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

Administration of Justice

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

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

Footnotes

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

21 You shall not plant for yourselves[a] an Asherah pole[b] beside the altar of Yahweh your God that you make for yourselves.[c] 22 And you shall not set up for yourselves a stone pillar, a thing that Yahweh your God hates.

17 “You shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox or sheep that has a physical defect[d] of anything seriously wrong,[e] for that is a detestable thing to Yahweh your God. If there is found in one of your towns[f] that Yahweh your God is giving to you a man or a woman that does evil in the eyes of Yahweh your God to transgress his covenant and by going and serving other gods and so he bows down to them and to the sun or to the moon or to any of the host of heaven which I have forbidden,[g] and it is reported to you or you hear about it and you enquire about it thoroughly and, indeed,[h] the trustworthiness of the deed[i] has been established, it has occurred,[j] this detestable thing, in Israel, then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has[k] done this evil thing to your gates; that is, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them with stones to death.[l] On the evidence of[m] two or three witnesses the person shall be put to death.[n] The person[o] shall not be put to death by the mouth of one witness. The hand of the witnesses shall be first against the person[p] to kill the person,[q] and afterward the hands[r] of all the people, and so you shall purge the evil from your midst.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 16:21 Hebrew “for/to you” but with collective meaning
  2. Deuteronomy 16:21 Literally “an Asherah of any wood/tree”
  3. Deuteronomy 16:21 Hebrew “for/to you” but with collective meaning
  4. Deuteronomy 17:1 Literally “that is on it a physical defect”
  5. Deuteronomy 17:1 Literally “of any thing bad/evil”
  6. Deuteronomy 17:2 Literally “gates”
  7. Deuteronomy 17:3 Literally “which not I have commanded”
  8. Deuteronomy 17:4 Or “look!”
  9. Deuteronomy 17:4 Hebrew “the thing”
  10. Deuteronomy 17:4 Literally “has been done”
  11. Deuteronomy 17:5 Hebrew “have”
  12. Deuteronomy 17:5 Literally “and so they die”
  13. Deuteronomy 17:6 Literally “By the mouth of”
  14. Deuteronomy 17:6 Literally “he/she shall be put to death, the dead person”
  15. Deuteronomy 17:6 Hebrew “he/she”
  16. Deuteronomy 17:7 Hebrew “him”
  17. Deuteronomy 17:7 Hebrew “him”
  18. Deuteronomy 17:7 Hebrew “hand”