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Deuteronomy 13

1“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or wonder, 2and the sign or wonder he told you comes about, and he says, ‘Let us follow other gods you have not known and serve them,’ 3you must not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For Yahweh your God is testing you, to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and all your life. 4Follow Yahweh your God, fear him, keep his commandments, listen to his voice, serve him, and hold fast to him. 5That prophet or dreamer of dreams must be put to death, because he spoke rebellion against Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slaves, to drive you from the way Yahweh your God commanded you to walk. You must purge the evil from among you.

6“If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, the wife of your embrace, or your friend who is like your own life secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known— 7any of the gods of the peoples around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other— 8you must not consent to him or listen to him. Your eye must not pity him; you must not spare him or conceal him. 9You must certainly kill him. Your hand must be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10Stone him with stones so that he dies, because he sought to drive you away from Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves. 11All Israel will hear and fear, and will not again do such an evil thing among you.

12“If you hear it said about one of your towns Yahweh your God is giving you to live in, 13‘Worthless men have gone out from among you and driven away the inhabitants of their town, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods you have not known,”’ 14then inquire, investigate, and question carefully. If it is true and the matter is established that this abomination has been done among you, 15you must certainly strike down the inhabitants of that town with the edge of the sword. Devote it and everything in it to destruction, including its livestock, with the edge of the sword. 16Gather all its spoil into the middle of its square and burn the town and all its spoil in the fire, as a whole offering to Yahweh your God. It must be a mound forever, never rebuilt. 17Nothing devoted to destruction may cling to your hand, so that Yahweh may turn from his burning anger, give you compassion, have compassion on you, and multiply you, as he swore to your fathers, 18when you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, keeping all his commandments I command you today, doing what is right in the eyes of Yahweh your God.

Translation notes 4

13:1–5 — A successful sign and rebellion. Even a sign that comes about does not authorize following other gods. Testing, love, and allegiance govern the stated judgment. The death command is explicit; “purge the evil” is the recurring legal expression for removing the evil from the community, not merely correcting an idea.

13:6–11 — Those closest to you. “Your mother’s son,” “wife of your embrace,” and a friend “like your own life” retain the intimate family and bodily language. Hebrew then uses masculine singular pronouns generically across these possible enticers; this includes the explicitly named women. The person approached must initiate the killing, followed by the community. Neither that demand nor the stoning has been softened.

13:12–18 — Investigation and the town’s destruction. “Worthless men” translates “men, sons of worthlessness”; it does not name a separate demon or ethnicity. The investigation must establish the report before the town is destroyed. The inhabitants, livestock, spoil, burning, and prohibition on rebuilding are all explicit. “As a whole offering” renders “entirely/whole to Yahweh,” language of complete dedication without calling this a normal burnt offering of an animal.

13:15 — A feminine read form. The town’s demonstrative follows the traditional read form, “that” in its feminine spelling. The older written spelling resembles a masculine form; it does not change the town’s identity or the scope of the command.