Deuteronomy 13–17

Don’t Worship Other Gods

13Suppose a prophet appears among you. Or someone comes who uses dreams to tell what’s going to happen. He tells you that a miraculous sign or wonder is going to take place. ²The sign or wonder he has spoken about might really take place. And he might say, “Let’s follow other gods. Let’s worship them.” But you haven’t known anything about those gods before. ³So you must not listen to what that prophet or dreamer has said.

The Lord your God is putting you to the test. He wants to know whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴You must follow him. You must have respect for him. Keep his commands. Obey him. Serve him. Remain true to him.

⁵That prophet or dreamer must be put to death. He told you not to obey the Lord your God. The Lord brought you out of Egypt. He set you free from the land where you were slaves. He commanded you to live the way he wants you to. But that prophet or dreamer has tried to make you turn away from it. Get rid of that evil person.

⁶Suppose your very own brother or sister secretly tempts you to do something wrong. Or your child or the wife you love tempts you. Or your closest friend does it. Suppose one of them says, “Let’s go and worship other gods.” But you and your people long ago hadn’t known anything about those gods before. ⁷They are the gods of the nations that are around you. Those nations might be near or far away. In fact, they might reach from one end of the land to the other. ⁸Don’t give in to those who are tempting you. Don’t listen to them. Don’t feel sorry for them. Don’t spare them or save them.

⁹You must certainly put them to death. You must be the first to throw stones at them. Then all of the people must do the same thing. ¹⁰Put them to death by throwing stones at them. They tried to turn you away from the Lord your God. He brought you out of Egypt. That’s the land where you were slaves.

¹¹After you kill those who tempted you, all of the people of Israel will hear about it. And they will be too scared to do an evil thing like that again.

¹²The Lord your God is giving you towns to live in. But suppose you hear something bad about one of those towns. ¹³You hear that evil men have appeared among you. They’ve tried to get the people of their town to do something wrong. They’ve said, “Let’s go and worship other gods.” But you haven’t known anything about those gods before. ¹⁴So you must question people. You must check the matter out carefully.

If it’s true, an evil thing has really happened among you. It’s something the Lord hates. ¹⁵Then you must certainly kill with your swords everyone who lives in that town. Destroy it completely. Wipe out its people and livestock. ¹⁶Gather all of the goods of that town into the middle of the main street. Burn the town completely. Burn up everything in it.

It’s a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. The town must remain a pile of stones forever. It must never be built again.

¹⁷Don’t keep anything that should be destroyed. Then the Lord will turn away from his burning anger. He will show you mercy. He’ll have deep concern for you. He’ll increase your numbers. That’s what he promised your people long ago. He took an oath when he made the promise.

¹⁸The Lord your God will do those things if you obey him. I’m giving you his commands today. And you must obey all of them. You must do what is right in his eyes.

Food That Is “Clean” and Food That Is Not

14You are the children of the Lord your God. Don’t cut yourselves to honor the dead. Don’t shave the front of your heads to honor them.

²You are a holy nation. The Lord your God has set you apart for himself. He has chosen you to be his special treasure. He chose you out of all of the nations on the face of the earth.

³Don’t eat anything the Lord hates. ⁴Here are the only animals you can eat. You can eat oxen, sheep, goats, ⁵deer, gazelles, roe deer, wild goats, ibexes, antelope and mountain sheep.

⁶You can eat any animal that has hoofs that are separated completely in two. But it must also chew the cud. ⁷Some animals only chew the cud. Others only have hoofs that are completely separated in two. The camel, rabbit and rock badger chew the cud, but they don’t have hoofs that are completely separated. So you can’t eat them. They are not “clean” for you.

⁸Pigs aren’t “clean” for you either. They have hoofs that are completely separated, but they don’t chew the cud. So don’t eat their meat. And don’t touch their dead bodies.

⁹Many creatures live in water. You can eat all of the ones that have fins and scales. ¹⁰But don’t eat anything that doesn’t have fins and scales. It isn’t “clean” for you.

¹¹You can eat any “clean” bird. ¹²But there are many birds you can’t eat. They include eagles, vultures, and black vultures. ¹³They include red kites, black kites and all kinds of falcons. ¹⁴They include all kinds of ravens. ¹⁵They include horned owls, screech owls, gulls and all kinds of hawks. ¹⁶They include little owls, great owls, white owls ¹⁷and desert owls. They include ospreys and cormorants. ¹⁸They include storks and all kinds of herons. They also include hoopoes and bats.

¹⁹All insects that fly together in groups are “unclean” for you. So don’t eat them. ²⁰But you can eat any creature that has wings and is “clean.”

²¹If you find something that’s already dead, don’t eat it. You can give it to an outsider who is living in any of your towns. He can eat it. Or you can sell it to someone who is from another country. But you are a holy nation. The Lord your God has set you apart for himself.

Don’t cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Give a Tenth of What You Produce

²²Be sure to set apart a tenth of everything your fields produce each year. ²³Here are the things you should eat in the sight of the Lord your God. You should eat a tenth part of your grain, olive oil and fresh wine. You should also eat the male animals among your livestock that were born first to their mothers. Eat all of those things at the special place the Lord your God will choose. He will put his Name there. You will learn to have respect for him always.

²⁴But suppose the place the Lord will choose for his Name is too far away from you. And suppose your God has blessed you. And your tenth part is too heavy for you to carry. ²⁵Then sell it for silver. Take the silver with you. Go to the place the Lord your God will choose. ²⁶Use the silver to buy anything you like. It can be cattle or sheep. It can be any kind of wine. In fact, it can be anything else you wish. Then you and your family can eat there in the sight of the Lord your God. You can be filled with joy.

²⁷Don’t forget to take care of the Levites who will live in your towns. They won’t receive any part of the land as their share.

²⁸At the end of every three years, bring a tenth of everything you produce that year. Store it in your towns. ²⁹Then the Levites can come and eat. That’s because they won’t receive any part of the land as their share. The outsiders and widows who live in your towns can come. So can the children whose fathers have died. Everyone can have plenty to eat. Then the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

The Year for Forgiving People What They Owe

15At the end of every seven years you must forgive people what they owe you. ²Have you made a loan to one of your own people? Then forgive what is owed to you. You can’t require that person to pay you back. The Lord’s time to forgive what is owed has been announced. ³You can require someone from another nation to pay you back. But you must forgive your own people what they owe you.

⁴There shouldn’t be any poor people among you. The Lord will greatly bless you in the land he is giving you. You will take it over as your own. ⁵The Lord your God will bless you if you obey him completely. Be careful to follow all of the commands I’m giving you today.

⁶The Lord your God will bless you, just as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations. But you won’t have to borrow from any of them. You will rule over many nations. But none of them will rule over you.

⁷Suppose there are poor people among you. And suppose they live in one of the towns in the land the Lord your God is giving you. Then don’t be mean to them. They are poor. So don’t hold back money from them. ⁸Instead, open your hands and lend them what they need. Do it freely.

⁹Be careful not to have an evil thought in your mind. Don’t say to yourself, “The seventh year will soon be here. It’s the year for forgiving people what they owe.” If you think like that, you might treat your needy people badly. You might not give them anything. Then they might make their appeal to the Lord against you. And he will find you guilty of sin.

¹⁰So give freely to those who are needy. Open your hearts to them. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all of your work. He will bless you in everything you do. ¹¹There will always be poor people in the land. So I’m commanding you to give freely to those who are poor and needy in your land. Open your hands to them.

Set Your Hebrew Servants Free

¹²Suppose Hebrew men or women sell themselves to you. If they do, they will serve you for six years. Then in the seventh year you must let them go free.

¹³But when you set them free, don’t send them away without anything to show for all of their work. ¹⁴Freely give them some animals from your flock. Also give them some of your grain and wine. The Lord your God has blessed you richly. Give to them as he has given to you.

¹⁵Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. The Lord your God set you free. That’s why I’m giving you this command today.

¹⁶But suppose your servant says to you, “I don’t want to leave you.” He loves you and your family. And you are taking good care of him. ¹⁷Then take him to the door of your house. Poke a hole through his ear lobe into the doorpost. And he will become your servant for life. Do the same with your female servant.

¹⁸Don’t think you are being cheated when you set your servants free. After all, they have…