Statutes for the King

¹⁴ “When you enter the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and you ^(A)possess it and live in it, and you say, ‘^(B)I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,’ ¹⁵ you shall surely set a king over you whom Yahweh your God chooses, one ^(C)from among your brothers you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your brother. ^16 (D)Moreover, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor shall he ^(E)cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses. ^(F)Yahweh has said to you, ‘You shall never again return that way.’ ^17 (G)And he shall not multiply wives for himself, ^[a]or else his heart will turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself.

¹⁸ “Now it will be when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll ^[b](H)in the presence of the Levitical priests. ¹⁹ And it shall be with him, and he shall read it ^(I)all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear Yahweh his God, ^[c]to carefully observe all the words of this law and these statutes, ²⁰ that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers ^(J)and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left, so that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his sons in the midst of Israel.

¹¹ And he said, “^(A)This will be the ^[a]custom of the king who will reign over you: ^(B)he will take your sons and appoint them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen, and ^(C)they will run before his chariots. ^12 (D)And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to ^[b]do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers. ^14 (E)He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his ^[c]servants. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. ¹⁶ He will also take your male slaves and your female slaves and your best young men and your donkeys and ^[d]use them for his work. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸ Then ^(F)you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but ^(G)Yahweh will not answer you in that day.”