Deuteronomy 13–14

13“Prophets or interpreters of dreams may promise a miracle or a wonder, ²in order to lead you to worship and serve gods that you have not worshipped before. Even if what they promise comes true, ³do not pay any attention to them. The Lord your God is using them to test you, to see if you love the Lord with all your heart. ⁴Follow the Lord and honour him; obey him and keep his commands; worship him and be faithful to him. ⁵But put to death any interpreters of dreams or prophets who tell you to rebel against the Lord, who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. Such people are evil and are trying to lead you away from the life that the Lord has commanded you to live. They must be put to death, in order to rid yourselves of this evil.

⁶“Even your brother or your son or your daughter or the wife you love or your closest friend may secretly encourage you to worship other gods, gods that you and your ancestors have never worshipped. ⁷One of them may encourage you to worship the gods of the people who live near you or the gods of those who live far away. ⁸But do not let him or her persuade you; do not even listen to them. Show them no mercy or pity, and do not protect them. ⁹Kill them! Be the first to stone them, and then let everyone else stone them too. ¹⁰Stone them to death! They tried to lead you away from the Lord your God, who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. ¹¹Then all the people of Israel will hear what happened; they will be afraid, and no one will ever again do such an evil thing.

¹²“When you are living in the towns that the Lord your God gives you, you may hear ¹³that some worthless people of your nation have misled the people of their town to worship gods that you have never worshipped before. ¹⁴If you hear such a rumour, investigate it thoroughly; and if it is true that this evil thing did happen, ¹⁵then kill all the people in that town and all their livestock too. Destroy that town completely. ¹⁶Bring together all the possessions of the people who live there and pile them up in the town square. Then burn the town and everything in it as an offering to the Lord your God. It must be left in ruins for ever and never again be rebuilt. ¹⁷Do not keep for yourselves anything that was condemned to destruction, and then the Lord will turn from his fierce anger and show you mercy. He will be merciful to you and make you a numerous people, as he promised your ancestors, ¹⁸if you obey all his commands that I have given you today, and do what he requires.

A Forbidden Practice

14^*“You are the people of the Lord your God. So when you mourn for the dead, don’t gash yourselves or shave the front of your head, as other people do. ^2*You belong to the Lord your God; he has chosen you to be his own people from among all the peoples who live on earth.

Clean and Unclean Animals

³“Do not eat anything that the Lord has declared unclean. ⁴You may eat these animals: cattle, sheep, goats, ⁵deer, wild sheep, wild goats, or antelopes- ⁶any animals that have divided hoofs and that also chew the cud. ⁷But no animals may be eaten unless they have divided hoofs and also chew the cud. You may not eat camels, rabbits, or rock-badgers. They must be considered unclean; they chew the cud but do not have divided hoofs. ⁸Do not eat pigs. They must be considered unclean; they have divided hoofs but do not chew the cud. Do not eat any of these animals or even touch their dead bodies.

⁹“You may eat any kind of fish that has fins and scales, ¹⁰but anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales may not be eaten; it must be considered unclean.

¹¹“You may eat any clean bird. ^12–18But these are the kinds of birds you are not to eat: eagles, owls, hawks, falcons; buzzards, vultures, crows; ostriches; seagulls, storks, herons, pelicans, cormorants;^l hoopoes; and bats.

¹⁹“All winged insects are unclean; do not eat them. ²⁰You may eat any clean insect.

^21*“Do not eat any animal that dies a natural death. You may let the foreigners who live among you eat it, or you may sell it to other foreigners. But you belong to the Lord your God; you are his people.

“Do not cook a young sheep or goat in its mother’s milk.

The Law of the Tithe

^22*“Set aside a tithe—a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. ^23*Then go to the one place where the Lord your God has chosen to be worshipped; and there in his presence eat the tithes of your corn, wine, and olive oil, and the firstborn of your cattle and sheep. Do this so that you may learn to honour the Lord your God always. ^24*If the place of worship is too far from your home for you to carry there the tithe of the produce that the Lord has blessed you with, then do this: ^25*Sell your produce and take the money with you to the one place of worship. ^26*Spend it on whatever you want—beef, lamb, wine, beer—and there, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families are to eat and enjoy yourselves.

^27*“Do not neglect the Levites who live in your towns; they have no property of their own. ^28*At the end of every third year bring the tithe of all your crops and store it in your towns. ^29*This food is for the Levites, since they own no property, and for the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your towns. They are to come and get all they need. Do this, and the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.