Deuteronomy 13 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
~1406 BC, part of the law code delivered in Moses' final address
Location
the plains of Moab, with rules written for future Israelite towns in Canaan
Audience
Israelites who would soon live surrounded by other religions and their persuasive advocates
Situation
Three cases are set out for handling anyone who urges the worship of other gods: a prophet whose sign comes true, a close family member speaking privately, and a whole town that has turned away.
Key Background
The striking feature of the first case is that a prophet's prediction coming true does not settle the matter, because loyalty is the test rather than displays of power, which cuts against the usual ancient assumption that a working sign proved a god's authority. The second case names the people whose appeals are hardest to refuse, a brother, a child, a spouse, a close friend, and treats intimacy as an aggravating factor rather than a mitigating one. In treaty law of the period, inciting rebellion against the sovereign was the gravest offence a subject could commit, and this chapter applies that framework directly, which is why the penalties are so severe and why the incited town's goods could not be taken as plunder.
If a or someone who claims to have shows up among you and offers you a or a
and the sign or wonder they predicted actually happens, but then they say, "Let's follow other — gods you've never known — "and let's serve them,"
don't listen to what that prophet or dreamer says. Yahweh your God is you to find out whether you truly Yahweh your God with your and your being.
Yahweh your God. in of Keep his commands. Listen to his voice. Serve on to
That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because they were preaching against Yahweh your God — the one who you out of and rescued you from the — trying to push you off the path that Yahweh your God told you to walk. You must out this of from among you.
If your own brother, your son, your daughter, the wife you love, or your tries to persuade you, saying, "Let's go serve other gods" — gods that neither you nor your ancestors have ever known,
gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from of the to the other —
in to them. listen to them. feel sorry for them. show them mercy. for them.
You must be the one to them. Your hand strikes first, and then everyone else joins in.
them to because they tried to you from Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the slave house.
Then all of Israel will hear about it and be and no one will ever do something this among you again.
If you hear this about one of the towns that Yahweh your God is giving you to live in —
that some have come from among you and have the of their town saying, "Let's go serve other gods" — gods you've never known —
then you must it thoroughly. Ask questions. Dig into it carefully. If the report turns out to be true and confirmed — if this really did happen among you —
you must strike down the inhabitants of that town with the sword. it and everyone in it, along with its livestock, by the sword.
Pile all its goods in the middle of the town square and burn the entire town and all its goods as a to Yahweh your God. It will remain a — it must never be rebuilt.
Don't keep any of the for — not a single item. Then Yahweh will turn away from his and show you and multiply you, just as he promised your ancestors,
as long as you to the of Yahweh your God, keep all his commands that I'm giving you today, and do what is in the eyes of Yahweh your God.