Deuteronomy 17:17-19

Names of God Bible

¹⁷ The king must never have a large number of wives, or he will turn away from God. And he must never own a lot of gold and silver.

¹⁸ When he becomes king, he should have the Levitical priests make him a copy of these teachings on a scroll. ¹⁹ He must keep it with him and read it his entire life. He will learn to fear Yahweh his Elohim and faithfully obey everything found in these teachings and laws. ²⁰ Then he won’t think he’s better than the rest of his people, and he won’t disobey these commands in any way. So he and his sons will rule for a long time in Israel.

Laws for the Levites

18 The Levitical priests—in fact, the whole tribe of Levi—will receive no land or property of their own like the rest of the Israelites. They will eat what has been sacrificed to Yahweh. These sacrifices will be what they receive.^{[a] 2} So the Levites will have no land of their own like the other Israelites. Yahweh will be their inheritance, as he promised them.

³ This is what the people owe the priests whenever they sacrifice an ox, a sheep, or a goat: the shoulder, jaws, and stomach. ⁴ Also, give them the first produce harvested: grain, new wine, olive oil, and the first wool you shear from your sheep. ⁵ Out of all your tribes, Yahweh your Elohim has chosen the Levites and their descendants to do the work of serving in the name of Yahweh forever.

⁶ A Levite from any of your cities in Israel may come from where he has been living to the place Yahweh will choose. He may come as often as he wants ⁷ and may serve in the name of Yahweh his Elohim like all the other Levites who do their work in Yahweh’s presence. ⁸ If he does, he’ll get the same amount of food as they do, in addition to what he gets from selling his family’s goods.^[b]

Laws about Prophets

⁹ When you come to the land that Yahweh your Elohim is giving you, never learn the disgusting practices of those nations. ¹⁰ You must never sacrifice your sons or daughters by burning them alive, practice black magic, be a fortuneteller, witch, or sorcerer, ¹¹ cast spells, ask ghosts or spirits for help, or consult the dead. ¹² Whoever does these things is disgusting to Yahweh. Yahweh your Elohim is forcing these nations out of your way because of their disgusting practices. ¹³ You must have integrity in dealing with Yahweh your Elohim. ¹⁴ These nations you are forcing out listen to fortunetellers and to those who practice black magic. But Yahweh your Elohim won’t let you do anything like that.

¹⁵ Yahweh your Elohim will send you a prophet, an Israelite like me. You must listen to him. ¹⁶ This is what you asked Yahweh your Elohim to give you on the day of the assembly at Mount Horeb. You said, “We never want to hear the voice of Yahweh our Elohim or see this raging fire again. If we do, we’ll die!”

¹⁷ Yahweh told me, “What they’ve said is good. ¹⁸ So I will send them a prophet, an Israelite like you. I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. ¹⁹ Whoever refuses to listen to the words that prophet speaks in my name will answer to me. ²⁰ But any prophet who dares to say something in my name that I didn’t command him to say or who speaks in the name of other gods must die.”

²¹ You may be wondering, “How can we recognize that Yahweh didn’t speak this message?” ²² If a prophet speaks in Yahweh’s name and what he says doesn’t happen or come true, then it didn’t come from Yahweh. That prophet has spoken on his own authority. Never be afraid of him.

Criminal Laws

19 Yahweh your Elohim will destroy all the nations that are living in the land that Yahweh your Elohim is giving you. You will force them out and live in their cities and houses. ² When all this is done, set aside three cities in the land that Yahweh your Elohim is giving you. ³ Provide a route to each of these cities and divide the land that Yahweh your Elohim is giving you into three regions. Whoever kills someone may run to one of these cities.

⁴ A person who unintentionally kills someone he never hated in the past may run to one of these cities to save his life. ⁵ Suppose two people go into the woods to cut wood. As one of them swings the ax to cut down a tree, the head flies off the handle, hits, and kills the other person. The one who accidentally killed the other person may run to one of these cities and save his life. ⁶ Otherwise, in a rage the relative who has the authority to avenge the death will pursue him. If the place is too far away, the relative may catch up with him and take his life even though he didn’t deserve the death penalty, because in the past he never hated the person he killed. ⁷ This is why I’m commanding you to set aside three cities for yourselves.

⁸ Yahweh your Elohim may expand your country’s borders as he promised your ancestors with an oath. He may give you the whole land he promised to give them. ⁹ He may do this because you faithfully obey all these commands I am now giving you—to love Yahweh your Elohim and follow his directions as long as you live. If this happens, you may add three more cities of refuge to these three. ¹⁰ That way, innocent people won’t be killed in the land that Yahweh your Elohim is giving you, and you won’t be guilty of murder.

¹¹ Suppose someone hates another person, waits in ambush for him, attacks him, takes his life, and runs to one of these cities. ¹² If someone does this, the leaders of your city must send for that person. They must take him from that city and hand him over to the relative who has the authority to avenge the death. He must die. ¹³ They must have no pity on him. The guilt of murdering an innocent person must be removed from Israel. Then things will go well for Israel.

¹⁴ Never move your neighbor’s original boundary marker on any property in the land that Yahweh your Elohim is giving you.

¹⁵ One witness is never enough to convict someone of a crime, offense, or sin he may have committed. Cases must be settled based on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

¹⁶ This is what you must do whenever a witness takes the stand to accuse a person falsely of a crime. ¹⁷ The two people involved must stand in Yahweh’s presence, in front of the priests and judges who are serving at that time.