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Deuteronomy 17-20
New King James Version

Various Instructions

17 “You (A)shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God a bull or sheep which has any [a]blemish or defect, for that is an [b]abomination to the Lord your God.

2 (B)“If there is found among you, within any of your [c]gates which the Lord your God gives you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the Lord your God, (C)in transgressing His covenant, 3 who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either (D)the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, (E)which I have not commanded, 4 (F)and it is told you, and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an [d]abomination has been committed in Israel, 5 then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed that wicked thing, and (G)shall stone (H)to death that man or woman with stones. 6 Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three (I)witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 7 The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among (J)you.

8 (K)“If a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge, between degrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the (L)place which the Lord your God chooses. 9 And (M)you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and (N)to the judge there in those days, and inquire of them; (O)they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment. 10 You shall do according to the sentence which they pronounce upon you in that place which the Lord chooses. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they order you. 11 According to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you, according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce upon you. 12 Now (P)the man who acts presumptuously and will not heed the priest who stands to minister there before the Lord your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall put away the evil from Israel. 13 (Q)And all the people shall hear and fear, and no longer act presumptuously.

Principles Governing Kings

14 “When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, (R)‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you shall surely set a king over you (S)whom the Lord your God chooses; one (T)from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 But he shall not multiply (U)horses for himself, nor cause the people (V)to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for (W)the Lord has said to you, (X)‘You shall not return that way again.’ 17 Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and (Y)gold for himself.

18 “Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one (Z)before the priests, the Levites. 19 And (AA)it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 that his heart may not [e]be lifted above his brethren, that he (AB)may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may [f]prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.

The Portion of the Priests and Levites

18 “The priests, the Levites—all the tribe of Levi—shall have [g]no part nor (AC)inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and His portion. 2 Therefore they shall have no inheritance among their brethren; the Lord is their inheritance, as He said to them.

3 “And this shall be the priest’s (AD)due[h] from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it is bull or sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach. 4 (AE)The firstfruits of your grain and your new wine and your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. 5 For (AF)the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes (AG)to stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons forever.

6 “So if a Levite comes from any of your [i]gates, from where he (AH)dwells among all Israel, and comes with all the desire of his mind (AI)to the place which the Lord chooses, 7 then he may serve in the name of the Lord his God (AJ)as all his brethren the Levites do, who stand there before the Lord. 8 They shall have equal (AK)portions to eat, besides what comes from the sale of his inheritance.

Avoid Wicked Customs

9 “When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, (AL)you shall not learn to follow the [j]abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter (AM)pass[k] through the fire, (AN)or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 (AO)or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or (AP)one who calls up the dead. 12 For all who do these things are [l]an abomination to the Lord, and (AQ)because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. 13 You shall be [m]blameless before the Lord your God. 14 For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not [n]appointed such for you.

A New Prophet Like Moses

15 (AR)“The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, 16 according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb (AS)in the day of the assembly, saying, (AT)‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’

17 “And the Lord said to me: (AU)‘What they have spoken is good. 18 (AV)I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and (AW)will put My words in His mouth, (AX)and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. 19 (AY)And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him. 20 But (AZ)the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or (BA)who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’— 22 (BB)when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, (BC)if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it (BD)presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.

Three Cities of Refuge(BE)

19 “When the Lord your God (BF)has cut off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, 2 (BG)you shall separate three cities for yourself in the midst of your land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess. 3 You shall prepare roads for yourself, and divide into three parts the territory of your land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, that any manslayer may flee there.

4 “And (BH)this is the case of the manslayer who flees there, that he may live: Whoever kills his neighbor [o]unintentionally, not having hated him in time past— 5 as when a man goes to the woods with his neighbor to cut timber, and his hand swings a stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he shall flee to one of these cities and live; 6 (BI)lest the avenger of blood, while his anger is hot, pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and kill him, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated the victim in time past. 7 Therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall separate three cities for yourself.’

8 “Now if the Lord your God (BJ)enlarges your territory, as He swore to (BK)your fathers, and gives you the land which He promised to give to your fathers, 9 and if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and to walk always in His ways, (BL)then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three, 10 (BM)lest innocent blood be shed in the midst of your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and thus guilt of bloodshed be upon you.

11 “But (BN)if anyone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes him mortally, so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities, 12 then the elders of his city shall send and bring him from there, and deliver him over to the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. 13 (BO)Your eye shall not pity him, (BP)but you shall [p]put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you.

Property Boundaries

14 (BQ)“You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

The Law Concerning Witnesses

15 (BR)“One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. 16 If a false witness (BS)rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, 17 then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, (BT)before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. 18 And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, 19 (BU)then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so (BV)you shall put away the evil from among you. 20 (BW)And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. 21 (BX)Your eye shall not pity: (BY)life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Principles Governing Warfare

20 “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see (BZ)horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be (CA)afraid of them; for the Lord your God is (CB)with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. 2 So it shall be, when you are on the verge of battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people. 3 And he shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel: Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them; 4 for the Lord your God is He who goes with you, (CC)to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’

5 “Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying: ‘What man is there who has built a new house and has not (CD)dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it. 6 Also what man is there who has planted a vineyard and has not eaten of it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man eat of it. 7 (CE)And what man is there who is betrothed to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man marry her.’

8 “The officers shall speak further to the people, and say, (CF)‘What man is there who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, [q]lest the heart of his brethren faint like his heart.’ 9 And so it shall be, when the officers have finished speaking to the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.

10 “When you go near a city to fight against it, (CG)then proclaim an offer of peace to it. 11 And it shall be that if they accept your offer of peace, and open to you, then all the people who are found in it shall be placed under tribute to you, and serve you. 12 Now if the city will not make peace with you, but war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13 And when the Lord your God delivers it into your hands, (CH)you shall strike every male in it with the edge of the sword. 14 But the women, the little ones, (CI)the livestock, and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall plunder for yourself; and (CJ)you shall eat the enemies’ plunder which the Lord your God gives you. 15 Thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations.

16 “But (CK)of the cities of these peoples which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, 17 but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you, 18 lest (CL)they teach you to do according to all their [r]abominations which they have done for their gods, and you (CM)sin against the Lord your God.

19 “When you besiege a city for a long time, while making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them; if you can eat of them, do not cut them down to use in the siege, for the tree of the field is man’s food. 20 Only the trees which you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, to build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it is subdued.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 17:1 Lit. evil thing
  2. Deuteronomy 17:1 detestable thing
  3. Deuteronomy 17:2 towns
  4. Deuteronomy 17:4 detestable thing
  5. Deuteronomy 17:20 become proud
  6. Deuteronomy 17:20 continue long in his kingdom
  7. Deuteronomy 18:1 no portion
  8. Deuteronomy 18:3 right
  9. Deuteronomy 18:6 towns
  10. Deuteronomy 18:9 detestable acts
  11. Deuteronomy 18:10 Be burned as an offering to an idol
  12. Deuteronomy 18:12 detestable
  13. Deuteronomy 18:13 Lit. perfect
  14. Deuteronomy 18:14 allowed you to do so
  15. Deuteronomy 19:4 ignorantly, lit. without knowledge
  16. Deuteronomy 19:13 purge the blood of the innocent
  17. Deuteronomy 20:8 So with MT, Tg.; Sam., LXX, Syr., Vg. lest he make his brother’s heart faint
  18. Deuteronomy 20:18 detestable things
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Deuteronomy 17-20
New International Version

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

2 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,(D) 3 and contrary to my command(E) has worshiped other gods,(F) bowing down to them or to the sun(G) or the moon or the stars in the sky,(H) 4 and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true(I) and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel,(J) 5 take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death.(K) 6 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.(L) 7 The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death,(M) and then the hands of all the people.(N) You must purge the evil(O) from among you.

Law Courts

8 If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge(P)—whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults(Q)—take them to the place the Lord your God will choose.(R) 9 Go to the Levitical(S) priests and to the judge(T) who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict.(U) 10 You must act according to the decisions they give you at the place the Lord will choose. Be careful to do everything they instruct you to do. 11 Act according to whatever they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left.(V) 12 Anyone who shows contempt(W) for the judge or for the priest who stands ministering(X) there to the Lord your God is to be put to death.(Y) You must purge the evil from Israel.(Z) 13 All the people will hear and be afraid, and will not be contemptuous again.(AA)

The King

14 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession(AB) of it and settled in it,(AC) and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,”(AD) 15 be sure to appoint(AE) over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites.(AF) Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. 16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses(AG) for himself(AH) or make the people return to Egypt(AI) to get more of them,(AJ) for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”(AK) 17 He must not take many wives,(AL) or his heart will be led astray.(AM) He must not accumulate(AN) large amounts of silver and gold.(AO)

18 When he takes the throne(AP) of his kingdom, he is to write(AQ) for himself on a scroll a copy(AR) of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life(AS) so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees(AT) 20 and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law(AU) to the right or to the left.(AV) Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.(AW)

Offerings for Priests and Levites

18 The Levitical(AX) priests—indeed, the whole tribe of Levi—are to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel. They shall live on the food offerings(AY) presented to the Lord, for that is their inheritance.(AZ) 2 They shall have no inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance,(BA) as he promised them.(BB)

3 This is the share due the priests(BC) from the people who sacrifice a bull(BD) or a sheep: the shoulder, the internal organs and the meat from the head.(BE) 4 You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the first wool from the shearing of your sheep,(BF) 5 for the Lord your God has chosen them(BG) and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister(BH) in the Lord’s name always.(BI)

6 If a Levite moves from one of your towns anywhere in Israel where he is living, and comes in all earnestness to the place the Lord will choose,(BJ) 7 he may minister in the name(BK) of the Lord his God like all his fellow Levites who serve there in the presence of the Lord. 8 He is to share equally in their benefits, even though he has received money from the sale of family possessions.(BL)

Occult Practices

9 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate(BM) the detestable ways(BN) of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire,(BO) who practices divination(BP) or sorcery,(BQ) interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,(BR) 11 or casts spells,(BS) or who is a medium or spiritist(BT) or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.(BU) 13 You must be blameless(BV) before the Lord your God.(BW)

The Prophet

14 The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination.(BX) But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so. 15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites.(BY) You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”(BZ)

17 The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet(CA) like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words(CB) in his mouth.(CC) He will tell them everything I command him.(CD) 19 I myself will call to account(CE) anyone who does not listen(CF) to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.(CG) 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods,(CH) is to be put to death.”(CI)

21 You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” 22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true,(CJ) that is a message the Lord has not spoken.(CK) That prophet has spoken presumptuously,(CL) so do not be alarmed.

Cities of Refuge(CM)

19 When the Lord your God has destroyed the nations whose land he is giving you, and when you have driven them out and settled in their towns and houses,(CN) 2 then set aside for yourselves three cities in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess. 3 Determine the distances involved and divide into three parts the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that a person who kills someone may flee for refuge to one of these cities.

4 This is the rule concerning anyone who kills a person and flees there for safety—anyone who kills a neighbor unintentionally, without malice aforethought. 5 For instance, a man may go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he swings his ax to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his neighbor and kill him. That man may flee to one of these cities and save his life. 6 Otherwise, the avenger of blood(CO) might pursue him in a rage, overtake him if the distance is too great, and kill him even though he is not deserving of death, since he did it to his neighbor without malice aforethought. 7 This is why I command you to set aside for yourselves three cities.

8 If the Lord your God enlarges your territory,(CP) as he promised(CQ) on oath to your ancestors, and gives you the whole land he promised them, 9 because you carefully follow all these laws I command you today—to love the Lord your God and to walk always in obedience to him(CR)—then you are to set aside three more cities. 10 Do this so that innocent blood(CS) will not be shed in your land, which the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance, and so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.(CT)

11 But if out of hate someone lies in wait, assaults and kills a neighbor,(CU) and then flees to one of these cities, 12 the killer shall be sent for by the town elders, be brought back from the city, and be handed over to the avenger of blood to die. 13 Show no pity.(CV) You must purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood,(CW) so that it may go well with you.

14 Do not move your neighbor’s boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess.(CX)

Witnesses

15 One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.(CY)

16 If a malicious witness(CZ) takes the stand to accuse someone of a crime, 17 the two people involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges(DA) who are in office at the time. 18 The judges must make a thorough investigation,(DB) and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, 19 then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party.(DC) You must purge the evil from among you. 20 The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid,(DD) and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. 21 Show no pity:(DE) life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.(DF)

Going to War

20 When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours,(DG) do not be afraid(DH) of them,(DI) because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with(DJ) you. 2 When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. 3 He shall say: “Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted(DK) or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. 4 For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you(DL) to fight(DM) for you against your enemies to give you victory.(DN)”

5 The officers shall say to the army: “Has anyone built a new house and not yet begun to live in(DO) it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else may begin to live in it. 6 Has anyone planted(DP) a vineyard and not begun to enjoy it?(DQ) Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else enjoy it. 7 Has anyone become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else marry her.(DR)” 8 Then the officers shall add, “Is anyone afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his fellow soldiers will not become disheartened too.”(DS) 9 When the officers have finished speaking to the army, they shall appoint commanders over it.

10 When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace.(DT) 11 If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject(DU) to forced labor(DV) and shall work for you. 12 If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city. 13 When the Lord your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it.(DW) 14 As for the women, the children, the livestock(DX) and everything else in the city,(DY) you may take these as plunder(DZ) for yourselves. And you may use the plunder the Lord your God gives you from your enemies. 15 This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance(EA) from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.

16 However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes.(EB) 17 Completely destroy[a] them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you. 18 Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods,(EC) and you will sin(ED) against the Lord your God.

19 When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees people, that you should besiege them?[b] 20 However, you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees(EE) and use them to build siege works until the city at war with you falls.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 20:17 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
  2. Deuteronomy 20:19 Or down to use in the siege, for the fruit trees are for the benefit of people.
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Deuteronomy 17-20
English Standard Version

17 (A)“You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep in which is a blemish, any defect whatever, for that is an abomination to the Lord your God.

2 (B)“If there is found among you, within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, (C)in transgressing his covenant, 3 and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or (D)the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, (E)which I have forbidden, 4 and it is told you and you hear of it, then you shall inquire (F)diligently, and if it is true and certain that such an abomination has been done in Israel, 5 then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you (G)shall stone that man or woman to death with stones. 6 (H)On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. 7 (I)The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So (J)you shall purge[a] the evil[b] from your midst.

Legal Decisions by Priests and Judges

8 “If any case arises requiring decision between one kind of homicide and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another, any case within your towns that is too difficult for you, then you shall arise and go up to (K)the place that the Lord your God will choose. 9 (L)And you shall come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall consult them, and (M)they shall declare to you the decision. 10 Then you shall do according to what they declare to you from that place that the Lord will choose. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they direct you. 11 According to the instructions that they give you, and according to the decision which they pronounce to you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the verdict that they declare to you, either to the right hand or to the left. 12 The man who (N)acts presumptuously by not obeying the priest (O)who stands to minister there before the Lord your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So (P)you shall purge the evil from Israel. 13 And all the people (Q)shall hear and fear and not act presumptuously again.

Laws Concerning Israel's Kings

14 “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, (R)‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you may indeed set a king over you (S)whom the Lord your God will choose. One (T)from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many (U)horses for himself or cause the people (V)to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, (W)‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he (X)shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, (Y)nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.

18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, (Z)he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, (AA)approved by[c] the Levitical priests. 19 And (AB)it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, (AC)that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he (AD)may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, (AE)so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.

Provision for Priests and Levites

18 “The Levitical priests, all the tribe of Levi, (AF)shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They (AG)shall eat the Lord's food offerings[d] as their[e] inheritance. 2 They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the Lord is their inheritance, as he promised them. 3 And this shall be the priests' due from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether an ox or a sheep: (AH)they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. 4 (AI)The firstfruits of your grain, of your wine and of your oil, and the first fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. 5 For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes (AJ)to stand and minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for all time.

6 “And if a Levite comes from any of your towns out of all Israel, (AK)where he lives—and he may come when he desires[f]—(AL)to the place that the Lord will choose, 7 and ministers in the name of the Lord his God, (AM)like all his fellow Levites who stand to minister there before the Lord, 8 then he may have equal (AN)portions to eat, besides what he receives from the sale of his patrimony.[g]

Abominable Practices

9 “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, (AO)you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone (AP)who burns his son or his daughter as an offering,[h] anyone who (AQ)practices divination or (AR)tells fortunes or interprets omens, or (AS)a sorcerer 11 or a charmer or (AT)a medium or a necromancer or (AU)one who inquires of the dead, 12 (AV)for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And (AW)because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, 14 for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this.

A New Prophet like Moses

15 (AX)“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb (AY)on the day of the assembly, when you said, (AZ)‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the Lord said to me, (BA)‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 (BB)I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. (BC)And I will put my words in his mouth, and (BD)he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 (BE)And whoever will (BF)not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 20 (BG)But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or[i] who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— 22 (BH)when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; (BI)the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

Laws Concerning Cities of Refuge

19 “When (BJ)the Lord your God cuts off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, 2 (BK)you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. 3 You shall measure the distances[j] and divide into three parts the area of the land that the Lord your God gives you as a possession, so that any manslayer can flee to them.

4 “This is the provision for (BL)the manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life. If anyone kills his neighbor unintentionally without having hated him in the past— 5 as when someone goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live, 6 lest (BM)the avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past. 7 Therefore I command you, You shall set apart three cities. 8 (BN)And if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, (BO)as he has sworn to your fathers, and (BP)gives you all the land that he promised to give to your fathers— 9 provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you today, by loving the Lord your God and by walking ever in his ways—(BQ)then you shall add three other cities to these three, 10 lest innocent blood be shed in your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, and so the guilt of bloodshed be upon you.

11 “But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him (BR)and strikes him fatally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities, 12 then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die. 13 (BS)Your eye shall not pity him, (BT)but you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood[k] from Israel, so that it may be well with you.

Property Boundaries

14 (BU)“You shall not move your neighbor's landmark, which the men of old have set, in the inheritance that you will hold in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

Laws Concerning Witnesses

15 “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. (BV)Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. 16 If (BW)a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, 17 then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, (BX)before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. 18 The judges shall (BY)inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, 19 (BZ)then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil[l] from your midst. 20 And the rest (CA)shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. 21 (CB)Your eye shall not pity. (CC)It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Laws Concerning Warfare

20 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and see (CD)horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is (CE)with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. 2 And when you draw near to the battle, (CF)the priest shall come forward and speak to the people 3 and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, 4 for the Lord your God is he who goes with you (CG)to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’ 5 Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Is there any man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it. 6 And is there any man who has planted a vineyard and has not (CH)enjoyed its fruit? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man enjoy its fruit. 7 (CI)And is there any man who has betrothed a wife and has not taken her? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take her.’ 8 And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, (CJ)‘Is there any man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go back to his house, lest he make the heart of his fellows melt like his own.’ 9 And when the officers have finished speaking to the people, then commanders shall be appointed at the head of the people.

10 “When you draw near to a city to fight against it, (CK)offer terms of peace to it. 11 And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. 12 But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13 And when the Lord your God gives it into your hand, (CL)you shall put all its males to the sword, 14 (CM)but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you (CN)shall take as plunder for yourselves. And (CO)you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the Lord your God has given you. 15 Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here. 16 But (CP)in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, 17 but (CQ)you shall devote them to complete destruction,[m] the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded, 18 that (CR)they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you (CS)sin against the Lord your God.

19 “When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, (CT)you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you? 20 Only the trees that you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, that you may build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 17:7 Septuagint drive out; also verse 12
  2. Deuteronomy 17:7 Or evil person; also verse 12
  3. Deuteronomy 17:18 Hebrew from before
  4. Deuteronomy 18:1 Or the offerings by fire to the Lord
  5. Deuteronomy 18:1 Hebrew his
  6. Deuteronomy 18:6 Or lives—if he comes enthusiastically
  7. Deuteronomy 18:8 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
  8. Deuteronomy 18:10 Hebrew makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire
  9. Deuteronomy 18:20 Or and
  10. Deuteronomy 19:3 Hebrew road
  11. Deuteronomy 19:13 Or the blood of the innocent
  12. Deuteronomy 19:19 Or evil person
  13. Deuteronomy 20:17 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
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