1 IF there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
7 Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;
8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:
9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.
12 If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying,
13 Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;
14 Then shalt thou inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you;
15 Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.
16 And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the Lord thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again.
17 And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers;
18 When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord thy God.

1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreames, and giueth thee a signe, or a wonder: 2 And the signe or the wonder come to passe, wherof he spake vnto thee, saying, Let vs go after other gods (which thou hast not knowen) and let vs serue them:

3 Thou shalt not hearken vnto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreames: for the Lord your God prooueth you, to know whether you loue the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soule.

4 Ye shall walke after the Lord your God, and feare him, and keepe his commandements, and obey his voyce, and you shall serue him, and cleaue vnto him.

5 And that prophet or that dreamer of dreames shalbe put to death (because hee hath spoken to turne you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walke in) So shalt thou put the euill away from the midst of thee.

6 If thy brother, the sonne of thy mother, or thy sonne, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosome, or thy friend, which is as thine owne soule, entise thee secretly, saying, Let vs goe and serue other gods which thou hast not knowen, thou, nor thy fathers:

7 Namely of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh vnto thee, or farre off from thee, from the one end of the earth, euen vnto the other end of the earth:

8 Thou shalt not consent vnto him nor hearken vnto him, neither shall thine eye pitie him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceale him.

9 But thou shalt surely kill him: Thine hand shall be first vpon him, to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that hee die: because hee hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

11 And all Israel shall heare, and feare, and shall doe no more any such wickednesse as this is, among you.

12 If thou shalt heare say in one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God hath giuen thee to dwell there, saying,

13 Certaine men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and haue withdrawen the inhabitants of their citie, saying, Let vs goe & serue other gods, which ye haue not knowen:

14 Then shalt thou enquire and make search, and aske diligently: and behold, if it be trueth, and the thing certaine, that such abomination is wrought among you:

15 Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that citie with the edge of the sword, destroying it vtterly, and all that is therein, and the cattell thereof, with the edge of the sword.

16 And thou shalt gather all the spoile of it, into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burne with fire the citie, and all the spoile thereof euery whit, for the Lord thy God: and it shall be an heape for euer, it shall not bee built againe.

17 And there shall cleaue nought of the cursed thing to thine hand, that the Lord may turne from the fiercenesse of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and haue compassion vpon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworne vnto thy fathers;

18 When thou shalt hearken to the voyce of the Lord thy God, to keepe all his Commaundements which I command thee this day, to doe that which is right in the eyes of the Lord thy God.

I == Matt 24:24 ; 2nd Thess 2:9

II == Jer 28:9 ; Matt 7:22

 

 

III == 1st Cor 11:19 ; 2nd Thess 2:11 ; Rev 13:14

 

 

 

 

 

V == Deut 17:7 ; 18:20 ; 22:21 , 22 , 24 ; Jer 14:15

 

 

 

 

VI == 1st Sam 18:1 , 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VIII == Prov 1:10

 

 

IX == Deut 17:5 , 7 ; Acts 7:58

 

 

 

 

 

XI == Deut 13:20 ; 17:13

XII == Josh 22:11 ; Judg 20:1-2

 

XIII == Deut 13:26 ; Judg 19:22 ; 1st Sam 2:12 ; 25:17 . 25 ; 1st Kings 21:10 , 13 ; 2nd Kings 17:21 2nd Cor 6:15 ; 1st John 2:19 ; Jude 19

 

XV == Ex 22:20 ; Lev 27:28 ; Josh 6:17 , 21

 

XVI == Josh 6:24 ; 8:28

 

 

 

XVII == Gen 22:17 ; 26:4 , 24 ; 28:14 ; Deut 7:26 ; Josh 6:18 , 26

 

XVIII == Deut 12:25 , 28 , 32

 

 

1 "Every command that I enjoin on you, you shall be careful to observe, neither adding to it nor subtracting from it.

2 "If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer who promises you a sign or wonder,

3 urging you to follow other gods, whom you have not known, and to serve them: even though the sign or wonder he has foretold you comes to pass,

4 pay no attention to the words of that prophet or that dreamer; for the LORD, your God, is testing you to learn whether you really love him with all your heart and with all your soul.

5 The LORD, your God, shall you follow, and him shall you fear; his commandment shall you observe, and his voice shall you heed, serving him and holding fast to him alone.

6 But that prophet or that dreamer shall be put to death, because, in order to lead you astray from the way which the LORD, your God, has directed you to take, he has preached apostasy from the LORD, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and ransomed you from that place of slavery. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.

7 "If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or your intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known,

8 gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other:

9 do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him,

10 but kill him. Your hand shall be the first raised to slay him; the rest of the people shall join in with you.

11 You shall stone him to death, because he sought to lead you astray from the LORD, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.

12 And all Israel, hearing of it, shall fear and never again do such evil as this in your midst.

13 "If, in any of the cities which the LORD, your God, gives you to dwell in, you hear it said

14 that certain scoundrels have sprung up among you and have led astray the inhabitants of their city to serve other gods whom you have not known,

15 you must inquire carefully into the matter and investigate it thoroughly. If you find that it is true and an established fact that this abomination has been committed in your midst,

16 you shall put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, dooming the city and all life that is in it, even its cattle, to the sword.

17 Having heaped up all its spoils in the middle of its square, you shall burn the city with all its spoils as a whole burnt offering to the LORD, your God. Let it be a heap of ruins forever, never to be rebuilt.

18 You shall not retain anything that is doomed, that the blazing wrath of the LORD may die down and he may show you mercy and in his mercy for you may multiply you as he promised your fathers on oath;

19 because you have heeded the voice of the LORD, your God, keeping all his commandments which I enjoin on you today, doing what is right in his sight.

There are three ways in which idolatry was apt to come upon the people.

v 1-5. First, false prophets. In 18:22 they are told that if what is prophesied does not come to pass, they will know it was a false prophet. Here, even if it comes to pass, if he says to go after other gods, they will know that he is false. There is a future day when Satan will use signs and lying wonders, 2 Thess. 2:9, so the chief credential is not their sign, but the harmony of the message with the Word of God. That man is to be ignored, because the Lord is testing their love for Him. They are not only to obey and cleave to the Lord, but they are to put the false prophet to death.

 

 

 

v 6-11. Second, loved ones. If any family member or close friend enticed them to follow any false god, no matter where from, they were to not to listen to him. No opportunity for two or three witnesses because he was secretly enticing you. Moreover they were not to pity, spare or conceal him, but were to kill him by stoning. The accuser, as in other cases, even though a close relative or friend, was to throw the first stone, then the rest of the people would. This was a deterrent to turning close ones away from the Lord.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 12-18. Third, rebellious. In the case of a city that evil people had turned from the Lord, diligent investigation was to be made to be sure it was true. If it was, then the whole city should be killed with the sword and every bit of  the spoils brought to the middle of the street and burned. The city was never to be rebuilt. Then the Lord would have mercy upon them and bless them.