Deuteronomy 13

1 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;

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 shall come in, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, —Let us go after other gods, which ye know not 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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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;

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 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,

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, neither shalt thou hearken unto him, —neither shall thine eye look with pity upon 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 slay, him, thine own hand, shall be on him first, to put him to death, —and the hand of all the people afterwards.

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, —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.

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 not again do according to this wickedness in thy midst.

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

12 When thou shalt hear—in one of thy cities which Yahweh thy God is giving unto 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 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;

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 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,

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 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, —

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 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.

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 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;

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 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.

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.