Deuteronomy

If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,

1Someone may stand up among you and say he is a prophet. A prophet is a person who tells others what God says. Or he may say God speaks to him in dreams. He tells you that a sign or a wonder will happen.

2And 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;

2And the sign or the wonder really does happen. But then he says, "Let us follow other gods and worship them." These are gods you have never known.

3Thou 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.

3Do not listen to that prophet or that dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you. He wants to see if you love him with your whole heart and your whole life.

NoteThe old word "proveth" here means tests, not proves true. God is testing the people to see what they will do.

4Ye 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.

4Follow the LORD your God and honor him. Keep his commands and listen to his voice. Serve him and stay close to him.

5And 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.

5That prophet or dreamer must be put to death. He told you to turn away from the LORD your God. God brought you out of the land of Egypt. He set you free when you were slaves there. This man tried to push you off the path God told you to walk. You must clear this evil out from among you.

6If 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;

6Someone very close to you may whisper this to you. It could be your brother, your son, or your daughter. It could be the wife you love, or your dearest friend. He says, "Let us go and worship other gods." These are gods you never knew, and your parents never knew.

7Namely, 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;

7These are the gods of the people who live around you. Some of them live close by. Some live far away. Some live at the other end of the earth.

8Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:

8Do not agree with him. Do not listen to him. Do not feel sorry for him or protect him. Do not hide what he has done.

9But 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.

9You must put him to death. Your own hand must be the first one against him. After that, all the people join in.

10And 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.

10Throw stones at him until he dies. He tried to pull you away from the LORD your God. God brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves.

11And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.

11Then all Israel will hear about it and be afraid. No one among you will do such a wicked thing again.

12If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying,

12The LORD your God is giving you cities to live in. One day you may hear news about one of them.

13Certain 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;

13You may hear that wicked men from your own people have led that city away. They said, "Let us go and serve other gods." These are gods you have never known.

NoteThe KJV says "children of Belial," which sounds like a family name. It is an old way of saying worthless or wicked men.

14Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you;

14Then you must ask questions and search carefully. Find out if the news is really true. Find out if this terrible thing really happened among you.

15Thou 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.

15If it is true, kill the people of that city with the sword. Kill their animals too. Destroy the city and everything in it completely.

16And 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.

16Pile up everything the people owned in the middle of the town square. Then burn the city and all of it with fire. Burn it all as a gift to the LORD your God. That city must stay a pile of ruins forever. It must never be built again.

17And 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;

17Do not keep any of those things for yourself. Then the LORD will stop being fiercely angry. He will be kind and gentle to you. He will make your family grow large, just as he promised your fathers.

Note"The cursed thing" means the things from that city that were set apart to be destroyed. The rule is that no one may keep any of it.

18When 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.

18All this comes when you listen to the voice of the LORD your God. Keep all the commands I am giving you today. Do what is right in his eyes.