Bible in Basic English
If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife of your heart, or the friend who is as dear to you as your life, working on you secretly says to you, Let us go and give worship to other gods, strange to you and to your fathers;
Gods of the peoples round about you, near or far, from one end of the earth to the other;
Do not be guided by him or give attention to him; have no pity on him or mercy, and give him no cover;
But put him to death without question; let your hand be the first stretched out against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people.
Let him be stoned with stones till he is dead; because it was his purpose to make you false to the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the prison-house.
And all Israel, hearing of it, will be full of fear, and no one will again do such evil as this among you.
And if word comes to you, in one of the towns which the Lord your God is giving you for your resting-place,
That good-for-nothing persons have gone out from among you, turning the people of their town from the right way and saying, Let us go and give worship to other gods, of whom you have no knowledge;
Then let a full search be made, and let questions be put with care; and if it is true and certain that such a disgusting thing has been done among you;
Then take up arms against the people of that town and give it up to the curse, with all its cattle and everything in it.
And take all the goods into the middle of its open space, burning the town and all its property with fire as an offering to the Lord your God; it is to be a waste for ever; there is to be no more building there.
Keep not a thing of what is cursed for yourselves: so the Lord may be turned away from the heat of his wrath, and have mercy on you, and give you increase as he said in his oath to your fathers:
So long as you give ear to the voice of the Lord your God, and keep all his orders which I give you today, and do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.
— Deuteronomy 13:6-1964, Bible in Basic English
“False Prophets in the Family Suppose your own full brother, your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have previously known, the gods of the surrounding people(whether near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other). You must not give in to him or even listen to him; do not feel sympathy for him or spare him or cover up for him. Instead, you must kill him without fail! Your own hand must be the first to strike him, and then the hands of the whole community. You must stone him to death because he tried to entice you away from the LORD your God, who delivered you from the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. Thus all Israel will hear and be afraid; no longer will they continue to do evil like this among you. Punishment of Community Idolatry Suppose you should hear in one of your cities, which the LORD your God is giving you as a place to live, that some evil people have departed from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities, saying,“Let’s go and serve other gods”(whom you have not known before). You must investigate thoroughly and inquire carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing is being done among you, you must by all means slaughter the inhabitants of that city with the sword; annihilate with the sword everyone in it, as well as the livestock. You must gather all of its plunder into the middle of the plaza and burn the city and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God. It will be an abandoned ruin forever– it must never be rebuilt again. You must not take for yourself anything that has been placed under judgment. Then the LORD will relent from his intense anger, show you compassion, have mercy on you, and multiply you as he promised your ancestors. Thus you must obey the LORD your God, keeping all his commandments that I am giving you today and doing what is right before him.”
Then give no attention to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God is testing you, to see if all the love of your heart and soul is given to him.
But keep on in the ways of the Lord your God, fearing him and keeping his orders and hearing his voice, worshipping him and being true to him.
And that prophet or that dreamer of dreams is to be put to death; for his words were said with the purpose of turning you away from the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt and made you free from the prison-house; and of forcing you out of the way in which the Lord your God has given you orders to go. So you are to put away the evil from among you.
If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife of your heart, or the friend who is as dear to you as your life, working on you secretly says to you, Let us go and give worship to other gods, strange to you and to your fathers;
Gods of the peoples round about you, near or far, from one end of the earth to the other;
Do not be guided by him or give attention to him; have no pity on him or mercy, and give him no cover;
But put him to death without question; let your hand be the first stretched out against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people.
Let him be stoned with stones till he is dead; because it was his purpose to make you false to the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the prison-house.
And all Israel, hearing of it, will be full of fear, and no one will again do such evil as this among you.
And if word comes to you, in one of the towns which the Lord your God is giving you for your resting-place,
That good-for-nothing persons have gone out from among you, turning the people of their town from the right way and saying, Let us go and give worship to other gods, of whom you have no knowledge;
Then let a full search be made, and let questions be put with care; and if it is true and certain that such a disgusting thing has been done among you;
Then take up arms against the people of that town and give it up to the curse, with all its cattle and everything in it.
And take all the goods into the middle of its open space, burning the town and all its property with fire as an offering to the Lord your God; it is to be a waste for ever; there is to be no more building there.
Keep not a thing of what is cursed for yourselves: so the Lord may be turned away from the heat of his wrath, and have mercy on you, and give you increase as he said in his oath to your fathers:
So long as you give ear to the voice of the Lord your God, and keep all his orders which I give you today, and do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.