Deuteronomy 13:12–18

¹²“If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that

¹³some 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),

¹⁴then 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,

^15ayou 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,

¹⁸¹if 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.