Deuteronomy 13

1 If there arise in the midst of thee a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams — and he give thee a sign or a wonder,

Maybe a prophet or someone who has dreams about the future comes along and gives you a prediction you about some sign or miracle,

2 and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spoke unto thee — saying: 'Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them';

and the sign or wonder does happens. If after that they tell you, “Let's follow other gods that you don't know, and let's worship them,”

3 thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or unto that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God putteth you to proof, to know whether ye do love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

then you must not listen to what that prophet or dreamer has to say because the Lord your God is trying to find out whether you really love him with all your mind and with all your being.

4 After the LORD your God shall ye walk, and Him shall ye fear, and His commandments shall ye keep, and unto His voice shall ye hearken, and Him shall ye serve, and unto Him shall ye cleave.

You are to follow the Lord your God and respect him. Keep his commandments and do what he says; worship him and hold onto him.

5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken perversion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage, to draw thee aside out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee.

These kinds of prophet or dreamer must be executed, because they have promoted rebellion against the Lord your God, who led you out of Egypt and rescued you from the prison-house of slavery. They have tried to lead you from the way that the Lord your God has ordered you to follow. You must eliminate the evil among you.

6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, that is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying: 'Let us go and serve other gods,' which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;

Even if your own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your best friend secretly encourages you, saying, “Let's go and worship other gods” unfamiliar to you and your forefathers,

7 of the gods of the peoples that are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;

the gods of your pagan nation neighbors, whether they love close by or far away in any direction,

8 thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him;

don't give into them or listen to them. Show them no mercy. Don't spare them or protect them.

9 but thou shalt surely kill him; thy hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

No, you absolutely must kill them! You start killing them, and then have everyone else help.

10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath 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.

Stone the person to death for trying lead you away from the Lord your God, who led you out of Egypt, out of the prison-house of slavery.

11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is in the midst of thee.

Then every Israelite will hear about it and be afraid, and won't ever do such an evil thing among you.

12 If thou shalt hear tell concerning one of thy cities, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to dwell there, saying:

It may happen that once you're living in the towns the Lord your God is giving you, you hear

13 'Certain base fellows are gone out from the midst of thee, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying: Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known';

that evil people have taken over in one of your towns and have led the people there astray, telling them, “Let's go and worship other gods” that you don't know.

14 then shalt thou inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in the midst of thee;

If this does happen you need to make a full investigation, inquiring about the facts and interrogating witnesses. If it's proved beyond doubt that this awful sin has actually been committed among you,

15 thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.

then you have to kill the people living in that town with the sword. Set apart for destruction its people and its livestock.

16 And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the broad place thereof, and shall burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, unto the LORD thy God; and it shall be a heap for ever; it shall not be built again.

You must pile up all the people's possessions in the middle of the public square, and completely burn the town and everything in it as a complete burnt offering to the Lord your God. The town must remain a heap of ruins forever. It must never be rebuilt.

17 And there shall cleave nought of the devoted thing to thy hand, that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of His anger, and show thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as He hath sworn unto thy fathers;

Don't take for yourselves anything that has been set apart for destruction so that the Lord won't be angry any more. He will be merciful to you, showing you compassion, and giving you many descendants as he promised to your forefathers,

18 when thou shalt hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep all His commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD thy God.

because you are obeying the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I'm giving you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.