“^1aIf a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘^aLet’s follow other gods (whom you have not known) and let’s serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is ^atesting you to find out whether ^byou love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 ^aYou shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and ^bcling to Him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be ^aput to death, because he has spoken falsely against the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of ¹slavery, ^bto drive you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. ^cSo you shall eliminate the evil from among you.

6 “^aIf your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife ¹you cherish, or your friend who is like your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, ‘^bLet’s go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you, or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), 8 ^ayou shall not consent to him or listen to him; ^band your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him. 9 ^aInstead, you shall most certainly kill him; ^byour hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10 So you shall stone him ¹to death, because he has attempted ^ato drive you away from the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of ²slavery. 11 Then ^aall Israel will hear about it and be afraid, and will not do such a wicked thing among you again.

12 “If you hear in one of your cities, which the LORD your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that 13 some worthless men have gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘^aLet’s go and serve other gods’ (whom you have not known), 14 then you shall investigate, search out, and inquire thoroughly. And if it is true and the matter is certain that this abomination has been committed among you, 15 ^ayou shall most certainly strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword. ¹Utterly destroy it and all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. 16 ^aThen you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of its public square, and burn the city and all its plunder with fire as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God; and it shall be a ^1bruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt. 17 Nothing at all from what is designated for destruction is to cling to your hand, in order that the LORD may turn from ^aHis burning anger and ^bshow mercy to you, and have compassion on you and ^cmake you increase, just ^das He has sworn to your fathers, 18 ¹if you will listen to the voice of the LORD your God, ²keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, ³and doing what is right in the sight of the LORD your God.

“^1aIf a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘^aLet us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is ^atesting you to find out if ^byou love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 ^aYou shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and ^bcling to Him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be ^aput to death, because he has ¹counseled ²rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of ³slavery, ^bto seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. ^cSo you shall purge the evil from among you.

6 “^aIf your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife ¹you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, ‘^bLet us go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), 8 ^ayou shall not yield to him or listen to him; ^band your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him. 9 ^aBut you shall surely kill him; ^byour hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 10 So you shall stone him ¹to death because he has sought ^ato seduce you from the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of ²slavery. 11 Then ^aall Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.

12 “If you hear in one of your cities, which the LORD your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that 13 some worthless men have gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘^aLet us go and serve other gods’ (whom you have not known), 14 then you shall investigate and search out and inquire thoroughly. If it is true and the matter established that this abomination has been done among you, 15 ^ayou shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, ¹utterly destroying it and all that is in it and its cattle with the edge of the sword. 16 ^aThen you shall gather all its booty into the middle of its open square and burn the city and all its booty with fire as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God; and it shall be a ^1bruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt. 17 Nothing from that which is put under the ban shall cling to your hand, in order that the LORD may turn from ^aHis burning anger and ^bshow mercy to you, and have compassion on you and ^cmake you increase, just ^das He has sworn to your fathers, 18 ¹if you will listen to the voice of the LORD your God, ²keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, ³and doing what is right in the sight of the LORD your God.

“^aIf 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 which he spoke (foretold) to you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘^aLet us follow after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve and worship them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is ^atesting you to know whether ^byou love the LORD your God with all your heart and mind and all your soul your entire being. 4 ^aYou shall walk after the LORD your God and you shall fear and worship Him with awe-filled reverence and profound respect, and you shall keep His commandments and you shall listen to His voice, and you shall serve Him, and ^bcling to Him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be ^aput to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, ^bto draw you away from the way in which the LORD your God has commanded you to walk. ^cSo you shall remove the evil from among you.

6 “^aIf your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or daughter, or ¹the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as precious to you as your own life (soul) , entices you secretly, saying, ‘^bLet us go and serve other gods’ (gods whom neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other), 8 ^ayou shall not consent to him or listen to him; ^band your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him. 9 ^aInstead, you shall most certainly execute him; ^byour hand shall be first to be raised against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 10 So you shall stone him to death with stones, because he has tried ^ato draw you away from the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 11 Then ^aall Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.

12 “If you hear it said in one of your cities, which the LORD your God gives you to live in, 13 that some worthless and evil men have gone out from among you and have tempted the inhabitants of their city to sin, saying, ‘^aLet us go and serve other gods’ (whom you have not known), 14 then you shall investigate and search out witnesses and ask thorough questions. If it is true and the matter is established that this loathsome thing has been done among you, 15 ^ayou shall most certainly strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it and all that is in it, even its livestock with the edge of the sword. 16 ^aThen you shall collect all its spoil (plunder) into the middle of its open square and burn the city and set fire to the spoil as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God. It shall be a ^bruin forever. It shall not be built again. 17 Nothing from that which is put under the ban (designated for destruction) shall cling to your hand, so that the LORD may turn away from ^aHis burning anger and ^bshow mercy to you, and have compassion on you and ^cmake you increase, just ^das He swore to your fathers, 18 because you have listened to and obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD your God.

“^1aIf a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘^aLet us walk after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for Yahweh your God is ^atesting you to find out if ^byou love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 ^aYou shall walk after Yahweh your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and ^bcling to Him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be ^aput to death because he has ¹counseled ²rebellion against Yahweh your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of ³slavery, ^bto drive you from the way in which Yahweh your God commanded you to walk. ^cSo you shall purge the evil from among you.

6 “^aIf your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife ¹you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, ‘^bLet us go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), 8 ^ayou shall not be willing to accept him or listen to him; ^band your eye shall not pity him; and you shall not spare him or conceal him. 9 ^aBut you shall surely kill him; ^byour hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 10 So you shall stone him ¹to death because he has sought ^ato drive you from Yahweh your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of ²slavery. 11 Thus ^aall Israel will hear and be afraid and will never again do such an evil thing among you.

12 “If you hear in one of your cities, which Yahweh your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that 13 some vile men have gone out from among you and have driven the inhabitants of their city astray, saying, ‘^aLet us go and serve other gods’ (whom you have not known), 14 then you shall inquire and search out and ask thoroughly. Behold, if it is true and the matter is confirmed, that this abomination has been done among you, 15 ^ayou shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, ¹devoting it to destruction and all that is in it and its cattle with the edge of the sword. 16 ^aThen you shall gather all its spoil into the middle of its open square and burn the city and all its spoil with fire as a whole burnt offering to Yahweh your God; and it shall be a ^1bruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt. 17 Now nothing from that which is devoted to destruction shall cling to your hand, in order that Yahweh may turn from ^aHis burning anger and ^bgrant compassion to you and show compassion to you and ^cmake you multiply, just ^das He has sworn to your fathers, 18 ¹if you will listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, ²keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, ³and doing what is right in the sight of Yahweh your God.