The Fifth Book of Moses: Deuteronomy

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- Kapitel 13 -

Possibly there will be people among you who say that they are prophets. They may say that they are able to interpret the meaning of dreams or perform various kinds of miracles.

They will say those things in order to induce you to worship gods that you have never known about before. But even if what they predict happens,

do not pay attention to what they say. Yahweh our God will be testing you to find out if you love him with all your inner being.

You must conduct your lives as Yahweh our God wants you to, and you must honor him, do what he tells you to do, and trust in him.

But you must execute anyone who falsely says that he is a prophet, or someone who falsely says that he can interpret dreams, or who tells you to rebel against Yahweh our God, who rescued your ancestors from being slaves in Egypt. People like that are only wanting to cause you to stop living as Yahweh has commanded you to do. Execute them to get rid of this evil among you.

It does not matter if even your brother or your daughter or your wife or some close friend secretly urges you and says ‘Let us worship other gods, gods that neither you nor your ancestors have never known about.’

Some of them may encourage you to worship gods that people groups that live near you worship, or gods that groups who live far away worship.

Do not do what they suggest. Do not even listen to them. Do not act mercifully toward them, and do not keep secret what they have done.

Execute them! You be the first one to throw stones at them to kill them; then everyone else must throw stones at them, too.

Kill such people by throwing stones at them, because they are trying to cause you to stop worshiping Yahweh our God, who rescued your ancestors from being slaves in Egypt.

When they are executed, all the Israelite people will hear what happened, and they will become afraid, and none of them will do such an evil thing again.

Idolatrous Cities to Be Destroyed

When you are living in one of the towns in the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you, you may hear

that some worthless people among you are deceiving the people of their town, saying, ‘Let us go and worship other gods.’

Examine the facts about it thoroughly. Suppose you find out that it is true that such a disgraceful thing has happened.

Then kill all the people in that town. And kill all their livestock, too. Destroy the town completely.

Gather all the possessions that belonged to the people who lived there and pile them up in the city plaza. Then burn the town and everything in it, as though it were an offering to Yahweh that was completely burned on the altar. The ruins must stay there forever; the town must never be rebuilt.

You must not take for yourselves anything that Yahweh has said must be destroyed, because if you do what I say, Yahweh will stop being angry with you, and he will act mercifully toward you. And he will cause you to have many children, which is what he promised our ancestors that he would do.

Yahweh our God will do all those things if you do what he is telling you to do, and if you obey all the commandments that I am giving to you today and do what Yahweh says is right for you to do.

If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you, and he gives you a sign or a wonder,

and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, “Let’s go after other gods” (which you have not known) “and let’s serve them,”

you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

You shall walk after the LORD your God, fear him, keep his commandments, and obey his voice. You shall serve him, and cling to him.

That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which the LORD your God commanded you to walk in. So you shall remove the evil from among you.

If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods”—which you have not known, you, nor your fathers;

of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near to you, or far off from you, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth—

you shall not consent to him nor listen to him; neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall you conceal him;

but you shall surely kill him. Your hand shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people.

You shall stone him to death with stones, because he has sought to draw you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

All Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall not do any more wickedness like this among you.

Idolatrous Cities to Be Destroyed

If you hear about one of your cities, which the LORD your God gives you to dwell there, that

certain wicked fellows have gone out from among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods,” which you have not known,

then you shall inquire, investigate, and ask diligently. Behold, if it is true, and the thing certain, that such abomination was done among you,

you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, with all that is therein and its livestock, with the edge of the sword.

You shall gather all its plunder into the middle of its street, and shall burn with fire the city, with all of its plunder, to the LORD your God. It shall be a heap forever. It shall not be built again.

Nothing of the devoted thing shall cling to your hand, that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy, and have compassion on you and multiply you, as he has sworn to your fathers,

when you listen to the LORD your God’s voice, to keep all his commandments which I command you today, to do that which is right in the LORD your God’s eyes.