Deuteronomy 13
13
1“If a prophet arises among you, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2and the sign or wonder which he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘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 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. 4You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him, and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and cleave to him. 5But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught 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 make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from the midst of you.
6“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 us go and serve other gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known, 7some of the gods of the peoples that are round about you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, 8you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him; 9but you shall kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 10You shall stone him to death with stones, because he 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. 11And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and never again do any such wickedness as this among you.
12“If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God gives you to dwell there, 13that certain base fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of the city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, 14then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently; and behold, if it be true and certain that such an abominable thing has been done among you, 15you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, destroying it utterly, all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. 16You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its open square, and burn the city and all its spoil with fire, as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God; it shall be a heap for ever, it shall not be built again. 17None of the devoted things shall cleave 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 swore to your fathers, 18if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments which I command you this day, and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.
Currently Selected:
Deuteronomy 13: RSV-C
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America
Deuteronomy 13
13
How Israel Is to Deal with False Prophets
1 # 13:1
Deuteronomy 13:1–18
in English Bibles is Deuteronomy 13:2–19 in the Hebrew Bible. One of your people, claiming to be a prophet or to have prophetic dreams, may predict a miraculous sign or an amazing thing. 2What he predicts may even take place. But don’t listen to that prophet or dreamer #13:2 The first part of verse 3 (in Hebrew) has been placed in verse 2 to express the complex Hebrew paragraph structure more clearly in English. if he says, “Let’s worship and serve other gods.” (Those gods may be gods you’ve never heard of.) 3The Lord your God is testing you to find out if you really love him with all your heart and with all your soul. 4Worship the Lord your God, fear him, obey his commands, listen to what he says, serve him, and be loyal to him. 5That prophet or dreamer must be put to death because he preached rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and freed you from slavery. He was trying to lead you away from following the directions the Lord your God gave you. You must get rid of this evil.
6Your own brother, son, or daughter, the wife you love, or your best friend may secretly tempt you, saying, “Let’s go worship other gods.” (Those gods may be gods that you and your ancestors never knew. 7They may be the gods of the people around you, who live near or far, from one end of the land to the other.) 8Don’t be influenced by any of these people or listen to them. Have no pity on them. Don’t feel sorry for them or protect them. 9You must put them to death. You must start the execution. Then all the other people will join you in putting them to death. 10Stone them to death because they were trying to lead you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of slavery in Egypt. 11All Israel will hear about it and be afraid. Then no one among you will ever do such a wicked thing again.
12You may hear that the residents in one of the cities which the Lord your God is giving you to live in 13have been led away from the Lord your God by worthless people. You may hear that these people have been saying, “Let’s worship other gods.” (Those gods may be gods you’ve never heard of.) 14Then make a thorough investigation. If it is true, and you can prove that this disgusting thing has been done among you, 15you must kill the residents of that city with swords and destroy that city and everyone in it, including the animals, because they are claimed by God. 16Gather their goods into the middle of the city square. Then burn their city and all their goods as a burnt offering to the Lord your God. It must remain a mound of ruins and never be rebuilt. 17Don’t ever take any of the things claimed for destruction. Then the Lord will stop being angry and will show you mercy. In his mercy he will make your population increase, as he swore to your ancestors. 18The Lord your God will do this if you listen to him, obey all the commands that I’m giving you today, and do what he considers right.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.