make. ²² And you shall not set up a pillar, which the Lord your God hates.

17 ^(B)“You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep in which is a blemish, any defect whatever, for that is an abomination to the Lord your God.

^2 (C)“If there is found among you, within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, ^(D)in transgressing his covenant, ³ and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or ^(E)the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, ^(F)which I have forbidden, ⁴ and it is told you and you hear of it, then you shall inquire ^(G)diligently, and if it is true and certain that such an abomination has been done in Israel, ⁵ then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you ^(H)shall stone that man or woman to death with stones. ^6 (I)On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. ^7 (J)The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So ^(K)you shall purge^[a] the evil^[b] from your midst.