Deuteronomy 13
1 If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,
If ever you have among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams and he gives you a sign or a wonder,
2 and if the sign or wonder he has spoken to you comes about, but he says, “Let us follow other gods (which you have not known) and let us worship them,”
And the sign or the wonder takes place, and he says to you, Let us go after other gods, which are strange to you, and give them worship;
3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. For the LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Then give no attention to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God is testing you, to see if all the love of your heart and soul is given to him.
4 You are to follow the LORD your God and fear Him. Keep His commandments and listen to His voice; serve Him and hold fast to Him.
But keep on in the ways of the Lord your God, fearing him and keeping his orders and hearing his voice, worshipping him and being true to him.
5 Such a prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has advocated rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way in which the LORD your God has commanded you to walk. So you must purge the evil from among you.
And that prophet or that dreamer of dreams is to be put to death; for his words were said with the purpose of turning you away from the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt and made you free from the prison-house; and of forcing you out of the way in which the Lord your God has given you orders to go. So you are to put away the evil from among you.
6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (which neither you nor your fathers have known,
If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife of your heart, or the friend who is as dear to you as your life, working on you secretly says to you, Let us go and give worship to other gods, strange to you and to your fathers;
7 the gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, whether from one end of the earth or the other),
Gods of the peoples round about you, near or far, from one end of the earth to the other;
8 you must not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity, and do not spare him or shield him.
Do not be guided by him or give attention to him; have no pity on him or mercy, and give him no cover;
9 Instead, you must surely kill him. Your hand must be the first against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people.
But put him to death without question; let your hand be the first stretched out against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people.
10 Stone him 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.
Let him be stoned with stones till he is dead; because it was his purpose to make you false to the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the prison-house.
11 Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.
And all Israel, hearing of it, will be full of fear, and no one will again do such evil as this among you.
12 If, regarding one of the cities the LORD your God is giving you to inhabit, you hear it said
And if word comes to you, in one of the towns which the Lord your God is giving you for your resting-place,
13 that wicked men have arisen from among you and have led the people of their city astray, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods” (which you have not known),
That good-for-nothing persons have gone out from among you, turning the people of their town from the right way and saying, Let us go and give worship to other gods, of whom you have no knowledge;
14 then you must inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. And if it is established with certainty that this abomination has been committed among you,
Then let a full search be made, and let questions be put with care; and if it is true and certain that such a disgusting thing has been done among you;
15 you must surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword. Devote to destruction all its people and livestock.
Then take up arms against the people of that town and give it up to the curse, with all its cattle and everything in it.
16 And you are to gather all its plunder in the middle of the public square, and completely burn the city and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God. The city must remain a mound of ruins forever, never to be rebuilt.
And take all the goods into the middle of its open space, burning the town and all its property with fire as an offering to the Lord your God; it is to be a waste for ever; there is to be no more building there.
17 Nothing devoted to destruction shall cling to your hands, so that the LORD will turn from His fierce anger, grant you mercy, show you compassion, and multiply you as He swore to your fathers,
Keep not a thing of what is cursed for yourselves: so the Lord may be turned away from the heat of his wrath, and have mercy on you, and give you increase as he said in his oath to your fathers:
18 because you obey the LORD your God, keeping all His commandments I am giving you today and doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD your God.
So long as you give ear to the voice of the Lord your God, and keep all his orders which I give you today, and do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.
