12 If, in one of your cities which the Lord your God will give to you as a habitation, you hear someone say:
13 'The sons of Belial have departed from your midst, and they have persuaded the inhabitants of their city, and they have said: "Let us go, and serve strange gods," ' which you have not known:
14 inquire carefully and diligently, seeking the truth of the matter. And if you find that what was said is certain, and that this abomination is a work which has been perpetrated,
15 you shall promptly strike down the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword. And you shall destroy it, along with all the things that are in it, even the flocks.
16 Then all the household goods which are there, you shall gather together in the midst of its streets, and you shall set fire to these, along with the city itself, so that you may consume everything for the Lord your God, and so that it may be an everlasting tomb. It shall no longer be built up.
17 And there shall remain nothing of that anathema in your hand, so that the Lord may turn from the wrath of his fury, and may take pity on you, and may multiply you, just as he swore to your fathers,
18 when you will heed the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all his precepts, which I am entrusting to you this day, so that you may do what is pleasing in the sight of the Lord your God."