Глава 13

Protecting the Israelis from false prophets and persons who could seduce them into idolatry. Deut.13:1. If a prophet or a dreamer arises among you and shows you a sign or a wonder, Deut.13:2. and the sign or miracle that he told you about will come true, and he will say: “Let us follow other gods, whom you do not know, and we will serve them,” Deut.13:3. then do not listen to the words of this prophet, or this dreamer; For by this the Lord your God tempts you, to find out whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul; Deut.13:4. Follow the Lord your God and fear Him, keep His commandments and listen to His voice, and serve Him, and cleave to Him; (Heb. 2–5). The gift of miracles is not yet an undoubted sign of the divine messenger of a miracle worker. The Egyptian magicians also performed miracles (Ex. 7.11 et seq.), and the last enemy of the human race, the Antichrist, will also perform great signs and wonders (Matthew 24.24; 2 Thess. 2.9). “Through this, let us learn not to pay attention to signs when the one performing them teaches what is contrary to piety” (Blessed Theodoret, on Deut., issue 12). The first distinctive sign of the divine messenger of a miracle worker and preacher is the subject and tone of his sermon. If a person preaches apostasy from the professed God, he is not a messenger of God (Gal. 1.8). Deut.13:5. and that prophet or that dreamer must be put to death because he persuaded you to depart from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and delivered you from the house of slavery, wanting to turn you away from the path in which the Lord your God commanded you to go; and so destroy evil from among you. Deut.13:6. If your brother, [your father's son or] your mother's son, or your son, or your daughter, or your wife in your bosom, or your friend who is like your soul, persuades you secretly, saying: “Let us go and serve other gods, which you and your fathers did not know,” Deut.13:7. to the gods of those nations that are around you, close to you or distant from you, from one end of the earth to the other, - Deut.13:8. then do not agree with him and do not listen to him; and let not your eye spare him, do not pity him and do not cover him, Deut.13:9. but kill him; your hand must be on him first to kill him, and then the hands of all the people; Deut.13:10. stone him to death, for he tried to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery; Deut.13:11. all Israel will hear this and be afraid, and they will no longer do such evil among you. Deut.13:12. If you hear about any of your cities that the Lord your God is giving you to live in, Deut.13:13. that wicked men from among you appeared in it and seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying: “Let us go and serve other gods whom you have not known” - Deut.13:14. then you search, explore and question well; and if it is absolutely true that this abomination has happened among you, Deut.13:15. smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, and smite everything in it and its cattle with the edge of the sword; Deut.13:16. gather all its spoils into the middle of its square and burn with fire the city and all its spoils as a burnt offering to the Lord your God, and let it be forever in ruins, never to build it again; Deut.13:17. Let nothing of the curse stick to your hand, so that the Lord may subdue the fury of His anger, and give you mercy and have mercy on you, and multiply you, [as He told you,] as He swore to your fathers, Deut.13:18. if you listen to the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all His commandments that I now command you, doing what is [good and] acceptable in the sight of the Lord your God. (Heb. 6–19). A false prophet and any other person who preaches apostasy from God in favor of pagan deities must be put to death; the city, noticed in the preaching of apostasy, must undergo the wholesale extermination of the inhabitants, together with everything that is in the city, and henceforth not be restored, - according to the exact meaning of the laws regarding the seducer into idolatry. Having the meaning of a punitive measure, the law on seducers has at the same time a preventive nature: “all Israel will hear this and fear, and will no longer do such evil among you” (v. 11). “And so destroy evil from among you” (v. 5; cf. Deut. 19:19–20, 22:21, 22, 24, 24:7). You might be interested in: