13:6 Suppose your own full brother, 8 your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods 9 that neither you nor your ancestors 10 have previously known, 11 13:7 the gods of the surrounding people (whether near you or far from you, from one end of the earth 12 to the other). 13:8 You must not give in to him or even listen to him; do not feel sympathy for him or spare him or cover up for him. 13:9 Instead, you must kill him without fail! 13 Your own hand must be the first to strike him, 14 and then the hands of the whole community. 13:10 You must stone him to death 15 because he tried to entice you away from the Lord your God, who delivered you from the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. 13:11 Thus all Israel will hear and be afraid; no longer will they continue to do evil like this among you. 16
13:12 Suppose you should hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you as a place to live, that 13:13 some evil people 17 have departed from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities, 18 saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods” (whom you have not known before). 19 13:14 You must investigate thoroughly and inquire carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing is being done among you, 20 13:15 you must by all means 21 slaughter the inhabitants of that city with the sword; annihilate 22 with the sword everyone in it, as well as the livestock. 13:16 You must gather all of its plunder into the middle of the plaza 23 and burn the city and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It will be an abandoned ruin 24 forever – it must never be rebuilt again. 13:17 You must not take for yourself anything that has been placed under judgment. 25 Then the Lord will relent from his intense anger, show you compassion, have mercy on you, and multiply you as he promised your ancestors. 13:18 Thus you must obey the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I am giving 26 you today and doing what is right 27 before him. 28