⁶“If your brother, the son of your mother or your son or your daughter or your wife whom you embrace^g or your intimate friend^h in secrecy says,ⁱ ‘Let us go and let us serve other gods!’ gods that you and your ancestors^j have not known, ⁷from among the gods of the people who are around you, those near you or those far from you,^k from one end of the earth and up to the other end of the earth, ⁸you must not give in to him, and you shall not listen to him, and your eye shall not take pity on him, and you shall not have compassion, and you shall not cover up^l for him. ⁹But you shall certainly kill him; your hand shall be first against him to kill him and next the hand of all of the people. ¹⁰And you shall stone him with stones and let him die, for he tried to seduce you from Yahweh your God, the one bringing you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. ¹¹And all of Israel shall hear, and they shall fear, and they shall not continue to act^m according to this evil thing in your midst.

¹²“If you hear in one of your towns which Yahweh your God is giving to you to live in, someone saying thatⁿ ¹³worthless men^o have gone out from your midst and have seduced the inhabitants of their town, saying,^p ‘Let us go and serve other gods!’ whom you have not known, ¹⁴then you shall inquire and examine and interrogate thoroughly, and, look! It is true; the thing has actually been done, this detestable thing in your midst, ¹⁵then you shall certainly strike down the inhabitants of that town with the edge^q of the sword; you shall destroy it and everything in it, its domestic animals with the edge^r of the sword. ¹⁶And then you shall gather all of its booty into the middle of its public square, and you shall burn the town and all of its war-booty totally for Yahweh your God, and it shall be a pile of rubble forever;^s it shall not be built again. ¹⁷And let not something cling to your hand from the things devoted to destruction, so that Yahweh may turn back from his burning anger,^t and he may show compassion to you and he may continue to show compassion and so multiply you just as he swore^u to your ancestors,^v ¹⁸if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep all of his commandments that I am commanding to you today^w so as to do the right thing in the eyes of Yahweh your God.”

Read in Logos

Footnotes

gLiterally “or the wife of your embrace”
hLiterally “your friend who is like your soul/inner self”
iLiterally “to say”
jOr “fathers”
kLiterally “the near ones to you or the distant ones from you”
lOr “conceal” him
mLiterally “they shall not add to do”
nLiterally “to say”
oLiterally “sons of Belial”
pLiterally “to say”
qLiterally “mouth”
rLiterally “mouth”
sLiterally “a tell/ruin forever”
tLiterally “from the burning of his nose”
uLiterally “as that he swore”
vOr “fathers”
wLiterally “the day”