< Deuteronomy 13 >

1 If there rise in the midst of thee a prophet or one that saith he hath dreamed a dream, and he foretell a sign and a wonder,
And if there arise within thee a prophet, or one who dreams a dream, and he gives thee a sign or a wonder,
2 And that come to pass which he spoke, and he say to thee: Let us go and follow strange gods, which thou knowest not, and let us serve them:
and the sign or the wonder come to pass which he spoke to thee, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye know not;
3 Thou shalt not hear the words of that prophet or dreamer: for the Lord your God trieth you, that it may appear whether you love him with all your heart, and with all your soul, or not.
ye shall not hearken to the words of that prophet, or the dreamer of that dream, because the Lord thy God tries you, to know whether ye love your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 Follow the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and hear his voice: him you shall serve, and to him you shall cleave.
Ye shall follow the Lord your God, and fear him, and ye shall hear his voice, and attach yourselves to him.
5 And that prophet or forger of dreams shall be slain: because he spoke to draw you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of bondage: to make thee go out of the way, which the Lord thy God commanded thee: and thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee.
And that prophet or that dreamer of a dream, shall die; for he has spoken to make thee err from the Lord thy God who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, who redeemed thee from bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in: so shalt thou abolish the evil from among you.
6 If thy brother the son of thy mother, or thy son, or daughter, or thy wife that is in thy bosom, or thy friend, whom thou lovest as thy own soul, would persuade thee secretly, saying: Let us go, and serve strange gods, which thou knowest not, nor thy fathers,
And if thy brother by thy father or mother, or thy son, or daughter, or thy wife in thy bosom, or friend who is equal to thine own soul, entreat thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known,
7 Of all the nations round about, that are near or afar off, from one end of the earth to the other,
of the gods of the nations that are round about you, who are near thee or at a distance from thee, from one end of the earth to the other;
8 Consent not to him, hear him not, neither let thy eye spare him to pity and conceal him,
thou shalt not consent to him, neither shalt thou hearken to him; and thine eye shall not spare him, thou shalt feel no regret for him, neither shalt thou at all protect him:
9 But thou shalt presently put him to death. It Let thy hand be first upon him, and afterwards the hands of all the people.
thou shalt surely report concerning him, and thy hands shall be upon him among the first to slay him, and the hands of all the people at the last.
10 With stones shall he be stoned to death: because he would have withdrawn thee from the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage:
And they shall stone him with stones, and he shall die, because he sought to draw thee away from the Lord thy God who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
11 That all Israel hearing may fear, and may do no more any thing like this.
And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall not again do according to this evil thing among you.
12 If in one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God shall give thee to dwell in, thou hear some say:
And if in one of thy cities which the Lord God gives thee to dwell therein, thou shalt hear men saying,
13 Children of Belial are gone out of the midst of thee, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, and have said: Let us go, and serve strange gods which you know not:
Evil men have gone out from you, and have caused all the inhabitants of their land to fall away, saying, Let us go and worship other gods, whom ye knew not,
14 Inquire carefully and diligently, the truth of the thing by looking well into it, and if thou find that which is said to be certain, and that this abomination hath been really committed,
then thou shalt enquire and ask, and search diligently, and behold, [if] the thing is clearly true, and this abomination has taken place among you,
15 Thou shalt forthwith kill the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, and shalt destroy it and all things that are in it, even the cattle.
thou shalt utterly destroy all the dwellers in that land with the edge of the sword; ye shall solemnly curse it, and all things in it.
16 And all the household goods that are there, thou shalt gather together in the midst of the streets thereof, and shalt burn them with the city itself, so as to consume all for the Lord thy God, and that it be a heap for ever: it shall be built no more.
And all its spoils thou shalt gather into its public ways, and thou shalt burn the city with fire, and all its spoils publicly before the Lord thy God; and it shall be uninhabited for ever, it shall not be built again.
17 And there shall nothing of that anathema stick to thy hand: that the Lord may turn from the wrath of his fury, and may have mercy on thee, and multiply thee as he swore to thy fathers,
And there shall nothing of the cursed thing cleave to thy hand, that the Lord may turn from his fierce anger, and shew thee mercy, and pity thee, and multiply thee, as he sware to thy fathers;
18 When thou shalt hear the voice of the Lord thy God, keeping all his precepts, which I command thee this day, that thou mayst do what is pleasing in the sight of the Lord thy God.
if thou wilt hear the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments, all that I charge thee this day, to do that which is good and pleasing before the Lord thy God.

< Deuteronomy 13 >