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.

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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

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)

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