Beginning

17 An ox or sheep might have something wrong with it. Do not offer it as a sacrifice to the Lord your God. He would hate that.

² A man or woman might be found doing something evil in one of the towns the Lord gave you. That man or woman is breaking his agreement. ³ That person may have served other gods. He may have bowed down to them, to the sun or moon or stars of the sky. I have commanded that should not be done. ⁴ If someone has told you about it, you must look into the matter. It might be true. A terrible thing may have happened in Israel. ⁵ If it is true, take the man or woman who has done the evil thing to the city gate. Throw stones at that person until he dies. ⁶ There must be two or three witnesses that he did it. Then the person should be put to death. But if there is only one witness, the person should not be put to death. ⁷ The witnesses must be the first to throw stones at the person. Then everyone else will follow. You must get rid of the evil among you.

Courts of Law

⁸ Some cases that come before you may be too difficult to judge. It may be a case of murder, quarreling or attack. Take these cases to the place the Lord your God will choose. ⁹ Go to the priests who are Levites. And go to the judge who is on duty at that time. Ask them about the case, and they will decide. ¹⁰ You must follow the decision they give you. They will be at the place the Lord your God will choose. Be careful to do everything they tell you. ¹¹ Follow the teachings they give you. Do whatever they decide. Do exactly what they tell you. ¹² The person who does not show respect for the judge or priest must be put to death. They are there serving the Lord your God. You must get rid of that evil from Israel. ¹³ Then everyone will hear about this. And they will be afraid. They will not show disrespect anymore.

Choosing a King

¹⁴ You will enter the land the Lord your God is giving you. You will take it as your own and live in it. Then you will say, “Let’s appoint a king over us like the nations all around us.” ¹⁵ Be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses. He must be one of your own people. Do not appoint a foreigner as your king. He is not a fellow Israelite. ¹⁶ The king must not have too many horses for himself. He must not send people to Egypt to get more horses. The Lord has told you, “Don’t return that way again.” ¹⁷ The king must not have many wives. If he does, his heart will be led away from God. He must not have too much silver and gold.

¹⁸ When he becomes king, he should write a copy of the teachings on a scroll for himself. He should copy it from the priests and Levites. ¹⁹ He should keep it with him all the time. He should read from it every day of his life. Then he will learn to respect the Lord his God. And he will obey all the teachings and commands. ²⁰ He should not think he is better than his brothers. He must not stop obeying the law in any way. Then he and his descendants will rule the kingdom for a long time.

Shares for Priests and Levites

18 The priests are from the tribe of Levi. That tribe will not receive a share of the land with the Israelites. They will eat the offerings made to the Lord by fire. That is their share. ² They will not inherit any of the land like their brothers. They will inherit the Lord himself. This is what he promised them.

³ When you offer a bull or sheep as a sacrifice, you must share with the priests. Give them the shoulder, the cheeks and the inner organs. ⁴ Give them the first of your grain, new wine and oil. Give them the first wool you cut from your sheep. ⁵ The Lord your God has chosen the priests and their descendants out of all your tribes. They are to stand and serve the Lord always.

⁶ A Levite might move from one of your towns anywhere in Israel where he lives. He is sincere and comes to the place the Lord will choose. ⁷ He may serve the Lord his God. He will be like his fellow Levites who serve there before the Lord. ⁸ They all will have an equal share of the food. This is separate from what he has received from the sale of family possessions.

Do Not Follow Other Nations

⁹ You will enter the land the Lord your God is giving you. But don’t learn to do the terrible things the other nations do. ¹⁰ Don’t let anyone among you offer his son or daughter as a sacrifice in the fire. Don’t let anyone use magic or witchcraft. No one should try to explain the meaning of signs. ¹¹ Don’t let anyone try to control others with magic. Don’t let them be mediums or try to talk with the spirits of dead people. ¹² The Lord hates anyone who does these things. The other nations do these things. That is why the Lord your God will force them out of the land ahead of you. ¹³ You must be innocent in the presence of the Lord your God.

The Lord’s Special Prophet

¹⁴ The nations you will force out listen to people who use magic and witchcraft. But the Lord your God will not let you do those things. ¹⁵ The Lord your God will give you a prophet like me. He will be one of your own people. Listen to him. ¹⁶ This is what you asked the Lord your God to do. You were gathered at Mount Sinai. You said, “Don’t make us listen to the voice of the Lord our God again. Don’t make us look at this terrible fire anymore. We will die.”

¹⁷ So the Lord said to me, “What they have said is good. ¹⁸ So I will give them a prophet like you. He will be one of their own people. I will tell him what to say. And he will tell them everything I command. ¹⁹ This prophet will speak for me. Anyone who does not listen when he speaks will answer to me. ²⁰ But a prophet might say something I did not tell him to say. And he might say he is speaking for me. Or a prophet might speak in the name of other gods. That prophet must be killed.”

²¹ You might be thinking, “How can we know if a message is not from the Lord?” ²² What a prophet says in the name of the Lord might not happen. If it doesn’t, it is not the Lord’s message. That prophet was speaking his own ideas. Don’t be afraid of him.

Cities of Safety

19 The Lord your God is giving you land that belongs to other nations. He will destroy those nations. You will force them out and live in their cities and houses. ² Then choose three cities. They must be in the middle of the land the Lord your God is giving you to own. ³ Build roads to those cities. And divide the land the Lord is giving you into three parts. Then someone who kills another person may run to these cities.

⁴ This is the rule for someone who kills another person. He may run to one of these cities to save his life. But he must have killed his neighbor without meaning to kill him. He did not hate his neighbor. ⁵ A man might go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood. The man swings his ax to cut down a tree. But the ax head flies off the handle. It hits his neighbor and kills him. The man who killed him may run to one of these cities to save his life. ⁶ Otherwise, the dead man’s relative who has the duty of punishing a murderer might be angry and chase him. And the relative might catch him if the city is far away. The relative might kill the man. But the man should not be killed because he did not mean to kill his neighbor. ⁷ This is why I command you to choose these three cities.

^8-9 Carefully obey all these laws I’m giving you today. Love the Lord your God. Always do what he wants you to do. Then the Lord your God will enlarge your land as he promised your ancestors. He will give you the whole land he promised to them. After that, choose three more cities of safety. ¹⁰ This is so that innocent people will not be killed in your land. The Lord your God is giving it to you to own. By doing this you will not be guilty of murder.

¹¹ But a person might hate his neighbor. And he might hide and wait for him. He might attack and kill him and then run to one of these cities for safety. ¹² The elders of his own city should send for him. They should bring him back from the city of safety. And they should hand him over to the relative who has the duty of punishing the murderer. ¹³ Give him no mercy. You must remove from Israel the guilt of murdering innocent people. Then things will go well for you.

¹⁴ Do not move the stone that marks the border of your neighbor’s land. People long ago set them in place. They mark what you inherit in the land the Lord your God is giving you to own.

Rules About Witnesses

¹⁵ One witness is not enough to accuse a man of a crime or sin. A case must be proved by two or three witnesses.

¹⁶ A witness might lie and accuse a person of a crime. ¹⁷ The two people who are arguing must stand before the Lord. They must stand before the priests and judges who are on duty. ¹⁸ The judges must check the matter carefully. The witness might be a liar. He might be lying about his fellow Israelite. ¹⁹ If so, he must be punished as he wanted his brother punished. You must get rid of the evil among you. ²⁰ The rest of the people will hear about this and be afraid. No one among you will ever do such an evil thing again. ²¹ Give him no mercy. A life must be paid for a life. It must be an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot.

Laws for War

20 When you go to war against your enemies, you might see horses and chariots. Their army might be bigger than yours. But don’t be afraid of them. The Lord your God will be with you. He brought you out of Egypt. ² The priest must come and speak to the army before you go into battle. ³ He should say, “Listen, Israel! Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Don’t lose your courage or be afraid. Don’t panic or be frightened. ⁴ The Lord your God goes with you. He will fight for you against your enemies. And he will save you.”

⁵ The officers should say to the army, “Has anyone built a new house but not given it to God? He may go home. He might die in battle. Then someone else would get to give his house to God. ⁶ Has anyone planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy it? He may go home. He might die in battle. Then someone else would enjoy his vineyard. ⁷ Is any man engaged to a woman and not yet married to her? He may go home. He might die in battle. Then someone else would marry her.” ⁸ Then the officers should also say, “Is anyone here afraid? Has anyone lost his courage? He may go home. Then he will not cause others to lose their courage, too.” ⁹ When the officers finish speaking to the army, they should appoint commanders to lead it.

¹⁰ You will march up to attack a city. First, make them an offer of peace. ¹¹ They might accept your offer and open their gates to you. If that happens, all the people of that city will become your slaves. They will work for you. ¹² But they might not make peace with you. They might fight you in battle. Then you should surround that city. ¹³ The Lord your God will give you the city. Then kill all the men with your swords. ¹⁴ You may take everything else in the city for yourselves. Take the women and children and animals. And you may use these things the Lord your God gives you from your enemies. ¹⁵ Do this to all the cities that are far away. They do not belong to the nations nearby.

¹⁶ But leave nothing alive in the cities of the land. This is the land the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁷ Completely destroy these people: the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. The Lord your God has commanded you to do this. ¹⁸ Otherwise, they will teach you what they do for their gods. And if you do these terrible things, you will sin against the Lord your God.

¹⁹ You might surround and attack a city for a long time, trying to capture it. But do not destroy its trees with an ax. You can eat the fruit from the trees. Do not cut them down. These trees are not the enemy. So don’t make war against them. ²⁰ But you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees. You may use them to build devices to attack the city walls. You may do this until the city is captured.