Beginning

17 Thou shalt not sacrifice unto Hashem Eloheicha any ox, or sheep, wherein is mum (blemish), or any evil thing, any defect: for that is a to’avat (abomination) unto Hashem Eloheicha.

² If there be found among you, within any of thy she’arim which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee, ish or isha, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of Hashem Eloheicha, in transgressing His Brit,

³ And hath gone and served elohim acherim, and worshiped them, either the shemesh, or yarei’ach, or any of the tz’vah HaShomayim, which I have not commanded;

⁴ And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and inquired diligently, and, hinei, it be emes, and the thing nakhon (certain, correct), that such to’evah (abomination) is wrought in Yisroel,

⁵ Then shalt thou bring forth that ish or that isha, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy she’arim, even that ish or that isha, and shalt stone them with avanim, till they die.

⁶ At the mouth of shneym edim, or shloshah edim, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of ed echad (one witness) he shall not be put to death.

⁷ The hands of the edim shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of kol haAm. So thou shalt put harah (the evil) away from among you.

⁸ If there arise a matter too hard for thee in mishpat, between dahm and dahm, between din and din, and between nega and nega, being matters of controversy within thy she’arim, then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which Hashem Eloheicha shall choose;

⁹ And thou shalt come unto the kohanim, who are the Levi’im, and unto the Shofet that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall show thee the devar hamishpat (word of judgment);

¹⁰ And thou shalt do according to the devar, which they of that place which Hashem shall choose shall show thee; and thou shalt be shomer to do according to all that they teach thee;

¹¹ According to the pi hatorah which they shall teach thee, and according to the mishpat which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do; thou shalt not turn aside from the devar which they shall show thee, to the right hand, nor to the left.

¹² And the ish that will do presumptuously, and will not give heed unto the kohen that standeth to minister there before Hashem Eloheicha, or unto the Shofet, even that ish shall die; and thou shalt put away harah from Yisroel.

¹³ And kol haAm shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.

¹⁴ When thou art come unto ha’aretz which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a melech over me, like Kol HaGoyim that are about me;

¹⁵ Thou shalt in any wise set him as melech over thee, whom Hashem Eloheicha shall choose; one from among thy achim shalt thou set as melech over thee; thou mayest not set an ish nokhri over thee, which is not achicha (thy brother, i.e., a fellow Hebrew).

¹⁶ But he shall not multiply susim to himself, nor cause the people to return to Mitzrayim, to the end that he should multiply the sus; forasmuch as Hashem hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.

¹⁷ Neither shall he multiply nashim to himself, that his lev turn not away; neither shall he greatly multiply to himself kesef and zahav.

¹⁸ And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the kisei mamlakhto (throne of his kingdom), that he shall write him a mishneh hatorah hazot (copy of this torah) in a sefer out of that which is before the kohanim, the Levi’im;

¹⁹ And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear Hashem Elohav, to be shomer over kol divrei hatorah hazot and these chukkim, to do them;

²⁰ That his lev be not lifted up in pride above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the mitzvah, to the right hand, or to the left; to the end that he may prolong his days in his mamlachah, he, and his banim, in the midst of Yisroel.

18 The kohanim, who are Levi’im, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no chelek nor nachalah with Yisroel; they shall eat the offerings of Hashem made by eish, even His nachalah.

² Therefore shall they have no nachalah among their achim; Hashem is their nachalah, as He hath said unto them.

³ And this shall be the mishpat hakohanim (the right of the kohanim) from the people, from them that offer the zevach, whether it be shor or seh; and they shall give unto the kohen the shoulder, and the two jowls, and the stomach.

⁴ The reshit also of thy grain, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the reshit of the shearing of thy tzon, shalt thou give him.

⁵ For Hashem Eloheicha hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand to minister in the Shem of Hashem, he and his banim kol hayamim.

⁶ And if a Levi come from any of thy she’arim (gates, i.e., towns) out of kol Yisroel, where he is living, and come with all the earnestness of his nefesh unto the place which Hashem shall choose;

⁷ Then he shall minister in the Shem of Hashem Elohav, as all his achim the Levi’im do, which stand there before Hashem.

⁸ They shall have chelek k’chelek (like portions) to eat, beside that which cometh of the sale of his patrimony.

⁹ When thou art come into ha’aretz which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to imitate the to’avot (abominations) of those Goyim.

¹⁰ There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his ben or his bat to pass through the eish (i.e., be burned as an idol’s offering) or kosem kesamim (a diviner of divination) or a m’onen (soothsayer, astrologer), or a m’nachesh (one who interprets omens), or a mekhashshef (witch).

¹¹ Or one who casts spells, or one who inquires of a ghost or a familiar spirit, or a doresh el hamesim (a consulter of the dead ones, i.e., a necromancer).

¹² For all that do these things are a to’avat Hashem; and because of these to’evot, Hashem Eloheicha is about to drive them out before thee.

¹³ Thou shalt be tamim (blameless) before Hashem Eloheicha.

¹⁴ For these Goyim, which thou shalt dispossess, paid heed unto soothsayers, and unto diviners; but as for thee, Hashem Eloheicha hath not suffered thee so to do.

¹⁵ Hashem Eloheicha will raise up unto thee a Navi from among thee, of thy achim, kamoni (like me [Moshe, Ex 32:30]); unto him ye must listen;

¹⁶ According to all that thou desiredst of Hashem Eloheicha in Chorev in the Yom HaKahal, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Hashem Elohav, neither let me see this eish hagedolah any more, that I die not.

¹⁷ And Hashem said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.

¹⁸ I will raise them up a Navi from among their achim, like unto thee, and will put My words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him [Yn 10:18].

¹⁹ And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not listen unto My words which he shall speak Bishmi (in My Name), I will require it of him.

²⁰ But the navi, which shall presume to speak a word Bishmi (In My Name), which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the shem of elohim acharim, even that navi shall die.

²¹ And if thou say in thine lev, How shall we know the word which Hashem hath not spoken?

²² When a navi speaketh b’Shem Hashem, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which Hashem hath not spoken, but the navi hath spoken it bezadon (in zadon [presumption, arrogance]); thou shalt not be afraid of him.

19 When Hashem Eloheicha hath cut off the Goyim, whose land Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee, and thou dispossess them, and dwellest in their towns, and in their batim (houses),

² Thou shalt separate shalosh arim (three towns) for thee in the midst of thy land, which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee to possess it.

³ Thou shalt prepare yourselves roads, and divide the territory of thy land, which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee there.

⁴ And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee there, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbor without da’as, whom he hated not in time past;

⁵ As when an ish goeth into the wood with his neighbor to cut wood, his hand swings a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, the head slippeth from the handle, and strikes upon his neighbor, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those towns, and live;

⁶ Lest the Go’el HaDahm pursue the slayer, while his lev is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.

⁷ Therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate shalosh arim for thee.

⁸ And if Hashem Eloheicha enlarge thy territory, as He hath sworn unto Avoteicha, and give thee kol ha’aretz which He promised to give unto Avoteicha;

⁹ If thou shalt be shomer over all these mitzvot to do them, which I command thee today, to love Hashem Eloheicha, and to walk ever in His ways; then shalt thou add three towns more for thee, beside these three;

¹⁰ That dahm naki (innocent blood) be not shed in thy land, which Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee for a nachalah, and so dahmim be upon thee.

¹¹ But if any ish hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and strike him mortally that he die, and fleeth into one of these towns;

¹² Then the zekenim of his town shall send and have him taken from there, and deliver him into the yad of the Goel HaDahm, that he may die.

¹³ Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of dahm naki from Yisroel, that it may go well with thee.

¹⁴ Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor’s landmark, which they of old time have set in thine nachalah, which thou shalt inherit in the eretz that Hashem Eloheicha giveth thee to possess it.

¹⁵ Ed echad shall not rise up against an ish for any avon (iniquity), or for any chattat (sin), in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of shney edim, or at the mouth of shloshah edim, shall the matter be established.

¹⁶ If an ed chamas (malicious, false witness) rise up against any ish to testify against him that which is wrong;

¹⁷ Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before Hashem, before the kohanim and the shofetim, which shall be in those days;

¹⁸ And the shofetim shall make diligent inquiry; and, hinei, if the witness be an ed sheker (false witness), and hath testified falsely against his brother;

¹⁹ Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put harah away from among you.

²⁰ And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such rah among you.

²¹ And thine eye shall not pity; but nefesh shall go for nefesh, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, yad for yad, regel for regel.

20 When thou goest out to milchamah against thine enemies, and seest sus (horses), and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them; for Hashem Eloheicha is with thee, which brought thee up out of Eretz Mitzrayim.

² And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the milchamah, that the kohen shall approach and speak unto the people,

³ And shall say unto them, Shema, Yisroel, ye approach today unto milchamah against your enemies; let not your hearts faint; fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them;

⁴ For Hashem Eloheicha is He that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.

⁵ And the shoterim shall speak unto the people, saying, What ish is there that hath built a bais chadash, and hath not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his bais, lest he die in the milchamah, and another ish dedicate it.

⁶ And what ish is he that hath planted a kerem (vineyard), and hath not yet eaten of it? Let him also go and return unto his bais, lest he die in the milchamah, and another ish eat of it.

⁷ And what ish is there that hath betrothed an isha, and hath not taken her? Let him go and return unto his bais, lest he die in the milchamah, and another ish take her.

⁸ And the shoterim shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What ish is there that is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return unto his bais, lest his brethren’s lev faint as well as his lev.

⁹ And it shall be, when the shoterim have made an end of speaking unto the people that they shall appoint sarei tzvaos to lead the people.

¹⁰ When thou comest nigh unto a town to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of shalom unto it.

¹¹ And it shall be, if it make thee answer of shalom, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that kol haAm that is found therein shall be servants, placed under tribute unto thee, and they shall serve thee.

¹² And if it will make no shalom with thee, but engages in milchamah against thee, then thou shalt besiege it;

¹³ And when Hashem Eloheicha hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt strike every male thereof with the edge of the cherev;

¹⁴ But the nashim, and the little ones, and the behemah, and all that is in the town, even all the plunder thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the plunder of thine enemies Hashem Eloheicha hath given thee.

¹⁵ Thus shalt thou do unto all the towns which are very far off from thee, which are not of the towns of these Goyim.

¹⁶ But of the towns of these people, which Hashem Eloheicha doth give thee for a nachalah, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth;

¹⁷ But thou shalt utterly put them under cherem of destruction; namely, the Chitti, and the Emori, the Kena’ni, and the Perizzi, the Chivi, and the Yevusi; as Hashem Eloheicha hath commanded thee;

¹⁸ That they teach you not to do after all their to’evot (abominations) which they have done unto their elohim; so that ye would sin against Hashem Eloheichem.

¹⁹ When thou shalt besiege a town yamim rabbim, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them; although thou mayest eat of them, thou shalt not cut them down. Are the etz hasadeh men that they should come under your siege?

²⁰ Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for food, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build siege works against the town that maketh milchamah with thee, until it be subdued.