Deuteronomy 13

1 And if there arise within you a prophet, or one who dreams a dream, and he gives you a sign or a wonder,

If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and if he gives you a sign or a wonder,

2 and the sign or the wonder come to pass which he spoke to you, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you know not;

and if the sign or the wonder comes about, of which he spoke to you and said, 'Let us go after other gods, that you have not known, and let us worship them,'

3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or the dreamer of that dream, because the Lord your God tries you, to know whether you love your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

do not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams; for Yahweh your God is testing you to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

4 You shall follow the Lord your God, and fear him, and you shall hear his voice, and attach yourselves to him.

You will walk after Yahweh your God, honor him, keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and you will worship him and cling to him.

5 And that prophet or that dreamer of a dream, shall die; for he has spoken to make you err from the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, who redeemed you from bondage, to thrust you out of the way which the Lord your God commanded you to walk in: so shall you abolish the evil from among you.

That prophet or that dreamer of dreams will be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and who redeemed you out of the house of bondage. That prophet wants to draw you out of the way in which Yahweh your God commanded you to walk. So put away the evil from among you.

6 And if your brother by your father or mother, or your son, or daughter, or your wife in your bosom, or friend who is equal to your own soul, entreat you secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known,

Suppose that your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is to you like your own soul, secretly entices you and says, 'Let us go and worship other gods that you have not known, neither you nor your ancestors—

7 of the gods of the nations that are round about you, who are near you or at a distance from you, from one end of the earth to the other;

any of the gods of the peoples that are round about you, near to you, or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other end of the earth.'

8 you shall not consent to him, neither shall you listen to him; and your eye shall not spare him, you shall feel no regret for him, neither shall you at all protect him:

You must not give in to him or listen to him, and you must not permit your eye to pity him, and you must not spare him or conceal him.

9 you shall surely report concerning him, and your hands shall be upon him among the first to kill him, and the hands of all the people at the last.

Instead, you will surely kill him; your hand will be the first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

10 And they shall stone him with stones, and he shall die, because he sought to draw you away from the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

You will stone him to death with stones, because he has tried to draw you away from Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall not again do according to this evil thing among you.

All Israel will hear and fear, and will not continue to do this kind of wickedness among you.

12 And if in one of your cities which the Lord God gives you to dwell therein, you shall hear men saying,

If you hear anyone say about one of your cities, that Yahweh your God gives you to live in:

13 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 you knew not,

Some wicked fellows have gone out from among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city and said, 'Let us go and worship other gods that you have not known.'

14 then you shall enquire and ask, and search diligently, and behold, [if] the thing is clearly true, and this abomination has taken place among you,

Then you will examine the evidence, make search, and investigate it thoroughly. When you discover that it is true and certain that such an abominable thing has been done among you, then you will take action.

15 you shall utterly destroy all the dwellers in that land with the edge of the sword; you shall solemnly curse it, and all things in it.

You will surely attack the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, completely destroy it and all the people who are in it, along with its livestock, with the edge of the sword.

16 And all its spoils you shall gather into its public ways, and you shall burn the city with fire, and all its spoils publicly before the Lord your God; and it shall be uninhabited for ever, it shall not be built again.

You will gather all the spoil from it into the middle of its street and will burn the city, as well as all its spoil—for Yahweh your God. The city will be a heap of ruins forever; it must never be built again.

17 And there shall nothing of the cursed thing cleave to your hand, that the Lord may turn from his fierce anger, and show you mercy, and pity you, and multiply you, as he sware to your fathers;

None of those things set apart for destruction must stick in your hand. This must be the case, so that Yahweh will turn from the fierceness of his anger, show you mercy, have compassion on you, and make you increase in numbers, as he has sworn to your fathers.

18 if you will hear the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments, all that I charge you this day, to do that which is good and pleasing before the Lord your God.

He will do this because you are listening to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep all his commandments that I am commanding you today, to do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh your God.