Chapter 13
1 All this word which I command you, that shall ye observe to
do; thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
2 If there arise in the midst of thee a prophet, or a dreamer
of dreams--and he give thee a sign or a wonder,
3 and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spoke
unto thee--saying: 'Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and
let us serve them';
4 thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or
unto that dreamer of dreams; for HaShem your G-d putteth you to proof, to know
whether ye do love HaShem your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul.
5 After HaShem your G-d shall ye walk, and Him shall ye fear,
and His commandments shall ye keep, and unto His voice shall ye hearken, and Him
shall ye serve, and unto Him shall ye cleave.
6 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put
to death; because he hath spoken perversion against HaShem your G-d, who brought
you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage, to
draw thee aside out of the way which HaShem thy G-d commanded thee to walk in.
So shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee.
7 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy
daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, that is as thine own soul,
entice thee secretly, saying: 'Let us go and serve other gods,' which thou hast
not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
8 of the gods of the peoples that are round about you, nigh
unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the
other end of the earth;
9 thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him;
neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou
conceal him;
10 but thou shalt surely kill him; thy hand shall be first
upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
11 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because
he hath sought to draw thee away from HaShem thy G-d, who brought thee out of
the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
12 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more
any such wickedness as this is in the midst of thee.
13 If thou shalt hear tell concerning one of thy cities,
which HaShem thy G-d giveth thee to dwell there, saying:
14 'Certain base fellows are gone out from the midst of thee,
and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying: Let us go and serve
other gods, which ye have not known';
15 then shalt thou inquire, and make search, and ask
diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such
abomination is wrought in the midst of thee;
16 thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with
the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein and the
cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.
17 And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst
of the broad place thereof, and shall burn with fire the city, and all the spoil
thereof every whit, unto HaShem thy G-d; and it shall be a heap for ever; it
shall not be built again.
18 And there shall cleave nought of the devoted thing to thy
hand, that HaShem may turn from the fierceness of His anger, and show thee
mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as He hath sworn unto
thy fathers;
19 when thou shalt hearken to the voice of HaShem thy G-d, to
keep all His commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is
right in the eyes of HaShem thy G-d.
Sources: Portions copyright © 1997 by Benyamin Pilant, All Rights Reserved
JPS Electronic Edition, based on the 1917 JPS translation, Copyright © 1998 by Larry Nelson, All Rights Reserved
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