18 “You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your [a]towns which the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 (A)You shall not distort justice, (B)you shall not [b]show partiality; and (C)you shall not accept a bribe, because a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and distorts the words of the righteous. 20 Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that (D)you may live and possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

21 (E)You shall not plant for yourself an [c]Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the Lord your God, which you shall make for yourself. 22 And (F)you shall not set up for yourself a memorial stone, which the Lord your God hates.

Administration of Justice

17 (G)You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep which has a blemish or any [d]defect, for that is a detestable thing to the Lord your God.

(H)If there is found in your midst, in any of your [e]towns which the Lord your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, by violating His covenant, and that person has gone and (I)served other gods and worshiped them, (J)or the sun, the moon, or any of the heavenly [f]lights, (K)which I have commanded not to do, and if it is reported to you and you have heard about it, then you shall investigate thoroughly. And [g]if it is true and the report is trustworthy that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, then you are to bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil deed, that is, the man or the woman, and (L)you shall stone them to [h]death. (M)On the [i]testimony of two witnesses or three witnesses, the [j]condemned shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the [k]testimony of only one witness. (N)The hands of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. (O)So you shall eliminate the evil from your midst.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 16:18 Lit gates
  2. Deuteronomy 16:19 Lit recognize faces
  3. Deuteronomy 16:21 I.e., wooden symbol of a female deity
  4. Deuteronomy 17:1 Lit bad thing
  5. Deuteronomy 17:2 Lit gates
  6. Deuteronomy 17:3 Lit host
  7. Deuteronomy 17:4 Lit behold, true
  8. Deuteronomy 17:5 Lit death with stones
  9. Deuteronomy 17:6 Lit mouth
  10. Deuteronomy 17:6 Lit one dying
  11. Deuteronomy 17:6 Lit mouth

Judges

18 Appoint judges(A) and officials for each of your tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly.(B) 19 Do not pervert justice(C) or show partiality.(D) Do not accept a bribe,(E) for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent. 20 Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Worshiping Other Gods

21 Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole(F) beside the altar you build to the Lord your God,(G) 22 and do not erect a sacred stone,(H) for these the Lord your God hates.

17 Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect(I) or flaw in it, for that would be detestable(J) to him.(K)

If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the Lord gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God in violation of his covenant,(L) and contrary to my command(M) has worshiped other gods,(N) bowing down to them or to the sun(O) or the moon or the stars in the sky,(P) and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true(Q) and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel,(R) take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death.(S) On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.(T) The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death,(U) and then the hands of all the people.(V) You must purge the evil(W) from among you.