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

Forbidden Forms of Worship

21 “You shall not plant any tree as a sacred pole[a] beside the altar that you make for the Lord your God,(A) 22 nor shall you set up a stone pillar—things that the Lord your God hates.

17 “You must not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has a defect, anything seriously wrong, for that is abhorrent to the Lord your God.(B)

“If there is found among you, in one 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 and transgresses his covenant(C) by going to serve other gods and worshiping them—whether the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden— and if it is reported to you or you hear of it, and you make a thorough inquiry, and the charge is proved true that such an abhorrent thing has occurred in Israel,(D) then you shall bring out to your gates that man or that woman who has committed this crime, and you shall stone the man or woman to death. On the evidence of two or three witnesses the death sentence shall be executed; a person must not be put to death on the evidence of only one witness.(E) The hands of the witnesses shall be the first raised against the person to execute the death penalty and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.(F)

Footnotes

  1. 16.21 Or Asherah