Appointing a King

14 “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you,(A) take possession of it, live in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations around me,’ 15 you are to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses.(B) Appoint a king from your brothers. You are not to set a foreigner over you, or one who is not of your people.(C) 16 However, he must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’(D) 17 He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won’t go astray.(E) He must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself.(F) 18 When he is seated on his royal throne, he is to write a copy of this instruction for himself on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear(G) the Lord his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these statutes. 20 Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, he will not turn from this command to the right or the left, and he and his sons will continue reigning many years[a] in Israel.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 17:20 Lit will lengthen days on his kingdom

14 “When you enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and you (A)take possession of it and live in it, and you say, ‘(B)I will appoint a king over me like all the nations who are around me,’ 15 you shall in fact appoint a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses. One (C)from among your countrymen you shall appoint as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves, anyone who is not your countryman. 16 (D)In any case, he is not to acquire many horses for himself, nor shall he (E)make the people return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since (F)the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never again return that way.’ 17 And (G)he shall not acquire many wives for himself, so that his heart does not turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself.

18 “Now it shall come about, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this Law on a scroll [a](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, so that he will learn to fear the Lord his God, [b]by carefully following all the words of this Law and these statutes, 20 so that his heart will not be haughty toward his countrymen, (J)and that he will not turn away from the commandment to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may [c]live long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 17:18 Lit from before
  2. Deuteronomy 17:19 Lit to keep all...to do them,
  3. Deuteronomy 17:20 Lit prolong days