Deuteronomy 13
1 If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,
If there arise in the midst of thee a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he giveth thee a sign or a token,
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 token come to pass, whereof he spoke unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou dost not know, and let us serve them:
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 shalt thou not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or unto that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye indeed love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
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.
After the Lord your God shall ye walk, and him shall ye fear, and his commandments shall ye keep, and his voice shall ye obey, and him shall ye serve, and unto him shall ye cleave.
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, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken revolt against the Lord your God, who hath brought you out of the land of Egypt, and who hath redeemed you out of the house of bond-men, to mislead thee front the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk therein; and thou shalt put the evil away from the midst of thee.
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 thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, who is [dear to thee] as thy own soul, should entice thee, in secret, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou dost not know, either thou, or thy fathers;
7 the gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, whether from one end of the earth or the other),
Some of the gods of the nations which are round about you, that are nigh unto thee, or that are far off from thee, from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth:
8 you must not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity, and do not spare him or shield him.
Then shalt thou not consent unto him, nor shalt thou hearken unto him; nor shall thy eye look with pity on him, nor shalt thou spare, nor shalt thou conceal it for him;
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 thou shalt surely kill him; thy hand shall be the first upon him to put him to death, and the hand of all the people afterward.
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.
And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he sought to mislead thee from the Lord thy God, who hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bond-men.
11 Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.
And all Israel shall hear it, and they shall be afraid, and they shall not do any more such a wicked deed as this is in the midst of thee.
12 If, regarding one of the cities the LORD your God is giving you to inhabit, you hear it said
If thou shouldst hear concerning one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying,
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),
There have gone forth men, children of worthlessness, from the midst of thee, and have misled the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known:
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 shalt thou inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be true, the thing is certain, such abomination hath been wrought in the midst of thee:
15 you must surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword. Devote to destruction all its people and livestock.
Then shalt thou smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, devoting it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, to the edge of the sword.
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 all its spoil shalt thou gather into the midst of the market-place thereof, and thou shalt burn with fire the city, and all its spoil entirely, unto the Lord thy God; and it shall be a ruinous heap for ever: it shall not be built again.
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,
And there shall not cleave to thy hand aught of the devoted things; in order that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and grant thee mercy, and have mercy upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy 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.
When thou wilt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord thy God.
