Deuteronomy 13

1 If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,

2 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 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 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 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 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 the gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, whether from one end of the earth or the other),

8 you must not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity, and do not spare him or shield him.

9 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 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 Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.

12 If, regarding one of the cities the LORD your God is giving you to inhabit, you hear it said

13 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 you must inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. And if it is established with certainty that this abomination has been committed among you,

15 you must surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword. Devote to destruction all its people and livestock.

16 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 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 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.

1 ¶ If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,

2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;

3 Thou shalt not hearken unto 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.

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 unto 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, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

6 ¶ If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which [is] as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;

7 [Namely], of the gods of the people which [are] round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the [one] end of the earth even unto the [other] end of the earth;

8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:

9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.

12 ¶ If thou shalt hear [say] in one of thy cities, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying,

13 [Certain] men, the children of Belial, are 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;

14 Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, [if it be] truth, [and] the thing certain, [that] such abomination is wrought 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] therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.

16 And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the LORD thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again.

17 And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy 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.

1 if a prophet or a dreamer among you will arise and give you a sign or a miracle,

2 And the sign or the miracle cometh, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which ye know not, and serve them:

3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of such a prophet, or of such a dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God doth tempt you, that he may know whether ye love him with all your heart, and with all your soul.

4 For ye shall follow the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and serve him, and cleave unto him.

5 But the prophet, or the dreamer of dreams, shall die, because he hath taught you to fall away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, and deceived you out of the way; whom the LORD your God commanded to walk in, that thou mightest put away evil from among you.

6 If thy brother thy mother's son, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the woman that is in thine arms, or thy friend that is like unto thy heart, persuade thee privily, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou knowest not, nor thy fathers,

7 Which are among the nations round about you, whether they be near thee or far off, from one end of the earth even unto the other:

8 Then grant not, neither obey him. Neither let thine eye spare him, neither have mercy on him, nor hide him,

9 But thou shalt slay him. And thine hand shall be first upon him to slay him, and afterward the hand of all the people.

10 He shall be stoned to death, because he hath seduced thee from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage,

11 That all Israel may hear, and fear; and that there be no more such evil among you.

12 When thou shalt hear of any city which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell therein, that it shall be said:

13 Some of the children of Belial are gone out from among thee, and have deceived the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye know not,

14 Then shalt thou diligently seek, and search, and inquire. And if the truth be found, that it is certain that the abomination is done among you,

15 Then shalt thou smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroy them, and all that is therein, and their cattle with the edge of the sword.

16 And thou shalt gather all the spoil thereof into the midst of the streets, and burn them with fire, both the city and all the spoil thereof together, unto the LORD thy God; and it shall lie in a heap for ever, and never be built.

17 And let none of the curse be upon thy hand, that the LORD may turn away the fierceness of his wrath, and give thee mercy, and have compassion on thee, and multiply thee, as he sware unto thy fathers,

18 Because thou hast obeyed 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 sight of the LORD thy God.