Deuteronomy 13

1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,

If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,

2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other elohim, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;

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,”

3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for YHWH your Elohim proveth you, to know whether ye love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul.

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.

4 Ye shall walk after YHWH your Elohim, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

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.

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

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.

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

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,

7 Namely, of the elohim of the people which 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 the peoples around you, whether near or far, whether from one end of the earth or the other),

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:

you must not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity, and do not spare him or shield him.

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

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.

10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from YHWH thy Elohim, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

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.

11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.

Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.

12 If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which YHWH thy Elohim hath given thee to dwell there, saying,

If, regarding one of the cities the LORD your God is giving you to inhabit, you hear it said

13 Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other elohim, which ye have not known;

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),

14 Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you;

then you must inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. And if it is established with certainty that this abomination has 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.

you must surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword. Devote to destruction all its people and livestock.

16 And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for YHWH thy Elohim: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again.

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.

17 And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that YHWH may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers;

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,

18 When thou shalt hearken to the voice of YHWH thy Elohim, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of YHWH thy Elohim.

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.