Deuteronomy 13

Worshiping Other Gods

13^aIf a prophet,^y or one who foretells by dreams,^z appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, ²and if the sign^a or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods”^b (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” ³you must not listen to the words of that prophet^c or dreamer.^d The Lord your God is testing^e you to find out whether you love^f him with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴It is the Lord your God you must follow,^g and him you must revere.^h Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fastⁱ to him. ⁵That prophet or dreamer must be put to death^j for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn^k you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil^l from among you.

⁶If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices^m you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods”ⁿ (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, ⁷gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), ⁸do not yield^o to them or listen to them. Show them no pity.^p Do not spare them or shield them. ⁹You must certainly put them to death.^q Your hand^r must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. ¹⁰Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away^s from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹¹Then all Israel will hear and be afraid,^t and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.

¹²If you hear it said about one of the towns the Lord your God is giving you to live in ¹³that troublemakers^u have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods you have not known), ¹⁴then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly.^v And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you,^{w 15}you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. You must destroy it completely,^bx both its people and its livestock.^{y 16}You are to gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town^z and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God.^a That town is to remain a ruin^b forever, never to be rebuilt, ¹⁷and none of the condemned things^c are to be found in your hands. Then the Lord will turn from his fierce anger,^c will show you mercy,^d and will have compassion^e on you. He will increase your numbers,^f as he promised^g on oath to your ancestors—¹⁸because you obey the Lord your God by keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right^h in his eyes.