Deuteronomy 13
13
Do Not Worship Other Gods
1Suppose a prophet appears among you. Or someone comes who uses dreams to tell what’s going to happen. He tells you that a sign or something amazing is going to take place. 2The sign or amazing thing he has spoken about might really take place. And then the prophet might say, “Let’s serve other gods. Let’s worship them.” But you haven’t known anything about those gods before. 3So you must not listen to what that prophet or dreamer has said. The Lord your God is testing you. He wants to know whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. 4You must worship him. You must honor him. Keep his commands. Obey him. Serve him. Remain true to him. 5That prophet or dreamer must be put to death. He told you not to obey the Lord your God. The Lord brought you out of Egypt. He set you free from the land where you were slaves. He commanded you to live the way he wants you to. But that prophet or dreamer has tried to get you to be unfaithful to the Lord. Get rid of that evil person.
6Suppose your very own brother or sister secretly tempts you to do something wrong. Or your child or the wife you love tempts you. Or your closest friend does it. Suppose one of them says, “Let’s go and worship other gods.” But you and your people of long ago hadn’t known anything about those gods before. 7They are the gods of the nations around you. Those nations might be near or far away. In fact, they might reach from one end of the land to the other. 8Don’t give in to those who are tempting you. Don’t listen to them. Don’t feel sorry for them. Don’t spare them or save them. 9You must certainly put them to death. You must be the first to throw stones at them. Then all the people must do the same thing. 10Put them to death by throwing stones at them. They tried to turn you away from the Lord your God. He brought you out of Egypt. That’s the land where you were slaves. 11After you kill those who tempted you, all the Israelites will hear about it. And they will be too scared to do an evil thing like that again.
12The Lord your God is giving you towns to live in. But suppose you hear something bad about one of those towns. 13You hear that people who cause trouble have appeared among you. They’ve tried to get the people of their town to do something wrong. They’ve said, “Let’s go and worship other gods.” But you haven’t known anything about those gods before. 14So you must ask people some questions. You must check out the matter carefully. If it’s true, an evil thing has really happened among you. It’s something the Lord hates. 15Then you must certainly kill with your swords everyone who lives in that town. You must destroy it completely. You must wipe out its people and livestock. 16You must gather all the goods of that town into the middle of the main street. You must burn the town completely. You must burn up everything in it. It’s a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. The town must remain a pile of stones forever. It must never be built again. 17Don’t keep anything that should be destroyed. Then the Lord will turn away from his great anger. He will show you mercy. He’ll have deep concern for you. He’ll cause there to be many of you. That’s what he promised your people of long ago. He gave his word when he made the promise. 18The Lord your God will do those things if you obey him. I’m giving you his commands today. And you must obey all of them. You must do what is right in his eyes.
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Deuteronomy 13: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Deuteronomy 13
13
1 IF A prophet arises among you, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder,
2 And the sign or the wonder he foretells to you comes to pass, and if he says, Let us go after other gods–gods you have not known–and let us serve them,
3 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 [mind and] heart and with your entire being.
4 You shall walk after the Lord your God and [reverently] fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him and cling to Him.
5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has talked rebellion and turning away from the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of bondage; that man has tried to draw you aside from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So shall you put the evil away from your midst.
6 If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own life entices you secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods–gods you have not known, you nor your fathers,
7 Of the gods of the peoples who are round about you, near you or far away from you, from one end of the earth to the other–
8 You shall not give consent to him or listen to him; nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him.
9 But you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people.
10 And you shall stone him to death with stones, because he has tried to draw you away from the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
11 And all Israel shall hear and [reverently] fear, and shall never again do any such wickedness as this among you.
12 If you hear it said in one of your cities which the Lord your God has given you in which to dwell
13 That certain base fellows have gone out from your midst and have enticed away the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods–gods you have not known–
14 Then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently. And behold, if it is true and certain that such an abominable thing has been done among you,
15 You shall surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly and all who are in it and its beasts with the edge of the sword.
16 And you shall collect all its spoil into the midst of its open square and shall burn the city with fire with every bit of its spoil [as a whole burnt offering] to the Lord your God. It shall be a heap [of ruins] forever; it shall not be built again.
17 And nothing of the accursed thing shall cling to your hand, so 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 swore to your fathers,
18 If you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you this day, to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.
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