13 One day, you may have a prophet among you who tells you what will happen in the future. He may have dreams about what will happen. He may promise to do miracles to show that he is right. 2 He may say that you should start to worship other gods that you did not know about before. The miracles may happen, as he promised, 3 but do not listen to that prophet's message. The Lord your God is using this person to test your thoughts. He wants to know if you really love him in everything that you think and everything that you do. 4 You must serve only the Lord your God and respect him with fear. You must obey his commands and serve him faithfully. 5 You must punish that false prophet with death. He has told you to turn against the Lord your God. The Lord rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. But the false prophet has tried to turn you away from the way of life that the Lord your God has commanded. So you must remove all evil things like that from among you.
6 Even someone in your own family may try to turn you away from the Lord . It may be your own brother, your son or your daughter. It may be your wife whom you love. It may be a friend that you like very much. They may say to you secretly, ‘We should worship other gods.’ Those are gods that you and your ancestors never knew about before. 7 They are gods that people who live around you may worship. They may be gods of people who live near to you. They may be gods of people who live anywhere on the earth. 8 But never agree with anyone who says that you should worship those gods. Do not even listen to him! Do not feel sorry for him. Do not try to protect him from punishment. 9 Instead, you must certainly kill him! You must be the first person to throw stones to kill him. Then everyone else must do the same thing. 10 You must throw stones at him until he dies. He tried to turn you away from the Lord your God. It was the Lord who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. 11 When you punish the false prophet with death, all Israel's people will hear about it. They will be afraid. No one will do evil things like that again.
12 The Lord your God will give you towns to live in. When you are there, you may hear news of people who are causing trouble. 13 They may be turning the other people in their town away from the Lord . They may be saying, ‘We should worship other gods!’ Those are gods that you never knew about before.
14 Then you must check carefully that the news is true. You must discover whether people really have done this wicked thing in one of your towns. 15 If the news is true, you must attack that town. You must completely destroy it. Kill all the people and the animals. 16 You must put all the valuable things in a heap in the town's public place. Then burn down the whole town as an offering to the Lord your God. Leave the town as a heap of stones. Nobody must ever build it again. 17 You must not keep any of the valuable things for yourselves. They have been given to the Lord . If you destroy the whole town, the Lord will stop being angry. He will be kind to you and he will forgive you. He will cause you to grow into a big nation, as he promised your ancestors.
18 The Lord your God will bless you if you listen to what he says. You must obey all his commands that I am giving you today. You must do the things that he says are right.
13 “A prophet or someone who explains dreams might come to you and tell you that they will show you a sign or a miracle. 2 And the sign or miracle they told you about might come true. Then they might ask you to follow other gods (gods you don’t know) and say to you, ‘Let’s serve these gods!’ 3 Don’t listen to them, because the Lord your God is testing you. He wants to know if you love him with all your heart and all your soul. 4 You must follow the Lord your God. Respect him. Obey his commands and do what he tells you. Serve the Lord your God, and never leave him. 5 Also, you must kill that prophet or person who explains dreams, because they told you to turn against the Lord your God. And it was the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you were slaves. They tried to pull you away from the life he commanded you to live, so you must kill them to remove this evil from your people.
6 “Someone close to you might secretly persuade you to worship other gods. It might be your own brother, your son, your daughter, the wife you love, or your closest friend. They might say, ‘Let’s go and serve other gods.’ (These are gods that you and your ancestors never knew. 7 They are the gods of the people who live in the other lands around you, some near and some far away.) 8 You must not agree with them. Don’t listen to them or feel sorry for them. Don’t let them go free or protect them. 9-10 No, you must kill them with stones. You be the first one to pick up stones and throw at them. Then everyone must throw stones to kill them, because they tried to pull you away from the Lord your God. And it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you were slaves. 11 Then all the Israelites will hear about it and be afraid. And they will not do those evil things any more.
12 “The Lord your God has given you cities to live in. Sometimes you might hear some bad news about one of these cities. You might hear that 13 some troublemakers from your own nation are persuading the people of their city to do bad things. They might say to the people of their city, ‘Let’s go and serve other gods.’ (These gods would be gods that you never knew before.) 14 If you hear this kind of news, you must do all you can to learn if it is true. If you learn that it is true, if you prove that such a terrible thing really did happen, 15 then you must kill all the people of that city and their animals too. You must destroy that city completely. 16 You must gather up everything of value and take it to the center of the city. Burn the whole city and everything in it as a burnt offering to the Lord your God. You must turn that city into an empty pile of rocks forever, and that city must never be rebuilt. 17 Everything in that city must be destroyed as an offering to God. So you must not keep any of the things for yourselves. If you follow this command, the Lord will stop being so angry with you. He will be kind to you. He will feel sorry for you. He will let your nation grow larger, as he promised your ancestors. 18 This will happen if you listen to the Lord your God—if you obey all his commands that I give you today. You must do what the Lord your God says is right.
13 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.
13 “ [ a ] ( A ) If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes true , of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘ ( B ) Let’s follow other gods (whom you have not known) and let’s serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is ( C ) testing you to find out whether ( D ) you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 ( E ) You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and ( F ) cling to Him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be ( G ) put to death, because he has spoken falsely against the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of [ b ] slavery, ( H ) to drive you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. ( I ) So you shall eliminate the evil from among you.
6 “ ( J ) If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife [ c ] you cherish, or your friend who is like your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, ‘ ( K ) Let’s go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you, or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), 8 ( L ) you shall not consent to him or listen to him; ( M ) and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him. 9 ( N ) Instead, you shall most certainly kill him; ( O ) your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10 So you shall stone him [ d ] to death, because he has attempted ( P ) to drive you away from the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of [ e ] slavery. 11 Then ( Q ) all Israel will hear about it and be afraid, and will not do such a wicked thing among you again.
12 “If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that 13 some worthless men have gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘ ( R ) Let’s go and serve other gods’ (whom you have not known), 14 then you shall investigate, search out, and inquire thoroughly. And if it is true and the matter is certain that this abomination has been committed among you, 15 ( S ) you shall most certainly strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword. [ f ] Utterly destroy it and all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. 16 ( T ) Then you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of its public square, and burn the city and all its plunder with fire as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God; and it shall be a [ g ] ( U ) ruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt. 17 Nothing at all from what is designated for destruction is to cling to your hand, in order that the Lord may turn from ( V ) His burning anger and ( W ) show mercy to you, and have compassion on you and ( X ) make you increase, just ( Y ) as He has sworn to your fathers, 18 [ h ] if you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God, [ i ] keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, [ j ] and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.
13 [ a ] If a prophet, ( A ) or one who foretells by dreams, ( B ) appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, 2 and if the sign ( C ) or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” ( D ) (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” 3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet ( E ) or dreamer. ( F ) The Lord your God is testing ( G ) you to find out whether you love ( H ) him with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 It is the Lord your God you must follow, ( I ) and him you must revere. ( J ) Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast ( K ) to him. 5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death ( L ) for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn ( M ) you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil ( N ) from among you.
6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices ( O ) you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” ( P ) (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, 7 gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), 8 do not yield ( Q ) to them or listen to them. Show them no pity. ( R ) Do not spare them or shield them. 9 You must certainly put them to death. ( S ) Your hand ( T ) must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. 10 Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away ( U ) from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 11 Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, ( V ) and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.
12 If you hear it said about one of the towns the Lord your God is giving you to live in 13 that troublemakers ( W ) have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods you have not known), 14 then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. ( X ) And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, ( Y ) 15 you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. You must destroy it completely, [ b ] ( Z ) both its people and its livestock. ( AA ) 16 You are to gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town ( AB ) and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. ( AC ) That town is to remain a ruin ( AD ) forever, never to be rebuilt, 17 and none of the condemned things [ c ] are to be found in your hands. Then the Lord will turn from his fierce anger, ( AE ) will show you mercy, ( AF ) and will have compassion ( AG ) on you. He will increase your numbers, ( AH ) as he promised ( AI ) on oath to your ancestors— 18 because you obey the Lord your God by keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right ( AJ ) in his eyes.
