Deuteronomy 13-22
1599 Geneva Bible
13 5 The enticers to idolatry must be slain, seem they never so holy. 6 So near of kindred or of friendship. 12 Or great in multitude or power.
1 If there arise among you a Prophet or a dreamer of [a]dreams, (and give thee a sign or wonder,
2 And the sign and the wonder, which he hath told thee, come to pass) saying, [b]Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them,
3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of the prophet, or unto that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God [c]proveth you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul.
4 Ye shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him, and shall keep his commandments, and hearken unto his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
5 But that Prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, he shall [d]be slain, because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God (which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and delivered you out of the house of bondage) to thrust thee out of the way, wherein the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk: so shalt thou take the evil away forth of the midst of thee.
6 ¶ If [e]thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thine own son, or thy daughter, or the wife, that lieth in thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own [f]soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, (which thou hast not known, thou I say, nor thy fathers)
7 Any of the gods of the people which are round about you, near unto thee or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth unto the other:
8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hear him, neither shall thine eye pity him, nor show mercy, nor keep him secret:
9 But thou shalt even kill him: [g]thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and then the hands of the people.
10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die (because he hath gone about to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: from the house of bondage)
11 (A)That all Israel may hear and fear, and do no more any such wickedness as this among you.
12 ¶ If thou shalt hear say (concerning any of thy cities, which the Lord thy God hath given thee to dwell in)
13 [h]Wicked men are gone out from among you, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known,
14 Then [i]thou shalt seek, and make search and inquire diligently: and if it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you,
15 Thou shalt even slay the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword: destroy it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof with the edge of the sword,
16 And [j]thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and burn with fire the city and all the spoil thereof every whit, unto the Lord thy God: and it shall be an heap forever, it shall not be built again.
17 And there shall cleave nothing of the [k]damned thing to thine hand, that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his wrath, and show thee mercy, and have compassion on thee, and multiply thee as he hath sworn unto thy fathers:
18 When thou shalt obey the voice of the Lord thy God, and keep all his commandments which I command thee this day: that thou do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord thy God.
14 1 The manners of the Gentiles in marking themselves for the dead, may not be followed. 4 What meats are clean to be eaten, and what not. 29 The tithes for the Levites, stranger, fatherless, and widow.
1 Ye are the children of the Lord your God, (B)Ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make you any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
2 (C)For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a [l]precious people unto himself, above all the people that are upon the earth.
3 ¶ Thou shalt eat no manner of abomination.
4 [m]These are the beasts, which ye shall eat, the beef, the sheep, and the goat,
5 The hart, and the roebuck, and the bugle, and the wild goat, and the unicorn, and the wild ox, and the Chamois.
6 And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and is of the beasts that cheweth the cud, that shall ye eat.
7 But these ye shall not eat, of them that chew the cud, and of them that divide and cleave the hoof only: the camel, nor the hare, nor the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof, therefore they shall be unclean unto you:
8 Also the swine, because he divideth the hoof: and cheweth not the cud, shall be unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcasses.
9 ¶ (D)These ye shall eat, of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat.
10 And whatsoever hath no fins nor scales, ye shall not eat: it shall be unclean unto you.
11 ¶ Of all clean birds ye shall eat.
12 But these are they whereof ye shall not eat: the eagle nor the goshawk, nor the osprey,
13 Nor the glede, nor the kite, nor the vulture, after their kind,
14 Nor all kind of ravens,
15 Nor the ostrich, nor the night crow, nor the [n]seamew, nor the hawk after her kind,
16 Neither the little owl, nor the great owl, nor the redshank,
17 Nor the pelican, nor the swan, nor the cormorant:
18 The stork also, and the heron in his kind, nor the lapwing, nor (E)the [bat].
19 And every creeping thing that flieth, shall be unclean unto you: it shall not be eaten.
20 But of all clean fowls ye may eat.
21 Ye shall eat of nothing that [o]dieth alone, but thou shalt give it unto the [p]stranger that is within thy gates, that he may eat it: or thou mayest sell it unto a stranger: for thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not (F)seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.
22 Thou shalt [q]give the tithe of all the increase of thy seed, that cometh forth of the field year by year.
23 And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God (in the place which he shall choose to cause his Name to dwell there) the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstborn of thy kine, and of thy sheep, that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always.
24 And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it, because the place is far from thee, where the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name, [r]when the Lord thy God shall bless thee,
25 Then shalt thou make it in money, and [s]take the money in thine hand, and go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose.
26 And thou shalt bestow the money for whatsoever thine heart desireth: whether it be ox, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatsoever thine heart desireth: [t]and shalt eat it there before the Lord thy God, and rejoice, both thou, and thine household.
27 And the Levite that is within thy gates, shalt thou not forsake: for he hath neither part nor inheritance with thee.
28 At the end of three years thou shalt [u]bring forth all the tithes of thine increase of the same year, and lay it up within thy gates.
29 Then the Levite shall come, because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, and shall eat, and be filled, that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.
15 1 The year of [releasing] of debts. 5 God blesseth them that keep his commandments. 7 To help the poor. 12 The freedom of servants. 19 The firstborn of the cattle must be offered to the Lord.
1 At the term of seven years thou shalt make a freedom,
2 And this is the manner of the freedom: every [v]creditor shall quit the loan of his hand which he hath lent to his neighbor: he shall not ask it again of his neighbor, nor of his brother: for the year of the Lord’s freedom is proclaimed.
3 Of a stranger thou mayest require it: but that which thou hast with thy brother, thine hand shall remit:
4 [w]Save when there shall be no poor with thee: for the Lord shall bless thee in the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for an inheritance to possess it.
5 So that thou hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and do all these commandments, which I command thee this day.
6 For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, as he hath promised thee: and (G)thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou thyself shalt not borrow, and thou shalt reign over many nations, and they shall not reign over thee.
7 ¶ If one of thy brethren with thee be poor [x]within any of thy gates in thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:
8 (H)But thou shalt open thine hand unto him, and shalt lend him sufficient for his need which he hath.
9 Beware that there be not a wicked thought in thine heart, to say, The seventh year, the year of freedom is at hand: therefore [y]it grieveth thee to look on thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought, and he cry unto the Lord against thee, so that sin be in thee:
10 Thou shalt give him, and [z]let it not grieve thine heart to give unto him: for because of this the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand to.
11 [aa]Because there shall be ever some poor in the land, therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt [ab]open thine hand unto thy brother, to thy needy, and to thy poor in thy land.
12 ¶ (I)If thy brother an Hebrew sell himself to thee, or an Hebrewess, and serve thee six years, even in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee:
13 And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty,
14 But shalt [ac]give him a liberal reward of thy sheep, and of thy corn, and of thy wine: thou shalt give him of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.
15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God delivered thee: therefore I command thee this thing today.
16 And if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee, because he loveth thee and thine house, and because he is well with thee,
17 (J)Then shalt thou take an awl, and pierce his ear through against the door, and he shall be thy servant [ad]forever: and unto thy maid servant thou shall do likewise.
18 Let it not grieve thee, when thou lettest him go out free from thee: for he hath served thee six years, which is the double worth of [ae]an hired servant: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest.
19 ¶ (K)All the firstborn males that come of thy cattle, and of thy sheep, thou shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God. [af]Thou shalt do no work with thy firstborn bullock, nor shear thy firstborn sheep.
20 Thou shalt eat it before the Lord thy God year by year, in the place which the Lord shall choose, both thou, and thine household.
21 (L)But if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any evil fault, thou shalt not offer it unto the Lord thy God,
22 But shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean, and the clean shall eat it alike, [ag]as the roebuck, and as the hart.
23 Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof, but pour it upon the ground as water.
16 1 Of Easter. 10 Whitsuntide, 13 And the feast of tabernacles. 18 What officers ought to be ordained. 21 Idolatry forbidden.
1 Thou shalt keep the month of [ah]Abib, and thou shalt celebrate the Passover unto the Lord thy God: for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee out of Egypt by night.
2 Thou shalt therefore [ai]offer the Passover unto the Lord thy God, of sheep and bullocks (M)in the place where the Lord shall choose to cause his Name to dwell.
3 Thou (N)shalt eat no leavened bread with it: but seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of [aj]tribulation: for thou camest out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest out of the land of Egypt, all the days of thy life.
4 And there shall be no leaven seen with thee in all thy coasts seven days long: neither shall there remain the night any of the flesh until the morning which thou offeredst the first day at even.
5 Thou mayest [ak]not offer the Passover within any of the gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee:
6 But in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his Name, there thou shalt offer the [al]Passover at even, about the going down of the sun, in the season that thou camest out of Egypt.
7 And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, and shalt return on the morrow, and go unto thy tents.
8 Six days shalt thou eat unleavened bread, and the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work therein.
9 ¶ Seven weeks shalt thou [am]number unto thee, and shalt begin to number the seven weeks, when thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn:
10 And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God, [an]even a free gift of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God, as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.
11 And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy servant, and thy maid, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his Name there,
12 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in Egypt: therefore thou shalt observe and do these ordinances.
13 ¶ Thou shalt [ao]observe the feast of the Tabernacles seven days, when thou hast gathered in thy corn, and thy wine.
14 And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy servant, and thy maid, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates.
15 Seven days shalt thou keep a feast unto the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord shall choose: when the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, thou shalt in any case be glad.
16 ¶ (O)Three times in the year shall all the males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose: in the feast of the unleavened bread, and in the feast of the weeks, and in the feast of the Tabernacle: and they shall not appear before the Lord empty.
17 Every man shall give according to the gift of his [ap]hand, and according to the blessing of the Lord thy God, which he hath given thee.
18 ¶ [aq]Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy cities, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, throughout the tribes: and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
19 Wrest not thou the Law, nor respect any person, neither take reward: for the reward blindeth the eyes of the wise, and perverteth the words of the just.
20 That which [ar]is just and right shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and possess the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
21 ¶ Thou shalt plant thee no grove of any trees near unto the Altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee.
22 Thou shalt set thee up no [as]pillar, which thing the Lord thy God hateth.
17 2 The punishment of the idolater. 9 Hard controversies are brought to the Priest and the Judge. 12 The contemner must die. 15 The election of the King, 16 and 17 What things he ought to avoid, etc.
1 Thou shalt offer unto the Lord thy God no bullock nor sheep wherein is (P)[at]a blemish or any evil favored thing: for that is an abomination unto the Lord thy God.
2 ¶ If there be found among you in any of thy cities, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, man or [au]woman that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy God, in transgressing his covenant,
3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them: as the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not [av]commanded,
4 And it be told unto thee, and thou hast heard it, then shalt thou inquire diligently: and if it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel,
5 Then shalt thou bring forth that man, or that woman (which hath committed that wicked thing) unto thy gates, whether it be man or woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.
6 (Q)At the mouth [aw]of two or three witnesses shall he that is worthy of death, die: but at the mouth of one witness, he shall not die.
7 The hands of the [ax]witnesses shall be first upon him, to kill him: and afterward the hands of all the [ay]people: so thou shalt take the wicked away from among you.
8 ¶ If there rise a matter too hard for thee in judgment between blood and blood, between plea and plea, between plague and plague, in the matter of controversy within thy gates, then shalt thou arise, and go up unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose,
9 And thou shalt come unto the Priests of the Levites, and unto the [az]Judge that shall be in those days, and ask, and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment,
10 And thou shalt do according to that thing, which they of that place (which the Lord hath chosen) show thee, and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee.
11 According to the Law, which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, shalt [ba]thou do: thou shalt not decline from the thing which they shalt show thee, neither to the right hand, nor the left.
12 And that man that will do presumptuously, not hearkening unto the Priest (that standeth before the Lord thy God to [bb]minister there) or unto the Judge, that man shall die, and thou shalt take away evil from Israel.
13 So all the people shall hear and fear, and do no more presumptuously.
14 ¶ When thou shalt come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and dwell therein, if thou say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me,
15 Then thou shalt make him King over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose: from among thy brethren shalt thou make a King over thee: thou [bc]shalt not set a [bd]stranger over thee which is not thy brother.
16 In any wise he shall not prepare him many horses, nor bring the people again to [be]Egypt, for to increase the number of horses, seeing the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth go no more again that way.
17 Neither shall he take him many wives, lest his heart [bf]turn away, neither shall he gather him much silver and gold.
18 And when he shall sit upon the throne of his Kingdom, then shall he write him this [bg]law repeated in a book, by the [bh]Priest of the Levites.
19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, and to keep all the words of this Law, and these ordinances to do them:
20 That his heart be not lifted up above his [bi]brethren, and that he turn not from the commandment, to the right hand or to the left, but that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his sons in the midst of Israel.
18 3 The portion of the Levites. 6 Of the Levites coming from another place. 9 To avoid the abominations of the Gentiles. 15 God will not leave them without a true Prophet.
1 The Priests of the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi (R)shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel, (S)but shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and his [bj]inheritance.
2 Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: for the Lord is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them.
3 ¶ And this shall be the Priest’s duty of the people, that they which offer sacrifice, whether it be bullock or sheep, shall give unto the Priest the [bk]shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw.
4 The firstfruits also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep shalt thou give him.
5 For the Lord thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand and minister in the Name of the Lord, him, and his sons forever.
6 ¶ Also when a Levite shall come out of any of thy cities of all Israel, where he remained, and come with [bl]all the desire of his heart unto the place, which the Lord shall choose,
7 He shall then minister in the Name of the Lord his God, as all his brethren the Levites, which remain there before the Lord.
8 They shall have like portions to eat [bm]beside that which cometh of the sale of his patrimony.
9 When thou shalt come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
10 Let none be found among you that maketh his son or his daughter to [bn](T)go thorough the fire, or that useth witchcraft, or a regarder of times, or a marker of the flying of fowls, or a sorcerer,
11 Or (U)a charmer, or that counseleth with spirits, or a soothsayer, or that (V)asketh counsel at the dead.
12 For all that do such things are abomination unto the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth cast them out before thee.
13 Thou shalt be [bo]upright therefore with the Lord thy God.
14 For these nations which thou shalt possess, hearken unto those that regard the times, and unto sorcerers: [bp]as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not [bq]suffered thee so.
15 ¶ (W)The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a [br]Prophet like unto me, from among you, even of thy brethren: unto him ye shall hearken.
16 According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb, in the day of the assembly, when thou saidest, (X)Let me hear the voice of my Lord God no more, nor see this great fire anymore, that I die not.
17 And the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken.
18 (Y)I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren like unto thee, and will put my words in his [bs]mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19 And whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my Name, I will [bt]require it of him.
20 But the Prophet that shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that speaketh in the name of other gods, even the same Prophet shall die.
21 And if thou think in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?
22 When a Prophet speaketh in the Name of the Lord, if the thing [bu]follow not nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the Prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not therefore be afraid of him.
19 2 The franchised towns. 14 Not to remove thy neighbor’s bounds. 16 The punishment of him that beareth false witness.
1 When the Lord thy God (Z)shall root out the nations, whose land the Lord thy God giveth thee, and thou shalt possess them, and dwell in their cities, and in their houses,
2 (AA)Thou shalt separate three cities for thee, in the midst of thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it.
3 Thou shalt [bv]prepare thee the way, and divide the coasts of the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every [bw]manslayer may flee thither.
4 ¶ This also is the cause wherefore the manslayer shall flee thither, and live: who so killeth his neighbor ignorantly, and hated him not in time passed:
5 As he that goeth unto the wood with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand striketh with the axe to cut down the tree, if the head slip from the helve, and hit his neighbor that he dieth, the same [bx]shall flee unto one of the cities, and live,
6 Lest the (AB)avenger of the blood follow after the manslayer while his heart is chafed, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him, although he be not [by]worthy of death, because he hated him not in time passed.
7 Wherefore I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt appoint out three cities for thee.
8 And when the Lord thy God [bz]enlargeth thy coasts (as he hath sworn unto thy fathers) and giveth thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers.
9 (If thou keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day: to wit, that thou love the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways forever) (AC)then thou shalt add three cities more for thee besides those three,
10 That no innocent blood be shed within thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to inherit, [ca]lest blood be upon thee.
11 ¶ But if a man hate his neighbor, and lay wait for him, and rise against him, and smite any man that he die, and flee unto any of these cities,
12 Then the [cb]Elders of his city shall send and fet him thence, and deliver him to the hands of the avenger of the blood, that he may die.
13 Thine [cc]eye shall not spare him, but thou shalt put away the cry of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.
14 ¶ Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor’s mark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, that thou shalt inherit in the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it.
15 ¶ (AD)One witness shall not rise against a man for any trespass, or for any sin, or for any fault that he offendeth in, (AE)but at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be stablished.
16 ¶ If a false witness rise up against a man to accuse him of trespass,
17 Then both the men which strive together, shall stand before the [cd]Lord, even before the Priests and the Judges, which shall be in those days.
18 And the Judges shall make diligent inquisition: and if the witness be found false, and hath given false witness against his brother,
19 (AF)Then shall ye do unto him as he had thought to do unto his brother: so thou shalt take evil away forth of the midst of thee.
20 And the rest shall hear this, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such wickedness among you.
21 Therefore thine eye shall have no compassion, but (AG)life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
20 3 The exhortation of the Priest when the Israelites go to battle. 5 The exhortation of the officers showing who should go to battle. 10 Peace must be first proclaimed. 19 The trees that bear fruit must not be destroyed.
1 When [ce]thou shalt go forth to war against thine enemies, and shalt see horses and chariots, and people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt.
2 And when ye are come near unto the battle, then the Priest shall come forth to speak unto the people,
3 And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye are come this day unto battle against your enemies: (AH)let not your hearts faint, neither fear, nor be amazed, nor a dread of them.
4 For the Lord your God [cf]goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, and to save you.
5 ¶ And let the officers speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not [cg]dedicated it, let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.
6 ¶ And what man is there that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not [ch]eaten of the fruit? let him go to return again unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another eat the fruit.
7 And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return again unto his house, lest he die in battle, and another man take her.
8 And let the officers speak further unto the people, and say, (AI)Whosoever is afraid and faint hearted, let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint like his heart.
9 And after that the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, they shall make captains of the army to govern the people.
10 ¶ When thou comest near unto a city to fight against it, (AJ)thou shalt offer it peace.
11 And if it answer thee again [ci]peaceably, and open unto thee, then let all the people that is found therein, be tributaries unto thee, and serve thee.
12 But if it will make no peace with thee, but make war against thee, then shalt thou besiege it.
13 And the Lord thy God shall deliver it into thine hands, and thou shalt smite all the males thereof with the edge of the sword.
14 Only the women, and the children, (AK)and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof shalt thou take unto thyself, and shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.
15 Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities, which are a great way off from thee, which are not of the cities of these [cj]nations here.
16 But of the cities of this people, which the Lord thy God shall give thee to inherit, thou shalt save no person alive,
17 But shalt utterly destroy them, to wit, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee,
18 That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods, and so ye should sin against the Lord your God.
19 ¶ When thou hast besieged a city long time, and made war against it to take it, destroy not the trees thereof, by smiting an axe into them: for thou mayest eat of them: therefore thou shalt not cut them down to further thee in the siege, (for the [ck]tree of the field is man’s life).
20 Only those trees which thou knowest are not for meat, those shalt thou destroy and cut down, and make forts against the city that maketh war with thee until thou subdue it.
21 2 Inquisition for murder. 11 Of the woman taken in war. 15 The birthright cannot be changed for affection. 18 The disobedient child. 23 The body may not hang all night.
1 If one be found [cl]slain in the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it is not known who hath slain him,
2 Then thine Elders and thy Judges shall come forth, and measure unto the cities that are round about him that is slain:
3 And let the Elders of that city, which is next unto the slain man, take out of the drove an heifer that hath not been put to labor, nor hath drawn in the yoke.
4 And let the Elders of that city bring the heifer unto a [cm]stony [cn]valley, which is neither eared, nor sown, and strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley.
5 Also the Priests the sons of Levi (whom the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister, and to bless in the Name of the Lord) shall come forth, and by their word shall all strife and plague be tried.
6 And all the Elders of that city that came near to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:
7 And shall testify, and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.
8 [co]O Lord, be merciful unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay no innocent blood to the charge of thy people Israel, and the blood shall be forgiven them.
9 So shalt thou take away the cry of innocent blood from thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord.
10 ¶ When thou shalt go to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God shall deliver them into thine hands, and thou shalt take them captives,
11 And shalt see among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, and wouldest take her to thy wife,
12 Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house, [cp]and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails,
13 And she shall put off the garment that she was taken in, and she shall remain in thine house, [cq]and bewail her father and her mother a month long: and after that shalt thou go in unto her, and marry her, and she shall be thy [cr]wife.
14 And if thou have no favor unto her, then thou mayest let her go whither she will, but thou shalt not sell her for money, nor make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.
15 ¶ If a man have two wives, one loved and another [cs]hated, and they have born him children, both the loved and also the hated: if the firstborn be the son of the hated,
16 Then when the time cometh, that he appointeth his sons to be heirs of that which he hath, he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn [ct]before the son of the hated, which is the firstborn:
17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, and give him [cu]double portion for all that he hath: for he is the first of his strength, and to [cv]him belongeth the right of firstborn.
18 ¶ If any man have a son that is stubborn and disobedient, which will not hearken unto the voice of his father, nor the voice of his [cw]mother, and they have chastened him, and he would not obey them,
19 Then shall his father and his mother take him, and bring him out unto the Elders of his city, and unto the gate of the place where he dwelleth,
20 And shall say unto the Elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and disobedient, and he will not obey our admonition: he is a rioter, and a drunkard.
21 Then all the men of his city shall [cx]stone him with stones unto death: so thou shalt take away evil from among you, that all Israel may hear it, and fear.
22 ¶ If a man also have committed a trespass worthy of death, and is put to death, and thou hangest him on a tree,
23 His body shall not remain [cy]all night upon the tree, but thou shalt bury him the same day: for the (AL)curse of God is on him that is hanged. Defile not therefore thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to inherit.
22 2 He commandeth to have care of our neighbor’s goods. 5 The woman may not wear man’s apparel, nor man the woman’s. 6 Of the dam and her young birds. 8 Why they should have battlements. 9 Not to mix divers kinds together. 13 Of the wife not being found a virgin. 23 The punishment of adultery.
1 Thou (AM)shalt not see thy brother’s ox nor his sheep go astray, and [cz]withdraw thyself from them, but shalt bring them again unto thy brother.
2 And if thy brother be not [da]near unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it into thine house, and it shall remain with thee, until thy brother seek after it, then shalt thou deliver it to him again:
3 In like manner shalt thou do with his [db]ass, and so shalt thou do with his raiment, and shalt so do with all lost things of thy brother, which he hath lost: if thou hast found them, thou shalt not withdraw thyself from them.
4 ¶ Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ass nor his ox fall down by the way, and withdraw thyself from them, but shalt lift them up with him.
5 The [dc]woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto the man, neither shalt a man put on woman’s raiment: for all that do so, are abomination unto the Lord thy God.
6 ¶ If thou find a bird’s nest in the way, in any tree, or on the ground whether they be young or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, [dd]thou shalt not take the dam with the young,
7 But shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee, that thou mayest prosper and prolong thy days.
8 ¶ When thou buildest a new house, thou shalt make a battlement on thy roof, that thou lay not blood upon thine house, if any man fall thence.
9 ¶ Thou shalt not [de]sow thy vineyard with divers kinds of seeds, lest thou defile the increase of the seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of the vineyard.
10 ¶ Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.
11 ¶ Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together.
12 ¶ (AN)Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.
13 ¶ If a man take a wife, and when he hath lain with her, hate her,
14 And lay [df]slanderous things unto her charge, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this wife, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid,
15 Then shall the father of the maid and her mother take and bring the signs of the maid’s virginity unto the Elders of the city to the gate.
16 And the maid’s father shall say unto the Elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife and he hateth her:
17 And lo, he layeth slanderous things unto her charge, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid: lo, these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity: and they shall spread the [dg]vesture before the Elders of the city.
18 Then the Elders of the city shall take that man and chastise him,
19 And shall condemn him in an hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father [dh]of the maid, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a maid of Israel: and she shall be his wife, and he may not put her away all his life.
20 But if this thing be true, that the maid be not found a virgin,
21 Then shall they bring forth the maid to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones to death: for she hath wrought folly in Israel, by playing the whore in her father’s house: so thou shalt put evil away from among you.
22 ¶ (AO)If a man be found lying with a woman married to a man, then they shall die even both twain: to wit, the man that lay with the wife, and the wife: so thou shalt put away evil from Israel.
23 ¶ If a maid be betrothed unto a husband, and a man find her in the town and lie with her,
24 Then shall ye bring them both out unto the gates of the same city, and shall stone them with stones to death: the maid because she cried not, being in the city, and the man, because he hath [di]humbled his neighbor’s wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.
25 ¶ But if a man find a betrothed maid in the field and force her, and lie with her, then the man that lay with her, shall die alone:
26 And unto the maid thou shalt do nothing, because there is in the maid no [dj]cause of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbor and woundeth him to death, so [dk]is this matter.
27 For he found her in the fields: the betrothed maid cried, and there was no man to succor her.
28 ¶ (AP)If a man find a maid that is not betrothed, and take her, and lie with her, and they be found,
29 Then the man that lay with her, shall give unto the maid’s father fifty shekels of silver: and she shall be his wife, because he hath humbled her: he can not put her away all his life.
30 ¶ No man shall [dl]take his father’s wife, nor shall uncover his father’s skirt.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 13:1 Which sayeth that he hath things revealed unto him in dreams.
- Deuteronomy 13:2 He showeth whereunto the false prophets tend.
- Deuteronomy 13:3 God ordaineth all these things that his may be known.
- Deuteronomy 13:5 Being convicted by testimonies, and condemned by the judge.
- Deuteronomy 13:6 All natural affections must give place to God’s honor.
- Deuteronomy 13:6 Whom thou lovest as thy life.
- Deuteronomy 13:9 As the witness is charged, Deut. 17:7.
- Deuteronomy 13:13 Hebrew, children of Belial.
- Deuteronomy 13:14 Which art appointed to see faults punished.
- Deuteronomy 13:16 Signifying that no idolatry is so execrable, nor more grievously to be punished, than of them which once professed God.
- Deuteronomy 13:17 Of the spoil of that idolatrous and cursed city, Read Deut. 7:26 and Josh. 7:11.
- Deuteronomy 14:2 Therefore thou oughtest not to follow the superstition of the Gentiles.
- Deuteronomy 14:4 This ceremonial Law instructed the Jews to seek a spiritual pureness, even in their meat and drink.
- Deuteronomy 14:15 Or, cuckoo
- Deuteronomy 14:21 Because their blood was not shed, but remaineth in them.
- Deuteronomy 14:21 Which is not of thy religion.
- Deuteronomy 14:22 The tithes were ordained for the maintenance of the Levites, which had none inheritance.
- Deuteronomy 14:24 When he shall give thee ability.
- Deuteronomy 14:25 Or, bind up.
- Deuteronomy 14:26 After the Priest hath received the Lord’s part.
- Deuteronomy 14:28 Besides the yearly tithes that were given to the Levites, these were laid up in store for the poor.
- Deuteronomy 15:2 He shall only release his debtors, which are not able to pay for that year.
- Deuteronomy 15:4 For if thy debtor be rich, he may be constrained to pay.
- Deuteronomy 15:7 Or, any of thy cities.
- Deuteronomy 15:9 Hebrew, thine eye is evil.
- Deuteronomy 15:10 Hebrew, let not thine heart be evil.
- Deuteronomy 15:11 To try your charity, Matt. 26:11.
- Deuteronomy 15:11 Thou shalt be liberal.
- Deuteronomy 15:14 In token that thou dost acknowledge the benefit which God hath given thee by his labors.
- Deuteronomy 15:17 To the year of Jubilee, Lev. 25:40.
- Deuteronomy 15:18 For the hired servant served but three years, and he six.
- Deuteronomy 15:19 For they are the Lord’s.
- Deuteronomy 15:22 Thou shalt as well eat them, as the roe buck, and other wild beasts.
- Deuteronomy 16:1 Read Exod. 13:4.
- Deuteronomy 16:2 Thou shalt eat the Easter lamb.
- Deuteronomy 16:3 Which signified that affliction, which thou hadst in Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 16:5 This was chiefly accomplished, when the Temple was built.
- Deuteronomy 16:6 Which was instituted to put them in remembrance of their deliverance out of Egypt: and to continue them in the hope of Jesus Christ, of whom this lamb was a figure.
- Deuteronomy 16:9 Beginning at the next morning after the Passover, Lev. 23:15; Exod. 13:4.
- Deuteronomy 16:10 Or, as thou art able, willingly.
- Deuteronomy 16:13 That is, the 15th day of the seventh month, Lev. 23:34.
- Deuteronomy 16:17 According to the ability that God hath given him.
- Deuteronomy 16:18 He gave authority to that people for a time to choose themselves magistrates.
- Deuteronomy 16:20 The magistrate must constantly follow the tenor of the Law, and in nothing decline from justice.
- Deuteronomy 16:22 Or, image
- Deuteronomy 17:1 Thou shalt not serve God for fashion’s sake, as hypocrites do.
- Deuteronomy 17:2 Showing that the crime cannot be excused by the frailty of the person.
- Deuteronomy 17:3 Whereby he condemneth all religion and serving of God which God hath not commanded.
- Deuteronomy 17:6 Hebrew, of two witnesses or three witnesses.
- Deuteronomy 17:7 Whereby they declared that they testifieth the truth.
- Deuteronomy 17:7 To signify a common consent to maintain God’s honor and true religion.
- Deuteronomy 17:9 Who shall give sentence as the Priests counsel him by the Law of God.
- Deuteronomy 17:11 Thou shalt obey their sentence that the controversy may have an end.
- Deuteronomy 17:12 So long as he is the true minister of God, and pronounceth according to his word.
- Deuteronomy 17:15 Or, mayest not.
- Deuteronomy 17:15 Who is not of thy nation, lest he change true religion into idolatry, and bring thee to slavery.
- Deuteronomy 17:16 To revenge their injuries, and to take them of their best horses, 1 Kings 10:28.
- Deuteronomy 17:17 From the Law of God.
- Deuteronomy 17:18 Meaning, the Deuteronomy.
- Deuteronomy 17:18 He shall cause it to be written by them, or he shall write it by their example.
- Deuteronomy 17:20 Whereby is meant, that Kings ought so to love their subjects as nature bindeth one brother to love another.
- Deuteronomy 18:1 That is, the Lord’s part of his inheritance.
- Deuteronomy 18:3 The right shoulder, Num. 28:18.
- Deuteronomy 18:6 Meaning, to serve God unfainedly, and not to seek ease.
- Deuteronomy 18:8 Not constrained to live of himself.
- Deuteronomy 18:10 Signifying they were purged by this ceremony of passing between two fires.
- Deuteronomy 18:13 Without hypocrisy or mixture or false religion.
- Deuteronomy 18:14 Hebrew, but thou not so.
- Deuteronomy 18:14 Hebrew, given or appointed.
- Deuteronomy 18:15 Meaning, a continual succession of Prophets, till Christ the end of all Prophets come.
- Deuteronomy 18:18 Which promise is not only made to Christ, but to all that teach in his name, Isa. 59:21.
- Deuteronomy 18:19 By executing punishment upon him.
- Deuteronomy 18:22 Under this sure note he compriseth all the other tokens.
- Deuteronomy 19:3 Make an open and ready way.
- Deuteronomy 19:3 Which killeth against his will, and bare no hatred in his heart.
- Deuteronomy 19:5 That murder be not committed upon murder.
- Deuteronomy 19:6 Or, cannot be judged to death.
- Deuteronomy 19:8 When thou goest over Jordan to possess the whole land of Canaan.
- Deuteronomy 19:10 Lest thou be punished for innocent blood.
- Deuteronomy 19:12 The Magistrates.
- Deuteronomy 19:13 Then whosoever pardoneth murder, offendeth against the word of God.
- Deuteronomy 19:17 God’s presence is where his true ministers are assembled.
- Deuteronomy 20:1 Meaning, upon just occasion: for God permitteth not his people to fight when it seemeth good to them.
- Deuteronomy 20:4 Is present to defend you with his grace and power.
- Deuteronomy 20:5 For when they entered first to dwell in an house, they gave thanks to God, acknowledging that they had that benefit by his grace.
- Deuteronomy 20:6 The Hebrew word signifieth to make common or profane, Lev. 19:25.
- Deuteronomy 20:11 If it accept peace.
- Deuteronomy 20:15 For God had appointed that the Canaanites should be destroyed, and made the Israelites executors of his will, Deut. 7:1.
- Deuteronomy 20:19 Some read, For man shall be instead of the tree of the field, to come out in the siege against thee.
- Deuteronomy 21:1 This law declareth how horrible a thing murder is, seeing that for one man whole country shall be punished, except remedy be found.
- Deuteronomy 21:4 Or, rough.
- Deuteronomy 21:4 That the blood shed of the innocent beasts in a solitary place, might make them abhor the fact.
- Deuteronomy 21:8 This was the prayer, which the Priests made in the audience of the people.
- Deuteronomy 21:12 Signifying that her former life must be changed before she could be joined to the people of God.
- Deuteronomy 21:13 As having renounced parents and country.
- Deuteronomy 21:13 This only was permitted in the wars, otherwise the Israelites could not marry strangers.
- Deuteronomy 21:15 This declareth that the plurality of wives came of a corrupt affection.
- Deuteronomy 21:16 Or, while the son of the hated liveth.
- Deuteronomy 21:17 As much as to two of the others.
- Deuteronomy 21:17 Except he be unworthy, as was Reuben Jacob’s son.
- Deuteronomy 21:18 For it is the mother’s duty also to instruct her children.
- Deuteronomy 21:21 Which death was also appointed for blasphemers and idolaters: so that to disobey the parents is most horrible.
- Deuteronomy 21:23 For God’s Law by his death is satisfied, and nature abhorreth cruelty.
- Deuteronomy 22:1 As though thou sawest it not.
- Deuteronomy 22:2 Showing that brotherly affection must be showed, not only to them that dwell near unto us, but also to them which are far off.
- Deuteronomy 22:3 Much more art thou bound to do for thy neighbor’s person.
- Deuteronomy 22:5 For that were to alter the order of nature, and to despite God.
- Deuteronomy 22:6 If God detests cruelty done to little birds, how much more to man, made according to his image?
- Deuteronomy 22:9 The tenor of this Law, is to walk in simplicity, and not to be curious of new inventions.
- Deuteronomy 22:14 That is, be an occasion that she is slandered.
- Deuteronomy 22:17 Meaning, the sheet, wherein the signs of her virginity were.
- Deuteronomy 22:19 For the fault of the child redoundeth to the shame of the parents: therefore he was recompensed when she was faultless.
- Deuteronomy 22:24 Or, defiled.
- Deuteronomy 22:26 Or, no sin worthy of death.
- Deuteronomy 22:26 Meaning, that the innocent cannot be punished.
- Deuteronomy 22:30 He shall not lie with his stepmother, meaning hereby all other degrees forbidden, Lev. 18.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
Bible Gateway Recommends
