Deuteronomy 13

1 If there shall arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and give 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 shall come to pass, of which he spoke to thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, 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 to the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God 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 the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave to 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 the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou remove the evil 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, who [is] as thy own soul, shall entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, 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 gods of the people who [are] around you, nigh to thee, or far off from thee, from [one] end of the earth even to 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 to him, nor hearken to him; neither shall thy 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; thy 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 shall die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, who 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, in one of thy cities, which the LORD thy God 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, have gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, 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 inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and behold, [if it is] 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] in it, and its cattle, 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 its street, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil of it every whit, for the LORD thy God: and it shall be a heap forever; it shalt 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 naught of the cursed 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 to 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 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 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.