Deuteronomy 17
17
1Don’t sacrifice to the LORD your God any oxen or sheep that have defects of any kind, because that is detestable to the LORD your God.
Capital punishment
2If someone, whether male or female, is found in your community—in one of the cities the LORD your God is giving you—who does evil in the LORD your God’s eyes, by breaking God’s covenant, 3by following and serving other gods, and by bowing down to them, to the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly bodies that I haven’t permitted— 4and you hear news about it, then you must look into this situation very carefully. And if it’s definitely true that this detestable thing was done in Israel, 5then you must bring out the man or woman who has done this evil thing to the gates of the city. Stone that person until he or she is dead.
6Capital punishment must be decided by two or three witnesses. No one may be executed on the basis of only one testimony. 7In the execution, the hands of the witnesses must be against the guilty person from the start; the hand of all the people will be involved at the end. Remove#17.7 Or burn such evil from your community!
Legal disputes
8If some legal dispute in your cities is too difficult for you to decide—say, between different kinds of bloodshed, different kinds of legal ruling, or different kinds of injury—then take it to the location the LORD your God selects. 9Go to the levitical priests and to the head judge in office at that time and look into things there. They will announce to you the correct ruling. 10You must then act according to the ruling they announced to you from that location, the one the LORD selects. You must follow very carefully everything they instruct you to do. 11Act precisely according to the instruction they give you and the ruling they announce to you. Don’t deviate even a bit from the word they announce. 12And whoever acts rashly by not listening to the priest who is in office serving the LORD your God or to the head judge will die. Remove#17.12 Or burn such evil from Israel! 13All the people will hear about this and be afraid. They won’t act arrogantly anymore.
Law of the king
14Once you have entered the land the LORD your God is giving you and you have taken possession of it and settled down in it, you might say: “Let’s appoint a king over us, as all our neighboring nations have done.” 15You can indeed appoint over you a king that the LORD your God selects. You can appoint over you a king who is one of your fellow Israelites. You are not allowed to appoint over you a foreigner who is not one of your fellow Israelites. 16That granted, the king must not acquire too many horses, and he must not return the people to Egypt in order to acquire more horses, because the LORD told you: “You will never go back by that road again.” 17The king must not take numerous wives so that his heart doesn’t go astray. Nor can the king acquire too much silver and gold. 18Instead, when he sits on his royal throne, he himself must write a copy of this Instruction on a scroll in the presence of the levitical priests. 19That Instruction must remain with him, and he must read in it every day of his life so that he learns to revere the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this Instruction and these regulations, by doing them, 20by not being overbearing toward his fellow Israelites, and by not deviating even a bit from the commandment. If the king does all that, he will ensure lasting rule in Israel for himself and for his successors.
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Deuteronomy 17: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Deuteronomy 17
17
1#Dt 15:21; 23:18You must not sacrifice to the Lord your God any bull or sheep that has a blemish or any defect, for that is detestable to the Lord your God.
2#Dt 17:5; Jos 7:11If there be found among you, within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you, man or woman, who has acted wickedly in the sight of the Lord your God, by transgressing His covenant, 3#Dt 4:19; Job 31:26–27and has gone and served other gods and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded, 4#Dt 13:12–14; 19:18and if it is told to you, and you have heard of it, and investigated diligently, and it is true, and the matter is certain that such a detestable thing has happened in Israel, 5#Lev 24:14; Jos 7:25then you must bring forth that man or that woman who has committed that wicked thing to your gates, that very man or woman, and stone them with stones until they die. 6#Nu 35:30; Dt 19:15On the testimony of two or three witnesses he that is to die must be put to death, but on the testimony of one witness he cannot be put to death. 7#Dt 13:9; 13:5The hands of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from among you.
Courts of Law
8#Dt 12:5; Hag 2:11If there arises a matter too difficult for you in judgment, between one kind of bloodshed and another, between one kind of lawsuitand another, and between one kind of assault and another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you must arise and go up to the place where the Lord your God shall choose. 9#Eze 44:24; Jer 18:18You must go to the Levitical priests or to the judge in office those days, and inquire, and they will show you the verdict of judgment. 10You shall do according to the verdict which they declare to you from the place where the Lord will choose to show you, and you must be careful to do all that they instruct you to do. 11#Jos 1:7You must do according to the terms of the law which they instruct you and according to the verdict which they tell you. You must not deviate from the sentence which they show you, to the right or to the left. 12#Nu 15:30; Dt 13:5The man who acts presumptuously and does not listen to the priest who stands to minister before the Lord your God, or to the judge—that man must die, and you must purge the evil from Israel. 13#Dt 13:11; 19:20Then all the people will hear, and fear, and not act presumptuously again.
Appointing a King
14#1Sa 8:19–20When you have come into the land which the Lord your God gives you and possess it and dwell there and then say, “I will set a king over me just like all the nations that are around me,” 15#Jer 30:21; 1Sa 10:24you must set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. You must select a king over you who is from among your brothers. You may not select a foreigner over you who is not your countryman. 16#Ex 13:17; 1Ki 4:26What is more, he shall not accumulate horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order that he accumulate horses, for as the Lord has said to you, “You must not go back that way ever again.” 17#Ne 13:26He shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he acquire for himself excess silver and gold.
18#Dt 31:9; 2Ki 11:12It must be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write a copy of this law for himself on a scroll before the priests, the Levites. 19#Jos 1:8It must be with him, and he must read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, and carefully observe all the words of this law and these statutes, and do them, 20#Dt 5:32; 1Ki 15:5that his heart will not be lifted up above his brothers and so that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or to the left, to the end, so that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel.
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