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Judging Cases

(A)If any case is too difficult for you to judge, between [a]one kind of homicide or another, between [b]one kind of lawsuit or another, and between [c]one kind of assault or another, being cases of dispute in your gates, then you shall arise and go up to (B)the place which Yahweh your God chooses. So you shall come to (C)the Levitical priest or the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall inquire of them, and they will declare to you the judgment in the case. 10 And you shall do according to the [d]terms of the judgment which they declare to you from that place which Yahweh chooses; and you shall be careful to do according to all that they teach you. 11 (D)According to the [e]terms of the law which they teach you, and according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside from the word which they declare to you, to the right or the left. 12 And the man who acts (E)presumptuously by not listening to the priest who stands there to minister to Yahweh your God, or to the judge, that man shall die; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel. 13 Then all the people will hear and be afraid and will not act (F)presumptuously again.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 17:8 Lit blood to blood
  2. Deuteronomy 17:8 Lit judgment to judgment
  3. Deuteronomy 17:8 Lit stroke to stroke
  4. Deuteronomy 17:10 Lit mouth
  5. Deuteronomy 17:11 Lit mouth

“Suppose a case arises in a local court that is too hard for you to decide—for instance, whether someone is guilty of murder or only of manslaughter, or a difficult lawsuit, or a case involving different kinds of assault. Take such legal cases to the place the Lord your God will choose, and present them to the Levitical priests or the judge on duty at that time. They will hear the case and declare the verdict. 10 You must carry out the verdict they announce and the sentence they prescribe at the place the Lord chooses. You must do exactly what they say. 11 After they have interpreted the law and declared their verdict, the sentence they impose must be fully executed; do not modify it in any way. 12 Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the Lord your God must die. In this way you will purge the evil from Israel. 13 Then everyone else will hear about it and be afraid to act so arrogantly.

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