Deuteronomy 13

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 'Whatever I am now commanding you, you must keep and observe, adding nothing to it, takingnothing away.	1 “If there will have arisen in your midst a prophet, or someone who claims that he had seen a dream, and if he will have predicted sign and portent,
2 'If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you, offering you some sign or wonder,	2 and if what he has spoken happens, and he says to you, ‘Let us go and follow strange gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’
3 and the sign or wonder comes about; and if he then says to you, "Let us follow other gods (hithertounknown to you) and serve them,"	3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. For the Lord your God is testing you, so that it may become clear whether or not you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 you must not listen to that prophet's words or to that dreamer's dreams. Yahweh your God is testingyou to know if you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and al your soul.	4 Follow the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and listen to his voice. Him shall you serve, and to him shall you cling.
5 Yahweh your God is the one whom you must fol ow, him you must fear, his commandments you mustkeep, his voice you must obey, him you must serve, to him you must hold fast.	5 But that prophet or forger of dreams shall be put to death. For he has spoken so as to turn you away from the Lord your God, who led you away from the land of Egypt and who redeemed you from the house of servitude, and so as to cause you to wander from the way that the Lord your God has entrusted to you. And so shall you remove the evil from your midst.
6 That prophet or that dreamer of dreams must be put to death, since he has preached apostasy fromYahweh your God who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the place of slave-labour; and he wouldhave diverted you from the way in which Yahweh your God has commanded you to walk. You must banish thisevil from among you.	6 If your brother, the son of your mother, or your own son or daughter, or your wife who is in your bosom, or your friend, whom you love like your own soul, were willing to persuade you secretly, saying: ‘Let us go, and serve foreign gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known,
7 'If your brother, the son of your father or of your mother, or your son or daughter, or the spouse whomyou embrace, or your most intimate friend, tries secretly to seduce you, saying, "Let us go and serve othergods," unknown to you or your ancestors before you,	7 gods from any of the surrounding nations, whether these are near or far away, from the beginning even to the end of the earth,
8 gods of the peoples surrounding you, whether near you or far away, anywhere throughout the world,	8 you should neither agree with him, nor listen to him. And your eye should not spare him so that you take pity on him and conceal him.
9 you must not consent, you must not listen to him; you must show him no pity, you must not spare himor conceal his guilt.	9 Instead, you shall put him to death promptly. Let your hand be upon him first, and after that, let the hands of all the people be sent forth.
10 No, you must kil him, your hand must strike the first blow in putting him to death and the hands ofthe rest of the people following.	10 He shall be killed by being overwhelmed with stones. For he was willing to draw you away from the Lord your God, who led you away from the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude.
11 You must stone him to death, since he has tried to divert you from Yahweh your God who broughtyou out of Egypt, from the place of slave-labour.	11 So may all of Israel, upon hearing this, be afraid, so that nothing like this will ever be done again.
12 Al Israel, hearing of this, wil be afraid, and none of you wil do such a wicked thing again.	12 If, in one of your cities which the Lord your God will give to you as a habitation, you hear someone say:
13 'If you hear that in one of the towns which Yahweh your God has given you for a home,	13 ‘The sons of Belial have departed from your midst, and they have persuaded the inhabitants of their city, and they have said: “Let us go, and serve strange gods,” ’ which you have not known:
14 there are men, scoundrels from your own stock, who have led their fel ow-citizens astray, saying,"Let us go and serve other gods," hitherto unknown to you,	14 inquire carefully and diligently, seeking the truth of the matter. And if you find that what was said is certain, and that this abomination is a work which has been perpetrated,
15 it is your duty to look into the matter, examine it, and enquire most careful y. If it is proved andconfirmed that such a hateful thing has taken place among you,	15 you shall promptly strike down the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword. And you shall destroy it, along with all the things that are in it, even the flocks.
16 you must put the inhabitants of that town to the sword; you must lay it under the curse of destruction-- the town and everything in it.	16 Then all the household goods which are there, you shall gather together in the midst of its streets, and you shall set fire to these, along with the city itself, so that you may consume everything for the Lord your God, and so that it may be an everlasting tomb. It shall no longer be built up.
17 You must pile up al its loot in the public square and burn the town and al its loot, offering it al toYahweh your God. It is to be a ruin for al time, and never rebuilt.	17 And there shall remain nothing of that anathema in your hand, so that the Lord may turn from the wrath of his fury, and may take pity on you, and may multiply you, just as he swore to your fathers,
18 From what is thus put under the curse of destruction you must keep nothing back, so that Yahwehmay turn from the ferocity of his anger and show you mercy, and have pity on you and increase your numbers,as he swore he would to your ancestors,	18 when you will heed the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all his precepts, which I am entrusting to you this day, so that you may do what is pleasing in the sight of the Lord your God.”
19 on condition that you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God by keeping al his commandmentswhich I am enjoining on you today, and by doing what is right in the eyes of Yahweh your God.'