Deuteronomy 17
17
1“You #Deut. 15:21; Mal. 1:8, 13shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God a bull or sheep which has any blemish or defect, for that is an abomination to the Lord your God.
2#Deut. 13:6“If there is found among you, within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the Lord your God, #Josh. 7:11in transgressing His covenant, 3who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either #Deut. 4:19the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, #Jer. 7:22which I have not commanded, 4#Deut. 13:12, 14and it is told you, and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination has been committed in Israel, 5then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed that wicked thing, and #Lev. 24:14–16; Josh. 7:25shall stone #Deut. 13:6–18to death that man or woman with stones. 6Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three #Num. 35:30; Deut. 19:15; Matt. 18:16; John 8:17; 2 Cor. 13:1; 1 Tim. 5:19; Heb. 10:28witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 7The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among #Deut. 13:5; 19:19; 1 Cor. 5:13you.
8#Deut. 1:17; 2 Chr. 19:10“If a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge, between degrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the #Deut. 12:5; 16:2place which the Lord your God chooses. 9And #Jer. 18:18you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and #Deut. 19:17–19to the judge there in those days, and inquire of them; #Ezek. 44:24they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment. 10You shall do according to the sentence which they pronounce upon you in that place which the Lord chooses. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they order you. 11According to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you, according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce upon you. 12Now #Num. 15:30; Deut. 1:43the man who acts presumptuously and will not heed the priest who stands to minister there before the Lord your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall put away the evil from Israel. 13#Deut. 13:11And all the people shall hear and fear, and no longer act presumptuously.
Principles Governing Kings
14“When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, #1 Sam. 8:5, 19, 20; 10:19‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ 15you shall surely set a king over you #1 Sam. 9:15, 16; 10:24; 16:12, 13; 1 Chr. 22:8–10; Hos. 8:4whom the Lord your God chooses; one #Jer. 30:21from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16But he shall not multiply #1 Kin. 4:26; 10:26–29; Ps. 20:7horses for himself, nor cause the people #Is. 31:1; Ezek. 17:15to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for #Ex. 13:17, 18; Hos. 11:5the Lord has said to you, #Deut. 28:68‘You shall not return that way again.’ 17Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and #1 Kin. 10:14gold for himself.
18“Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one #Deut. 31:24–26before the priests, the Levites. 19And #Ps. 119:97, 98it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, 20that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he #Deut. 5:32; 1 Kin. 15:5may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.
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Deuteronomy 17: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Deuteronomy 17
17
Sacrifices That Have Something Wrong with Them
Moses said to Israel:
1If an ox or a sheep has something wrong with it, don't offer it as a sacrifice to the Lord your God—he will be disgusted!
Put To Death People Who Worship Idols
Moses said to Israel:
2-3 #
Ex 22.20. The Lord your God is giving you towns to live in. But later, a man or a woman in your town may start worshiping other gods, or even the sun, moon, or stars.#17.2,3 sun, moon, or stars: Some people thought these were gods and worshiped them. I have warned you not to worship other gods, because whoever worships them is disobeying the Lord and breaking the agreement he made with you. 4So when you hear that someone in your town is committing this disgusting sin, you must carefully find out if that person really is guilty. 5-7#Nu 35.30; Dt 19.15; Mt 18.16; 2 Co 13.1; 1 Ti 5.19; He 10.28; 1 Co 5.13. But you will need two or three witnesses—one witness isn't enough to prove a person guilty.
Get rid of those who are guilty of such evil. Take them outside your town gates and everyone must stone them to death. But the witnesses must be the first to throw stones.
Difficult Cases
Moses said to Israel:
8-12It may be difficult to find out the truth in some legal cases in your town. You may not be able to decide if someone was killed accidentally or murdered. Or you may not be able to tell whether an injury or some property damage was done by accident or on purpose. If the case is too difficult, take it to the court at the place where the Lord your God chooses to be worshiped.
This court will be made up of one judge and several priests#17.8-12 several priests: The Hebrew text has “the priests, the Levites”; priests belonged to the Levi tribe. who serve at the Lord's altar. They will explain the law to you and give you their decision about the case. Do exactly what they tell you, or you will be put to death. 13When other Israelites hear about it, they will be afraid and obey the decisions of the court.
The King
Moses said:
14 #
1 S 8.5. People of Israel, after you capture the land the Lord your God is giving you, and after you settle on it, you will say, “We want a king, just like the nations around us.”
15Go ahead and appoint a king, but make sure that he is an Israelite and that he is the one the Lord has chosen.
16 #
1 K 10.28; 2 Ch 1.16,17; 9.28. The king should not have many horses, especially those from Egypt. The Lord has said never to go back there again. 17#1 K 11.1-8; 1 K 10.14-22,27; 2 Ch 1.15; 9.27. And the king must not have a lot of wives—they might tempt him to be unfaithful to the Lord.#17.17 a lot of wives … unfaithful to the Lord: A king would often marry the daughter of another king that he was making a treaty with. These foreign women would naturally want to worship their own gods, and would want their husband the king to do so as well. Finally, the king must not try to get huge amounts of silver and gold.
18The official copy of God's laws#17.18 God's laws: Or “God's laws for the king.” will be kept by the priests of the Levi tribe. So, as soon as anyone becomes king, he must go to the priests and write out a copy of these laws while they watch. 19Each day the king must read and obey these laws, so that he will learn to worship the Lord with fear and trembling 20and not think that he's better than everyone else.
If the king completely obeys the Lord's commands, he and his descendants will rule Israel for many years.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.