Deuteronomy 13

13 ¹ If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, ² and the sign or the wonder comes true, just as he told you — saying, 'Let us follow other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them' — ³ you must not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For your Father is testing you, to know whether you love your Father with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ You must follow your Father, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice; you must serve him and hold fast to him. ⁵ But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams must be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against your Father, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to lead you away from the way your Father commanded you to follow. So you must purge the evil from among you.

⁶ If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your friend who is like your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods' — which neither you nor your ancestors have known, ⁷ from the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other, ⁸ you must not yield to him or listen to him; show him no pity, do not spare him, and do not shield him. ⁹ Instead, you must surely put him to death. You must be the first to put him to death, and afterward all the people must join in. ¹⁰ You must stone him to death with stones, because he tried to draw you away from your Father, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹¹ Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and never again will they do such an evil thing as this among you.

A City That Turns Away Must Be Purged

¹² If you hear a report about one of your cities, which your Father is giving you to live in, ¹³ that scoundrels have gone out from among you and have led astray the inhabitants of their city, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods,' which you have not known, ¹⁴ then you must inquire and investigate and ask thoroughly. And if it is true and certain that this abomination has been done among you, ¹⁵ you must surely strike down the inhabitants of that city with the sword, devoting it to destruction — it and everything in it, including its livestock — with the edge of the sword. ¹⁶ You must gather all its plunder into the middle of its open square, and burn the city and all its plunder with fire, as a whole burnt offering to your Father. It will be a ruin forever; it must never be rebuilt. ¹⁷ None of the devoted things must cling to your hand, so that your Father may turn from his burning anger and his heart be moved with compassion for you, and have mercy on you, and multiply you, as he swore to your ancestors, ¹⁸ if you obey the voice of your Father, keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the eyes of your Father.