The King

¹⁴ When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession^(A) of it and settled in it,^(B) and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,”^{(C) 15} be sure to appoint^(D) over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites.^(E) Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. ¹⁶ The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses^(F) for himself^(G) or make the people return to Egypt^(H) to get more of them,^(I) for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”^{(J) 17} He must not take many wives,^(K) or his heart will be led astray.^(L) He must not accumulate^(M) large amounts of silver and gold.^(N)

¹⁸ When he takes the throne^(O) of his kingdom, he is to write^(P) for himself on a scroll a copy^(Q) 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^(R) so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees^{(S) 20} and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law^(T) to the right or to the left.^(U) Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.^(V)

¹⁰ After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.^{(A) 11} Then the Israelites did evil^(B) in the eyes of the Lord^(C) and served the Baals.^{(D) 12} They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods^(E) of the peoples around them.^(F) They aroused^(G) the Lord’s anger^{(H) 13} because they forsook^(I) him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.^{(J) 14} In his anger^(K) against Israel the Lord gave them into the hands^(L) of raiders who plundered^(M) them. He sold them^(N) into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist.^{(O) 15} Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them^(P) to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.^(Q)