Chapter 13 is pretty severe. It’s all about what to do if a person or a people start worshipping other Gods. And it’s not pretty. If “thy brother…, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom … entice thee secretly…, thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.” (Deuteronomy 13:6-9 KJV)

If you hear that a city is starting to worship another God, you should investigate, and if true, “thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit…: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again.” (Deuteronomy 13:15-16 KJV)

He forgets to tell them to salt the ground when they’re done.

It’s all pretty twisted, but His name is Jealous, so it’s not too much of a shock.

In the earlier chapters, after the Lord tells the Israelites to drive the Canaanites out and take their land and houses, he gives some more rules. One interesting one is that if people are far from the temple and are craving meat, they are no longer required to only eat it at the altar, but are allowed to eat it in their own homes. This is not something that I normally hear from the street preachers. The Lord is not just demanding blind obedience, but is implying that the only reason His people are allowed to eat meat at home is because He lets them. He’s got a lot of nerve.

Next: Deuteronomy 14-16.