“When you begin living in the towns the Lord your God is giving you, you may hear
Parallel translations
- WEB If you shall hear about one of your cities, which Yahweh your God gives you to dwell there, that
- KJV If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying,
- BSB If, regarding one of the cities the LORD your God is giving you to inhabit, you hear it said
- NKJV “If you hear someone in one of your cities, which the Lord your God gives you to dwell in, saying,
- NASB “If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
If a whole city is reported to have turned to other gods, it too must be dealt with. Apostasy on a community scale is no less serious than individual sin.
Overview
Moses moves from the individual enticer to an entire town drawn into idolatry. The covenant required that even a city not be exempt from accountability. This shows how seriously God guarded the purity of his people, and it warns against corporate as well as personal departure from the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Josh 22:11–34The children of Israel heard this, “Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar in the border of the land of Canaan, in the region around the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the children of Israel.”
- Judg 20:1–17Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was assembled as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead, to Yahweh at Mizpah.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 13:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.