The Preacher's Bible

If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, ²and 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,” ³you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams; for Jehovah your God is testing you, to know whether you love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴You shall walk after Jehovah your God, fear him, keep his commandments, and obey his voice. You shall serve him, and cling to him. ⁵That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against Jehovah 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 Jehovah your God commanded you to walk in. So you shall remove the evil from among you.

⁶If 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; ⁷of 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— ⁸you shall not consent to him nor listen to him; neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall you conceal him; ⁹but 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. ¹⁰You shall stone him to death with stones, because he has sought to draw you away from Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ¹¹All Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall not do any more wickedness like this among you.

¹²If you hear about one of your cities, which Jehovah your God gives you to dwell there, that ¹³certain 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, ¹⁴then you shall inquire, investigate, and ask diligently. Behold, if it is true, and the thing certain, that such abomination was done among you, ¹⁵you 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. ¹⁶You shall gather all its plunder into the middle of its street, and shall burn with fire the city, with all of its plunder, to Jehovah your God. It shall be a heap forever. It shall not be built again. ¹⁷Nothing of the devoted thing shall cling to your hand, that Jehovah 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, ¹⁸when you listen to Jehovah your God’s voice, to keep all his commandments which I command you today, to do that which is right in Jehovah your God’s eyes.