¹²You may hear that the residents in one of the cities which the Lord your God is giving you to live in ¹³have been led away from the Lord your God by worthless people. You may hear that these people have been saying, “Let’s worship other gods.” (Those gods may be gods you’ve never heard of.) ¹⁴Then make a thorough investigation. If it is true, and you can prove that this disgusting thing has been done among you, ¹⁵you must kill the residents of that city with swords and destroy that city and everyone in it, including the animals, because they are claimed by God. ¹⁶Gather their goods into the middle of the city square. Then burn their city and all their goods as a burnt offering to the Lord your God. It must remain a mound of ruins and never be rebuilt. ¹⁷Don’t ever take any of the things claimed for destruction. Then the Lord will stop being angry and will show you mercy. In his mercy he will make your population increase, as he swore to your ancestors. ¹⁸The Lord your God will do this if you listen to him, obey all the commands that I’m giving you today, and do what he considers right.

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