| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1“If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, | 1If a prophet or someone who has dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you, |
| 2and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ | 2and that sign or wonder he has promised you comes about, but he says, 'Let us follow other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us worship them,' |
| 3you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. | 3do not listen to that prophet's words or to that dreamer. For the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and all your soul. |
| 4You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. | 4You must follow the LORD your God and fear Him. You must keep His commands and listen to His voice; you must worship Him and remain faithful to Him. |
| 5But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst. | 5That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has urged rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the place of slavery, to turn you from the way the LORD your God has commanded you to walk. You must purge the evil from you." |
| 6“If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, | 6If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, 'Let us go and worship other gods--which neither you nor your fathers have known, |
| 7of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, | 7any of the gods of the peoples around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other-- |
| 8you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; | 8you must not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity, and do not spare him or shield him. |
| 9but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. | 9Instead, you must kill him. Your hand is to be the first against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people. |
| 10And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. | 10Stone him to death for trying to turn you away from the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. |
| 11So all Israel shall hear and fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you. | 11All Israel will hear and be afraid, and they will no longer do anything evil like this among you." |
| 12“If you hear someone in one of your cities, which the LORD your God gives you to dwell in, saying, | 12If you hear it said about one of your cities the LORD your God is giving you to live in, |
| 13‘Corrupt men have gone out from among you and enticed the inhabitants of their city, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods” ’—which you have not known— | 13that wicked men have sprung up among you, led the inhabitants of their city astray, and said, 'Let us go and worship other gods,' which you have not known, |
| 14then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination was committed among you, | 14you are to inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. If the report turns out to be true that this detestable thing has happened among you, |
| 15you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its livestock—with the edge of the sword. | 15you must strike down the inhabitants of that city with the sword. Completely destroy everyone in it as well as its livestock with the sword. |
| 16And you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of the street, and completely burn with fire the city and all its plunder, for the LORD your God. It shall be a heap forever; it shall not be built again. | 16You are to gather all its spoil in the middle of the city square and completely burn up the city and all its spoil for the LORD your God. The city must remain a mound of ruins forever; it is not to be rebuilt. |
| 17So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers, | 17Nothing set apart for destruction is to remain in your hand, so that the LORD will turn from His burning anger and grant you mercy, show you compassion, and multiply you as He swore to your fathers. |
| 18because you have listened to the voice of the LORD your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of the LORD your God. | 18This will occur if you obey the LORD your God, keeping all His commands I am giving you today, doing what is right in the sight of the LORD your God." |
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