Deuteronomy 13

If a Prophet Entices You to Other Gods

1“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises in your midst and gives you a sign or wonder, 2and the sign or wonder that he spoke to you comes to pass, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods whom you have not known and let us serve them,’ 3you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or 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 life. 4After the LORD your God you shall walk, him you shall fear, his commandments you shall keep, his voice you shall listen to, him you shall serve, and to him you shall cling. 5But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he spoke rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to turn you aside from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall remove the evil from your midst.

If Someone Close to You Entices You

6“If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, your daughter, the wife of your embrace, or your companion who is as your own life secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ whom you and your ancestors have not known, 7from the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other, 8you shall not consent to him or listen to him. Your eye shall not pity him; you shall not spare him or conceal him. 9Rather, you shall surely put him to death. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10You shall stone him with stones so that he dies, because he sought to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 11Then all Israel will hear and fear and will not again do such an evil thing in your midst.

If a City Has Turned to Other Gods

12“If you hear in one of your cities that the LORD your God is giving you to live in, 13‘Worthless men have gone out from your midst and led the inhabitants of their city astray, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods whom you have not known,”’ 14then you shall inquire, search, and investigate carefully. And look, if the thing is true and established that this detestable thing has been done in your midst, 15you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword. Devote it and all that is in it to destruction, including its livestock, with the edge of the sword. 16You shall gather all its spoil into the middle of its open square and burn the city and all its spoil with fire as a whole offering to the LORD your God. It shall be a ruin forever; it shall not be rebuilt. 17Nothing from what is devoted to destruction shall cling to your hand, so that the LORD may turn from his burning anger and give you compassion and have compassion on you and multiply you, as he swore to your ancestors, 18when you listen to the voice of the LORD your God, keeping all his commandments that I command you today and doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD your God.