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
1If an ox or sheep has something wrong with it, do not offer it as a sacrifice to the Lord your God. He would hate that.
2A man or woman in one of the towns the Lord gave you might be found doing something evil and breaking the Agreement. 3That person may have served other gods and bowed down to them or to the sun or moon or stars of the sky, which I have commanded should not be done. 4If someone has told you about it, you must look into the matter carefully. If it is true that such a hateful thing has happened in Israel, 5take the man or woman who has done the evil thing to the city gates and throw stones at that person until he dies. 6There must be two or three witnesses that it is true before the person is put to death; if there is only one witness, the person should not be put to death. 7The witnesses must be the first to throw stones at the person, and then everyone else will follow. You must get rid of the evil among you.
Courts of Law
8Some cases that come before you, such as murder, quarreling, or attack, may be too difficult to judge. Take these cases to the place the Lord your God will choose. 9Go to the priests who are Levites and to the judge who is on duty at that time. Ask them about the case, and they will decide. 10You must follow the decision they give you at the place the Lord your God will choose. Be careful to do everything they tell you. 11Follow the teachings they give you, and do whatever they decide, exactly as they tell you. 12The person who does not show respect for the judge or priest who is there serving the Lord your God must be put to death. You must get rid of that evil from Israel. 13Then everyone will hear about this and will be afraid, and they will not show disrespect anymore.
Choosing a King
14When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, taking it as your own and living in it, you will say, “Let’s appoint a king over us like the nations all around us.” 15Be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses. He must be one of your own people. Do not appoint as your king a foreigner who is not a fellow Israelite. 16The king must not have too many horses for himself, and he must not send people to Egypt to get more horses, because the Lord has told you, “Don’t return that way again.” 17The king must not have many wives, or his heart will be led away from God. He must not have too much silver and gold.
18When he becomes king, he should write a copy of the teachings on a scroll for himself, a copy taken from the priests and Levites. 19He should keep it with him all the time and 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. 20He should not think he is better than his fellow Israelites, and he must not stop obeying the law in any way so that he and his descendants may rule the kingdom for a long time.
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