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,

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 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 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 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;

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 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.

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 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.

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 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,

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

the gods of your pagan nation neighbors, whether they love close by or far away in any direction,

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.

don't give into them or listen to them. Show them no mercy. Don't spare them or protect them.

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;

No, you absolutely must kill them! You start killing them, and then have everyone else help.

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;

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 do hear and fear, and add not to do like this evil thing 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 hearest, in one of thy cities which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to dwell there, [one] saying,

It may happen that once you're living in the towns the Lord your God is giving you, you hear

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 —

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 hast enquired, and searched, and asked diligently, and lo, truth; the thing is established; 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 '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;

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 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;

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 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,

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 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.

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.