1   When a prophet or dreamer appears among you and offers you a sign 2   or a portent and calls on you to follow other gods whom you have not known and worship them, even if the sign or portent should come true, do not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer. 3   God is testing you through him to discover whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul. 4   You must follow the Lord your God and fear him; you must keep his commandments and obey him, serve him and hold fast to him. 5   That prophet or that dreamer shall be put to death, for he has preached rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from that land of slavery; he has tried to lead you astray from the path which the Lord your God commanded you to take. You must rid yourselves of this wickedness.

6   If your brother, your father's son or ^note your mother's son, or your son or daughter, or the wife of your bosom or your dearest friend should entice you secretly to go and worship other gods—gods whom neither you nor your fathers have known, 7   gods of the people round about you, near or far, 8   at one end of the land or the other—then you shall not

God's laws delivered by Moses consent or listen. You shall have no pity on him, you shall not spare him nor shield him, you shall put him to death; 9   your own hand shall be the first to be raised against him and then all the people shall follow. 10   You shall stone him to death, because he tried to lead you astray from the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 11   All Israel shall hear of it and be afraid; never again will anything as wicked as this be done among you.

12    13   When you hear that miscreants ^note have appeared in any of the cities which the Lord your God is giving you to occupy, and have led its inhabitants astray by calling on them to serve other gods whom you have not known, then you shall investigate the matter carefully. 14   If, after diligent examination, the report proves to be true and it is shown that this abominable thing has been done among you, 15   you shall put the inhabitants of that city to the sword; you shall lay the city under solemn ban together with everything in it. ^note 16   You shall gather all its goods into the square and burn both city and goods as a complete offering to the Lord your God; and it shall remain a mound of ruins, never to be rebuilt. 17   Let nothing out of all that has been laid under the ban be found in your possession, so that the Lord may turn from his anger and show you compassion; and in his compassion he will increase you as he swore to your forefathers, 18   provided that you obey the Lord your God and keep all his commandments which I give you this day, doing only what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.

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