< Deuteronomy 13 >
1 If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,
When there shall arise in thy midst—a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, —and he shall give unto thee 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 shall come in, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, —Let us go after other gods, which ye know not 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.
thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or unto that dreamer of dreams, —for Yahweh your God, is putting you to the proof, to know whether ye do love Yahweh 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 Yahweh your God, shall ye walk And him, shall ye revere, —And his commandments, shall ye observe. And unto his voice, shall ye hearken, 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 Yahweh your God, —who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt and redeemed thee out of the house of servants, to seduce thee out of the way wherein Yahweh thy God hath commanded thee to walk, —so shalt thou consume the wicked thing out of thy midst.
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,
When thy brother—son of thine own mother or thine own son or thine own daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend who is as thine own soul, shall entice thee secretly, saying, —Let us go and serve other gods, whom thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
7 the gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, whether from one end of the earth or the other),
of the gods of the peoples who are round about you, who are near unto thee, or who 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.
thou shalt not consent unto him, neither shalt thou hearken unto him, —neither shall thine eye look with pity upon him, neither shalt thou spare—neither shalt thou conceal 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 slay, him, thine own hand, shall be on him first, to put him to death, —and the hand of all the people afterwards.
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, —for he hath sought to seduce thee from Yahweh thy God, who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of servants.
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 and fear, —and shall not again do according to this wickedness in thy midst.
12 If, regarding one of the cities the LORD your God is giving you to inhabit, you hear it said
When thou shalt hear—in one of thy cities which Yahweh thy God is giving unto 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 sons of the Abandoned One, out of thy midst, and have seduced 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,
and thou shalt enquire, and search out, and ask diligently, —and lo! true—certain, is the thing, this abomination, hath been done, in thy midst,
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 to destruction, and all that is therein and the cattle thereof: with 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 the spoil thereof, shalt thou gather together into the midst of the broadway thereof, and shalt consume with fire the city and all the spoil thereof, every whit, unto Yahweh thy God, —and it shall be a heap unto times age-abiding, it shall be built no more.
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,
So shall there not cleave to thy hand aught of the devoted thing, —that Yahweh may turn away, from the glow of his anger and grant thee compassion and have compassion upon thee and multiply thee, as he sware 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.
so long as thou shalt hearken unto the voice of Yahweh thy God, to keep all his commandments, which I am commanding thee to-day, —to do what is right in the eyes of Yahweh thy God.