Episode 72: When to stone to death your whole family

(Deuteronomy 13-19)

Kill dreamers and prophets whose signs and wonders come true

13 ¹ If there is a prophet or dreamer among you who gives you a sign or a wonder, ² and that sign or wonder comes to pass, and he asks you to follow other gods which you haven't known, ³ don't listen to him. God has sent him to test you to see whether you love him.

⁵ And you must kill that prophet or dreamer.

Kill your family and friends if they try to change your religious beliefs

⁶ If your brother, son, daughter, wife, or friend asks you to serve another god, one which you haven't known,

⁸ Don't agree with him, or pity, or spare, or conceal him.

⁹ Rather, you must kill him. Your hand must be the first to strike him, and then the rest of the people.

¹⁰ You must stone him with stones until he is dead.

¹¹ So that everyone will hear and fear, and there will be no more wickedness among you.

If a city has people who believe in other gods, kill everyone in that city

^12-13 If you hear of a city where people say, "Let's serve other gods", gods that you haven't known, investigate to see if it is true.

¹⁵ If you find that it is true, kill everyone in the city (even the cattle) and burn it down.

¹⁷ By so doing, God's fierce anger will turn away from you and he will be merciful to you.

The Israelites are God's favorite people

14 ¹ Don’t cut yourself or shave between your eyes for dead people.

² You are a holy people to God. He likes you better than everyone else on earth.

3-21 What you may and may not eat

22 Tithes

15 1-6 The sabbatical year

Lend money to the poor

⁷ Lend to poor Israelites.

¹¹ There will always be poor people. Be generous to them.

12-18 Rules for slave owners

19-23 Rules for sacrificing first-born males

16 1-17 Feast days

Judges and officers

^18-20 Judges and officers should strive to be impartial and should never take a bribe.

Groves and images

^21-22 Don't plant a grove of trees near an altar of set up any image that God hates.

Stone to death anyone who worships another god

17 ² Stone to death those who have religious beliefs that are different from your own.

⁶ You must have two witnesses to stone someone to death.

⁷ When someone is stoned to death, the witnesses must throw the first stones. Then everyone else joins in.

Kill those who will not listen to a priest or a judge

⁸ When you can't figure out what to do, ask a priest or a judge.

¹⁰ Do whatever they tell you to do.

¹² Whoever refuses to do what a priest or judge tells them to do must be killed.

The king is chosen by God (and must not be a foreigner)

^14-15 God will choose the king to rule over you. Don’t allow a foreigner to be king.

^16-17 The king must not have too many horses, wives, or silver and gold.

18 1-8 Priests and Levites

Wizards, witches, and astrologers are abominations to God

¹⁰ No one among you shall make his sons and daughters pass through the fire.

¹¹ Wizards, witches, astrologers, and necromancers shall not be tolerated among you.

¹² Because they are abominations to God.

A prophet like Moses

¹⁵ God will raise up a prophet like me (Moses) from among you. Obey him.

Kill false prophets

²⁰ Any prophet who presumes to speak words that I haven't commanded him to speak must be killed.

²¹ If you say, "How will we know if it's what God has spoken?"

²² Here’s the answer: If the thing he says comes true, it's from God. If not, it’s not. Don't be afraid of him.

19 1-13 Cities of refuge and the avenger of blood

Landmarks and witnesses

¹⁴ Don't remove your neighbor's landmark.

¹⁵ Two or more witnesses are required to establish guilt for any crime.

^18-19 Do unto false witnesses as the criminals intended to do to their victims.

20-21 And eye for an eye