Deuteronomy 13
13
Don't worship other gods
Moses said to Israel:
1-2Some day a prophet#13.1,2 a prophet: Hebrew adds “or a dreamer of dreams”, another name for a prophet. may come along who is able to perform miracles or tell what will happen in the future. Then the prophet may say, “Let's start worshipping some new gods—some gods that we know nothing about.” 3If the prophet says this, don't listen! The LORD your God will be watching to find out whether or not you love him with all your heart and soul. 4You must be completely faithful to the LORD. Worship and obey only the LORD and do this with fear and trembling, 5because he rescued you from slavery in Egypt.
If a prophet tells you to disobey the LORD your God and to stop worshipping him, then that prophet is evil and must be put to death.
6-10Someone else may say to you, “Let's worship other gods.” That person may be your best friend, your brother or sister, your son or daughter, or your own dear wife or husband. But you must not listen to people who say such things. Instead, you must stone them to death. You must be the first to throw the stones, then others from the community will finish the job. Don't show any pity.
The gods worshipped by other nations have never done anything for you or your ancestors. People who ask you to worship other gods are trying to get you to stop worshipping the LORD, who rescued you from slavery in Egypt. So put to death anyone who asks you to worship another god. 11And when the rest of Israel hears about it, they will be afraid, and no one else will ever do such an evil thing again.
12After the LORD your God gives you towns to live in, you may hear a rumour about one of the towns. 13You may hear that some worthless people have talked everyone there into worshipping other gods, even though these gods had never done anything for them. 14You must carefully find out if the rumour is true. Then if the people of that town have actually done such a disgusting thing in your own country, 15you must take your swords and kill every one of them, and their livestock too. 16-17Gather all the possessions of the people who lived there, and pile them up in the market place, without keeping anything for yourself. Set the pile and the whole town on fire, and don't ever rebuild the town. The whole town will be a sacrifice to the LORD your God. Then he won't be angry any more, and he will have mercy on you and make you successful, just as he promised your ancestors. 18That's why you must do what the LORD your God says is right. I am giving you his laws and teachings today, and you must obey them.
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Deuteronomy 13: CEVUK
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Deuteronomy 13
13
1“If a prophet or #Jer. 23:25, 32; 27:9; 29:8; Zech. 10:2a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2and #[ch. 18:22; Jer. 28:9]the sign or wonder that 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 that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God #ch. 8:2is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4You shall #2 Kgs. 23:3; 2 Chr. 34:31 walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and #See ch. 10:20hold fast to him. 5But #ch. 18:20; [Jer. 2:8; 14:14, 15; Zech. 13:3] 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 slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. #ch. 17:7; 19:19; 21:21; 22:21; 24:7; [1 Cor. 5:13]So you shall purge the evil#13:5 Or evil person from your midst.
6 # ch. 17:2 “If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or #ch. 28:54, 56; Mic. 7:5 the wife you embrace#13:6 Hebrew the wife of your bosom or your friend #[1 Sam. 18:1, 3; 20:17] who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ #ch. 28:64which neither you nor your fathers have known, 7some #ch. 6:14of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, 8you shall #Prov. 1:10 not yield to him or listen to him, nor #See ch. 7:16shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. 9But you shall kill him. #ch. 17:7Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10#ch. 17:5; See Josh. 7:25You 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 slavery. 11And #ch. 17:13; 19:20; 21:21all 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 is giving you to dwell there, 13that certain #Judg. 19:22; 20:13; 1 Sam. 2:12; 25:17; 2 Sam. 16:7; 20:1; 1 Kgs. 21:10, 13worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, 14then you shall inquire and make search and ask #ch. 17:4; 19:18diligently. And behold, if it be true and certain that such an abomination has been done among you, 15you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, devoting it to destruction,#13:15 That is, setting apart (devoting) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction) 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 #Josh. 6:24 burn the city and all its spoil with fire, as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It shall be a #Josh. 8:28; Jer. 49:2; [Isa. 17:1; 25:2; Jer. 30:18]heap forever. It shall not be built again. 17#Josh. 6:18 None of the devoted things shall stick to your hand, #Josh. 7:26 that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy and have compassion on you and multiply you, #See Gen. 50:24as he swore to your fathers, 18if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, #ch. 12:25, 28keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.
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