Make sure there isn’t a man or woman among your families or tribes who turns away from the Lord our God. No one must worship the gods of those nations. Make sure that kind of worship doesn’t spread like bitter poison through your whole community.

惟恐你们中间，或男或女，或族长或支派长，今日心里偏离耶和华我们的神，去侍奉那些国的神；又怕你们中间有恶根生出苦菜和茵陈来，

惟恐你们中间有人，或男或女，或宗族或支派，今日心里偏离耶和华—我们的上帝，去事奉那些国的神明，又怕你们中间有根长出苦菜和茵陈来。

惟恐你们中间有人，或男或女，或宗族或支派，今日心里偏离耶和华—我们的神，去事奉那些国的神明，又怕你们中间有根长出苦菜和茵陈来。

你们中间，不论男人或女人，家族或支派，切不可有人背弃我们的上帝耶和华，去祭拜列国的神明，免得你们中间有残根长出苦毒的果实，

恐怕你们中间有男人或女人，家族或支派，今日心里偏离了耶和华我们的神，去事奉那些国的神，又恐怕你们中间有恶根，生出毒草和苦堇来；

惟恐你們中間，或男或女，或族長或支派長，今日心裏偏離耶和華－我們的神，去事奉那些國的神；又怕你們中間有惡根生出苦菜和茵蔯來，

惟恐你們中間有人，或男或女，或宗族或支派，今日心裏偏離耶和華－我們的上帝，去事奉那些國的神明，又怕你們中間有根長出苦菜和茵蔯來。

惟恐你們中間有人，或男或女，或宗族或支派，今日心裏偏離耶和華－我們的神，去事奉那些國的神明，又怕你們中間有根長出苦菜和茵蔯來。

你們中間，不論男人或女人，家族或支派，切不可有人背棄我們的上帝耶和華，去祭拜列國的神明，免得你們中間有殘根長出苦毒的果實，

恐怕你們中間有男人或女人，家族或支派，今日心裡偏離了耶和華我們的神，去事奉那些國的神，又恐怕你們中間有惡根，生出毒草和苦堇來；

我同你們立約宣誓，是恐怕你們中間有人、或男人或女人、或家族或族派、今日心裏偏離了永恆主我們的上帝，去事奉那些國的神；又恐怕你們中間有惡根、結出毒菜和苦堇為果實來，

此約之立、以免爾中男女、宗族支派、今日中心違棄我上帝耶和華、往事斯族之神、致有荼毒之根、生於爾中、

爾中之男女、宗族支派、其心毋違我上帝耶和華、而奉事他邦之上帝、爾中之人、其毒毋太苦、如茵蔯之根、

如爾中或男或女、或宗族、或支派、今日心棄主我之天主、往事此諸邦之神、若有苦毒之根、生於爾中、

Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.

Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit,

I am making this covenant with you so that no one among you— no man, woman, clan, or tribe— will turn away from the Lord our God to worship these gods of other nations, and so that no root among you bears bitter and poisonous fruit.

Be sure there is no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit.

so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; that there will not be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood.

so that there may not be among you man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations, and that there may not be among you a root bearing bitterness or wormwood;

lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from Jehovah our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;

Be sure there is no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit.

Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go[ and] serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;

Beware that the heart of no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you turns away from the LORD our God today to pursue and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit.

lest there should be among you man, woman, family, or tribe whose heart turns away today from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that produces bitter poison;

Be sure that no one misses out on God’s grace. See to it that a bitter plant doesn’t grow up. If it does, it will cause trouble. And it will make many people impure.

But be careful. Don’t let anyone tempt you to do something wrong. Don’t turn away and worship other gods. Don’t bow down to them.If you do, the Lord will be very angry with you. He’ll close up the sky. It won’t rain. The ground won’t produce its crops. Soon you will die. You won’t live to enjoy the good land the Lord is giving you.

Suppose a prophet appears among you. Or someone comes who uses dreams to tell what’s going to happen. He tells you that a sign or something amazing is going to take place.The sign or amazing thing he has spoken about might really take place. And then the prophet might say,“ Let’s serve other gods. Let’s worship them.” But you haven’t known anything about those gods before.So you must not listen to what that prophet or dreamer has said. The Lord your God is testing you. He wants to know whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.You must worship him. You must honor him. Keep his commands. Obey him. Serve him. Remain true to him.That prophet or dreamer must be put to death. He told you not to obey the Lord your God. The Lord brought you out of Egypt. He set you free from the land where you were slaves. He commanded you to live the way he wants you to. But that prophet or dreamer has tried to get you to be unfaithful to the Lord. Get rid of that evil person.Suppose your very own brother or sister secretly tempts you to do something wrong. Or your child or the wife you love tempts you. Or your closest friend does it. Suppose one of them says,“ Let’s go and worship other gods.” But you and your people of long ago hadn’t known anything about those gods before.They are the gods of the nations around you. Those nations might be near or far away. In fact, they might reach from one end of the land to the other.Don’t give in to those who are tempting you. Don’t listen to them. Don’t feel sorry for them. Don’t spare them or save them.You must certainly put them to death. You must be the first to throw stones at them. Then all the people must do the same thing.Put them to death by throwing stones at them. They tried to turn you away from the Lord your God. He brought you out of Egypt. That’s the land where you were slaves.After you kill those who tempted you, all the Israelites will hear about it. And they will be too scared to do an evil thing like that again.The Lord your God is giving you towns to live in. But suppose you hear something bad about one of those towns.You hear that people who cause trouble have appeared among you. They’ve tried to get the people of their town to do something wrong. They’ve said,“ Let’s go and worship other gods.” But you haven’t known anything about those gods before.So you must ask people some questions. You must check out the matter carefully. If it’s true, an evil thing has really happened among you. It’s something the Lord hates.Then you must certainly kill with your swords everyone who lives in that town. You must destroy it completely. You must wipe out its people and livestock.

So now the Lord who rules over all speaks. He is the God of Israel. He says,“ I will make these people eat bitter food. I will make them drink poisoned water.

Horses don’t run on rocky ground. People don’t plow the sea with oxen. But you have turned fair treatment into poison. You have turned the fruit of right living into bitterness.

Brothers and sisters, make sure that none of you has a sinful heart. Do not let an unbelieving heart turn you away from the living God.

I see that you are very bitter. You are a prisoner of sin.”

Someone living among you might do what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God. It might happen in one of the towns the Lord is giving you. That person is breaking the Lord’ s covenant.The person might have worshiped or bowed down to other gods. That person might have bowed down to the sun or moon or stars in the sky. I have commanded you not to do these things.When you hear that people have done something like that, check the matter out carefully. If it’s true, an evil thing has been done in Israel. The Lord hates that.So take the person who has done that evil thing to your city gate. Put that person to death by throwing stones at them.Two or three witnesses are required to put someone to death. No one can be put to death because of what only one witness says. Two or three witnesses are required.The witnesses must throw the first stones. Then the rest of the people must also throw stones. Get rid of that evil person.

They make a lot of promises. They make agreements among themselves. They make promises they don’t mean to keep. So court cases spring up like poisonous weeds in a plowed field.