Deuteronomy 13

1 'When there ariseth in your midst a prophet, or a dreamer of a dream, and he hath given unto thee a sign or wonder,

“If there will have arisen in your midst a prophet, or someone who claims that he had seen a dream, and if he will have predicted sign and portent,

2 and the sign and the wonder hath come which he hath spoken of unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods (which thou hast not known), and serve them,

and if what he has spoken happens, and he says to you, ‘Let us go and follow strange gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’

3 thou dost not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or unto that dreamer of the dream, for Jehovah your God is trying you, to know whether ye are loving Jehovah your God with all your heart, and with all your soul;

you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. For the Lord your God is testing you, so that it may become clear whether or not you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.

4 after Jehovah your God ye walk, and Him ye fear, and His commands ye keep, and to His voice ye hearken, and Him ye serve, and to Him ye cleave.

Follow the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and listen to his voice. Him shall you serve, and to him shall you cling.

5 'And that prophet, or that dreamer of the dream, is put to death, for he hath spoken apostasy against Jehovah your God (who is bringing you out of the land of Egypt, and hath ransomed you out of a house of servants), to drive you out of the way in which Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee to walk, and thou hast put away the evil thing from thy midst.

But that prophet or forger of dreams shall be put to death. For he has spoken so as to turn you away from the Lord your God, who led you away from the land of Egypt and who redeemed you from the house of servitude, and so as to cause you to wander from the way that the Lord your God has entrusted to you. And so shall you remove the evil from your midst.

6 'When thy brother — son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend who [is] as thine own soul — doth move thee, in secret, saying, Let us go and serve other gods — (which thou hast not known, thou and thy fathers,

If your brother, the son of your mother, or your own son or daughter, or your wife who is in your bosom, or your friend, whom you love like your own soul, were willing to persuade you secretly, saying: ‘Let us go, and serve foreign gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known,

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 the end of the earth even unto the end of the earth) —

gods from any of the surrounding nations, whether these are near or far away, from the beginning even to the end of the earth,

8 thou dost not consent to him, nor hearken unto him, nor doth thine eye have pity on him, nor dost thou spare, nor dost thou cover him over.

you should neither agree with him, nor listen to him. And your eye should not spare him so that you take pity on him and conceal him.

9 'But thou dost surely kill him; thy hand is on him, in the first place, to put him to death, and the hand of all the people last;

Instead, you shall put him to death promptly. Let your hand be upon him first, and after that, let the hands of all the people be sent forth.

10 and thou hast stoned him with stones, and he hath died, for he hath sought to drive thee away from Jehovah thy God, who is bringing thee out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of servants;

He shall be killed by being overwhelmed with stones. For he was willing to draw you away from the Lord your God, who led you away from the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude.

11 and all Israel do hear and fear, and add not to do like this evil thing in thy midst.

So may all of Israel, upon hearing this, be afraid, so that nothing like this will ever be done again.

12 'When thou hearest, in one of thy cities which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to dwell there, [one] saying,

If, in one of your cities which the Lord your God will give to you as a habitation, you hear someone say:

13 Men, sons of worthlessness, have gone out of thy midst, and they force away the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known —

‘The sons of Belial have departed from your midst, and they have persuaded the inhabitants of their city, and they have said: “Let us go, and serve strange gods,”’ which you have not known:

14 and thou hast enquired, and searched, and asked diligently, and lo, truth; the thing is established; this abomination hath been done in thy midst:

inquire carefully and diligently, seeking the truth of the matter. And if you find that what was said is certain, and that this abomination is a work which has been perpetrated,

15 'Thou dost surely smite the inhabitants of that city by the mouth of the sword; devoting it, and all that [is] in it, even its cattle, by the mouth of the sword;

you shall promptly strike down the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword. And you shall destroy it, along with all the things that are in it, even the flocks.

16 and all its spoil thou dost gather unto the midst of its broad place, and hast burned with fire the city and all its spoil completely, before Jehovah thy God, and it hath been a heap age-during, it is not built any more;

Then all the household goods which are there, you shall gather together in the midst of its streets, and you shall set fire to these, along with the city itself, so that you may consume everything for the Lord your God, and so that it may be an everlasting tomb. It shall no longer be built up.

17 and there doth not cleave to thy hand any of the devoted thing, so that Jehovah doth turn back from the fierceness of His anger, and hath given to thee mercies, and loved thee, and multiplied thee, as He hath sworn to thy fathers,

And there shall remain nothing of that anathema in your hand, so that the Lord may turn from the wrath of his fury, and may take pity on you, and may multiply you, just as he swore to your fathers,

18 when thou dost hearken to the voice of Jehovah thy God, to keep all his commands which I am commanding thee to-day, to do that which [is] right in the eyes of Jehovah thy God.

when you will heed the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all his precepts, which I am entrusting to you this day, so that you may do what is pleasing in the sight of the Lord your God.”