Deuteronomy 13-14

New Life Version

Worshiping False Gods

13 “A man who tells what is going to happen or a dreamer of dreams may come among you. He may give you something special to see or do a powerful work. ² And what he tells you will happen might come true. But if he says to you, ‘Let us follow other gods (whom you have not known) and let us worship them,’ ³ do not listen to the words of that man who tells you what will happen or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is putting you to the test to see if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ Follow the Lord your God and fear Him. Keep His Laws, and listen to His voice. Work for Him, and hold on to Him. ⁵ But that man who tells what is going to happen or that dreamer of dreams must be put to death, because he has talked to you about turning away from the Lord your God Who brought you from the land of Egypt and set you free from the land where you were servants. That man tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God told you to walk. You must take the sinful away from you.

⁶ “Your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your friend who is as your own soul, might tempt you in secret. They might say, ‘Let us go and worship other gods’ (whom you and your fathers have not known. ⁷ They might be gods of the nations who are around you, near you, or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other). ⁸ Do not agree with him or listen to him. Do not look on him with pity. And do not show him loving-kindness or hide him. ⁹ You must kill him. Your hand should be first against him to put him to death, and then the hand of all the people. ¹⁰ Kill him with stones, because he has tried to turn you away from the Lord your God Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the land where you were servants. ¹¹ Then all Israel will hear and be afraid. No one will do such a sinful thing among you again.

¹² “You might hear that in one of the cities the Lord your God has given you to live in ¹³ that some men of no worth have gone out from among you to tempt those who live in their city. They might say, ‘Let us go and worship other gods,’ (whom you have not known). ¹⁴ Then you should ask around and try to find out if this is true. If it is true that this sinful thing has been done among you, ¹⁵ you must be sure to go against those of that city with the sword. Destroy all of it, all that is in it, and its cattle, with the sword. ¹⁶ Then gather all that is left into the center of the city. Burn the city and all that is left in it with fire as a whole burnt gift to the Lord your God. It will be destroyed forever. It will never be built again. ¹⁷ Let nothing of the things to be destroyed be kept in your own hand so the Lord may turn from His burning anger and show loving-kindness to you. He will show you loving-pity and make you a nation of many, just as He promised your fathers. ¹⁸ But you must listen to the voice of the Lord your God. Obey all His Laws which I am telling you today. Do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.

Good and Bad Foods

14 “You are the sons of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or cut the hair from your foreheads because of the dead. ² For you are a holy nation to the Lord your God. The Lord has chosen you to be His own nation out of all the nations on the earth.

³ “Do not eat any hated thing. ⁴ These are the animals you may eat: the bull, the sheep, the goat, ⁵ the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. ⁶ And you may eat any animal that has a parted foot divided in two and that chews its food again. ⁷ But you must not eat of those that chew their food again or have a divided foot: the camel, the rabbit and the rock badger. For though they eat their food again, they do not have a divided foot. They are unclean to you. ⁸ And do not eat the pig, because it has a divided foot but does not chew its food again. It is unclean for you. Do not eat any of their flesh or touch their dead bodies.

⁹ “Of all that are in the water, you may eat anything that has fins and scales. ¹⁰ But do not eat anything that does not have fins and scales. It is unclean for you.

¹¹ “You may eat any clean bird. ¹² But these are the ones you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard, ¹³ the red kite, the falcon, every kind of kite, ¹⁴ every kind of raven, ¹⁵ the ostrich, the owl, the sea gull, every kind of hawk, ¹⁶ the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, ¹⁷ the pelican, the vulture that eats dead flesh, the cormorant, ¹⁸ the stork, every kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat. ¹⁹ And all flying bugs are unclean for you. Do not eat them. ²⁰ But you may eat any clean bird.

²¹ “Do not eat anything that dies of itself. You may give it to the stranger in your town, so he may eat it. Or you may sell it to a person from another land. For you are a holy nation to the Lord your God.

“Do not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

The Law of the Tenth Part

²² “Be sure to give a tenth part to the Lord of all you plant that comes from your field every year. ²³ Before the Lord your God, at the place He chooses to put His name, you may eat the tenth part of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the first-born of your cattle and your flock. Then you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. ²⁴ If the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far away for you to bring the tenth part of all the good things you have received, ²⁵ you should trade it for money. Then tie the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. ²⁶ You may spend the money for whatever your heart may desire, for bulls, sheep, wine, strong drink, or whatever you desire. And there you and those of your house may eat before the Lord and be full of joy. ²⁷ Do not stop caring for the Levite who is in your town for he has no share of what is given to you.

²⁸ “At the end of every third year you should bring the tenth part of that year’s grain into your towns. ²⁹ And the Levite who has no share of what is given to you, and the stranger, and the child without parents, and the woman whose husband has died, who are in your towns, may come and eat and be filled. Then the Lord your God will bring good to you in all the work done by your hands.