Deuteronomy 17
17
1Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the LORD thy God an ox, or a sheep, wherein is a blemish, or any evil-favouredness: for that is an abomination unto the LORD thy God. 2If there be found in the midst of thee, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that doeth that which is evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant, 3and hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; 4and it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, then shalt thou inquire diligently, and, behold, if it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel; 5then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have done this evil thing, unto thy gates, even the man or the woman; and thou shalt stone them with stones, that they die. 6At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is to die be put to death; at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. 7The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So thou shalt put away the evil from the midst of thee.
8If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgement, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose; 9and thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days: and thou shalt inquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgement: 10and thou shalt do according to the tenor of the sentence, which they shall shew thee from that place which the LORD shall choose; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they shall teach thee: 11according to the tenor of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgement which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not turn aside from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left. 12And the man that doeth presumptuously, in not hearkening unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel. 13And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.
14When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein; and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are round about me; 15thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not put a foreigner over thee, which is not thy brother. 16Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. 17Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. 18And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests the Levites: 19and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: 20that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel.
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Deuteronomy 17: RV1885
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Deuteronomy 17
17
1You shall not sacrifice to the Lord, your God, an ox or a sheep with any serious defect;#Lv 22:20. that would be an abomination to the Lord, your God.
2#Dt 13:2–19. If there is found in your midst, in any one of the communities which the Lord, your God, gives you, a man or a woman who does evil in the sight of the Lord, your God, and transgresses his covenant,#Jos 7:11, 15; 23:16; Jgs 2:20; 2 Kgs 18:12; Jer 34:18; Hos 6:7; 8:1. 3by going to serve other gods, by bowing down to them, to the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, contrary to my command;#Dt 4:19; 2 Kgs 17:16; 21:3; 23:5; Jer 8:2; Ez 8:16. 4and if you are told or hear of it, you must investigate it thoroughly. If the truth of the matter is established that this abomination has been committed in Israel, 5you shall bring the man or the woman who has done this evil deed out to your gates#Out to your gates: outside the gates, so as not to defile the city; cf. Lv 24:14; Nm 15:36; Acts 7:58; Heb 13:12. and stone the man or the woman to death. 6Only on the testimony of two or three witnesses shall a person be put to death;#Dt 19:15; Nm 35:30; Jn 8:17; 2 Cor 13:1. no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 7The hands of the witnesses shall be the first raised to put the person to death, and afterward the hands of all the people.#Dt 13:6, 10. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.
Judges. 8#Ex 18:13–26. If there is a case for judgment which proves too baffling for you to decide, in a matter of bloodshed or of law or of injury, matters of dispute within your gates, you shall then go up to the place which the Lord, your God, will choose, 9to the levitical priests or to the judge who is in office at that time. They shall investigate the case and then announce to you the decision.#Dt 21:5; 2 Chr 19:8; Ezr 7:25. 10You shall act according to the decision they announce to you in the place which the Lord will choose, carefully observing everything as they instruct you. 11You shall carry out the instruction they give you and the judgment they pronounce, without turning aside either to the right or left from the decision they announce to you. 12Anyone who acts presumptuously and does not obey the priest#The priest: the high priest; the judge: a layman. The court system here, involving lay and priestly officials, resembles the one whose establishment is attributed to King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chr 19:8–11 (cf. Ex 18:17–23 and Dt 1:17). who officiates there in the ministry of the Lord, your God, or the judge, shall die. Thus shall you purge the evil from Israel. 13And all the people, on hearing of it, shall fear, and will never again act presumptuously.#Dt 13:12.
The King. 14#1 Sm 10–25. When you have come into the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you, and have taken possession of it and settled in it, should you then decide, “I will set a king over me, like all the surrounding nations,”#Dt 26:1; 1 Sm 8:5, 19–20. 15you may indeed set over you a king whom the Lord, your God, will choose.#1 Sm 9:16; 10:24; 16:1–13; 1 Kgs 19:15–16; 2 Kgs 9:1–13. Someone from among your own kindred you may set over you as king; you may not set over you a foreigner, who is no kin of yours. 16#This restriction on royal acquisitions may have in mind the excesses of Solomon’s reign mentioned in 1 Kgs 10:1–11:6. Horses: chariotry for war. Egypt engaged in horse trading, and the danger envisioned here is that some king might make Israel a vassal of Egypt for military aid. But he shall not have a great number of horses; nor shall he make his people go back again to Egypt to acquire many horses, for the Lord said to you, Do not go back that way again.#Dt 28:68; 1 Sm 8:10–12; 1 Kgs 10:26–29; Is 2:7. 17Neither shall he have a great number of wives, lest his heart turn away,#1 Kgs 10:10–25; 11:1–8; Neh 13:26; Is 2:7. nor shall he accumulate a vast amount of silver and gold. 18When he is sitting upon his royal throne, he shall write a copy of this law#A copy of this law: the source of the name Deuteronomy, which in Hebrew is literally “double” or “copy”; in the Septuagint translated as deuteronomion, literally “a second law.” In Jerome’s Latin Vulgate as deuteronium. upon a scroll from the one that is in the custody of the levitical priests.#Dt 31:9, 24–26; Jos 8:32. 19#The only positive requirement imposed upon the king is strict adherence to the Mosaic or Deuteronomic law. In that respect, the king’s primary task was to be a model Israelite. #Dt 5:32–6:3; 2 Sm 7:12–16; 1 Kgs 2:4; Ps 132:11–18. It shall remain with him and he shall read it as long as he lives, so that he may learn to fear the Lord, his God, and to observe carefully all the words of this law and these statutes, 20so that he does not exalt himself over his kindred or turn aside from this commandment to the right or to the left, and so that he and his descendants may reign long in Israel.
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