Open in the app
Mid-century illustration of a calm sea at dawn

Deuteronomy 13:5 · World English Bible

Deuteronomy 13:5 Meaning That Prophet

That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which Yahweh your God commanded you to walk in. So you shall remove the evil from among you.

Read it in the app

What does Deuteronomy 13:5 mean?

The gravest threat is the voice that draws a person off the road he was set to walk. A dreamer of dreams, persuasive and inspired, can lead a soul away from the highest good and back toward the bondage it was rescued from.

From the Clinical Psychology reading below.

Deuteronomy 13:5 through 1 lens

The same verse, read by one tradition.

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

Clinical Psychology

The gravest threat is the voice that draws a person off the road he was set to walk. A dreamer of dreams, persuasive and inspired, can lead a soul away from the highest good and back toward the bondage it was rescued from. Seduction away from the path is treated as a matter of life and death, because it is one.

To put the evil away from the midst of you is to refuse the corruption a place inside the community and inside the self. The redeemed man was brought out of slavery for a reason, and the false guide would undo that deliverance with beautiful words. Some influences cannot be tolerated without ruin. Cut out what pulls you off the way, before it pulls you all the way back.

Clinical Psychology lensGo deeper in the app

Clinical Psychology lens

Live Deuteronomy 13:5 today

  1. Think about what you have been feeding yourself through the feed, and mute or unfollow one account that leaves you worse every time. No announcement needed, just do it.
  2. There is probably one person whose voice talks you out of the life you actually want. See them less, or stop asking their opinion on the thing that matters.
  3. When a charming argument shows up for something you already know is wrong for you, name it to yourself in plain words. "This sounds good and it is taking me backward" is usually enough to break the spell.

Whose voice is pulling me back toward something I worked hard to leave?

The same truth in other traditions

Buddhism · Dhammapada

Keep company with the wise and avoid the fool, the way a traveler avoids a dangerous road. Your companions set your direction whether you intend it or not.

Stoicism · Epictetus

You cannot spend your days with people who drag you down and come out unchanged. Either they rise to you or you sink to them.

Judaism · Pirkei Avot

Make yourself a teacher and acquire a friend, but weigh who you let shape you. Influence is not neutral.

Mid-century illustration of Jesus teaching the crowd on a hillside above the sea

Free · No account needed

Read all of Deuteronomy 13 through 17 lenses

Lensightful opens every verse of the Bible through the traditions you choose. Save readings, ask a follow-up question, and get one verse a day.

Get Lensightful on the App Store