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.

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