Deuteronomy 13
13
Punishment of Apostates
1“If there arises among you a prophet or a #Num. 12:6; Jer. 23:28; Zech. 10:2dreamer of dreams, #Matt. 24:24; Mark 13:22; 2 Thess. 2:9and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2and #Deut. 18:22the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which 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 #Ex. 20:20; Deut. 8:2, 16is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4You shall #Deut. 10:12, 20; 2 Kin. 23:3walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and #Deut. 30:20hold fast to Him. 5But #Deut. 18:20; Jer. 14:15that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. #Deut. 17:5, 7; 1 Cor. 5:13So you shall put away the evil from your midst.
6#Deut. 17:2“If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, #Gen. 16:5the wife of your bosom, or your friend #1 Sam. 18:1, 3who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, 7of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, 8you shall #Deut. 7:16; Prov. 1:10not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; 9but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to #Lev. 24:14; Deut. 17:7death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 11So all Israel shall hear and #Deut. 17:13fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you.
12#Judg. 20:1–48“If you hear someone in one of your cities, which the Lord your God gives you to dwell in, saying, 13‘Corrupt men have gone out from among you and enticed the inhabitants of their city, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods” ’—which you have not known—14then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination was committed among you, 15you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its livestock—with the edge of the sword. 16And you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of the street, and completely #Josh. 6:24burn with fire the city and all its plunder, for the Lord your God. It shall be #Josh. 8:28; Is. 17:1; 25:2; Jer. 49:2a heap forever; it shall not be built again. 17#Josh. 6:18So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the Lord may #Josh. 7:26turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers, 18because you have listened to the voice of the Lord your God, #Deut. 12:25, 28, 32to keep all His commandments which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.
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Deuteronomy 13: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Deuteronomy 13
13
1-4When a prophet or visionary gets up in your community and gives out a miracle-sign or wonder, and the miracle-sign or wonder that he gave out happens and he says, “Let’s follow other gods” (these are gods you know nothing about), “let’s worship them,” don’t pay any attention to what that prophet or visionary says. God, your God, is testing you to find out if you totally love him with everything you have in you. You are to follow only God, your God, hold him in deep reverence, keep his commandments, listen obediently to what he says, serve him—hold on to him for dear life!
5And that prophet or visionary must be put to death. He has urged mutiny against God, your God, who rescued you from Egypt, who redeemed you from a world of slavery and put you on the road on which God, your God, has commanded you to walk. Purge the evil from your company.
6-10And when your brother or son or daughter, or even your dear wife or lifelong friend, comes to you in secret and whispers, “Let’s go and worship some other gods” (gods that you know nothing about, neither you nor your ancestors, the gods of the peoples around you near and far, from one end of the Earth to the other), don’t go along with him; shut your ears. Don’t feel sorry for him and don’t make excuses for him. Kill him. That’s right, kill him. You throw the first stone. Take action at once and swiftly with everybody in the community getting in on it at the end. Stone him with stones so that he dies. He tried to turn you traitor against God, your God, the one who got you out of Egypt and the world of slavery.
11Every man, woman, and child in Israel will hear what’s been done and be in awe. No one will dare to do an evil thing like this again.
12-17When word comes in from one of your cities that God, your God, is giving you to live in, reporting that evil men have gotten together with some of the citizens of the city and have broken away, saying, “Let’s go and worship other gods” (gods you know nothing about), then you must conduct a careful examination. Ask questions, investigate. If it turns out that the report is true and this abomination did in fact take place in your community, you must execute the citizens of that town. Kill them, setting that city apart for holy destruction: the city and everything in it including its animals. Gather the plunder in the middle of the town square and burn it all—town and plunder together up in smoke, a holy sacrifice to God, your God. Leave it there, ashes and ruins. Don’t build on that site again. And don’t let any of the plunder devoted to holy destruction stick to your fingers. Get rid of it so that God may turn from anger to compassion, generously making you prosper, just as he promised your ancestors.
18Yes. Obediently listen to God, your God. Keep all his commands that I am giving you today. Do the right thing in the eyes of God, your God.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.