The Fifth Book of Moses: Deuteronomy

⭑ Berean Study Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 13 -

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

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,”

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.

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.

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.(a)

If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace,(b) or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (which neither you nor your fathers have known,

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

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

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.

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.

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

Idolatrous Cities to Be Destroyed

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

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),

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

you must surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword. Devote to destruction

(c)

all its people and livestock.

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.

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,

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.

Footnotes

(a)13:5 Cited in 1 Corinthians 5:13

(b)13:6 Hebrew the wife of your bosom

(c)13:15 Forms of the Hebrew cherem refer to the giving over of things or persons to the LORD, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering; similarly in verse 17.

If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you, and he gives you a sign or a wonder,

and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, “Let’s go after other gods” (which you have not known) “and let’s serve them,”

you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

You shall walk after the LORD your God, fear him, keep his commandments, and obey his voice. You shall serve him, and cling to him.

That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which the LORD your God commanded you to walk in. So you shall remove the evil from among you.

If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods”—which you have not known, you, nor your fathers;

of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near to you, or far off from you, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth—

you shall not consent to him nor listen to him; neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall you conceal him;

but you shall surely kill him. Your hand shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people.

You shall stone him to death with stones, because he has sought to draw you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

All Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall not do any more wickedness like this among you.

Idolatrous Cities to Be Destroyed

If you hear about one of your cities, which the LORD your God gives you to dwell there, that

certain wicked fellows have gone out from among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods,” which you have not known,

then you shall inquire, investigate, and ask diligently. Behold, if it is true, and the thing certain, that such abomination was done among you,

you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, with all that is therein and its livestock, with the edge of the sword.

You shall gather all its plunder into the middle of its street, and shall burn with fire the city, with all of its plunder, to the LORD your God. It shall be a heap forever. It shall not be built again.

Nothing of the devoted thing shall cling to your hand, that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy, and have compassion on you and multiply you, as he has sworn to your fathers,

when you listen to the LORD your God’s voice, to keep all his commandments which I command you today, to do that which is right in the LORD your God’s eyes.