Deuteronomy 17
17
1 # See Lev. 22:20 “You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep in which is a blemish, any defect whatever, for that is an abomination to the Lord your God.
2 # For ver. 2-7, see ch. 13:6-14 “If there is found among you, within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, #Josh. 7:11, 15; 23:16; Judg. 2:20; 2 Kgs. 18:12; Hos. 6:7; 8:1in transgressing his covenant, 3and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or #See ch. 4:19 the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, #[Jer. 7:31; 19:5; 32:35]which I have forbidden, 4and it is told you and you hear of it, then you shall inquire #ch. 13:14; 19:18diligently, and if it is true and certain that such an abomination has been done in Israel, 5then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you #[Lev. 24:14, 16; Josh. 7:25]shall stone that man or woman to death with stones. 6#[John 8:17]; See Num. 35:30On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. 7#ch. 13:9; [Acts 7:58] The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So #ver. 12; See ch. 13:5you shall purge#17:7 Septuagint drive out; also verse 12 the evil#17:7 Or evil person; also verse 12 from your midst.
Legal Decisions by Priests and Judges
8“If any case arises requiring decision between one kind of homicide and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another, any case within your towns that is too difficult for you, then you shall arise and go up to #See ch. 12:5the place that the Lord your God will choose. 9#ch. 19:17; 21:5; 2 Chr. 19:8, 10; Ps. 122:5; Jer. 18:18; Hag. 2:11; Mal. 2:7 And you shall come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall consult them, and #Ezek. 44:24they shall declare to you the decision. 10Then you shall do according to what they declare to you from that place that the Lord will choose. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they direct you. 11According to the instructions that they give you, and according to the decision which they pronounce to you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the verdict that they declare to you, either to the right hand or to the left. 12The man who #[ch. 18:20, 22; Ezra 10:8] acts presumptuously by not obeying the priest #ch. 10:8; 18:5, 7 who stands to minister there before the Lord your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So #[See ver. 7 above]you shall purge the evil from Israel. 13And all the people #See ch. 13:11shall hear and fear and not act presumptuously again.
Laws Concerning Israel’s Kings
14“When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, #[1 Sam. 8:5, 19, 20]‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15you may indeed set a king over you #[1 Sam. 9:15; 10:24; 16:12; 1 Chr. 22:10] whom the Lord your God will choose. One #[Jer. 30:21]from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16Only he must not acquire many #[1 Kgs. 4:26; 10:26, 28; 2 Chr. 1:16; 9:28; Isa. 2:7; 31:1] horses for himself or cause the people #Isa. 31:1; Ezek. 17:15 to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, #ch. 28:68; Hos. 11:5; [Ex. 13:17; 14:13; Num. 14:3, 4]; See Jer. 42:15-19‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17And he #[1 Kgs. 11:3, 4; Neh. 13:26] shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, #[Isa. 2:7]nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.
18“And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, #[2 Kgs. 11:12] he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, #ch. 31:9, 26; 2 Kgs. 22:8; 2 Chr. 34:14approved by#17:18 Hebrew from before the Levitical priests. 19And #Josh. 1:8 it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, #ch. 4:10; 14:23that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he #ch. 5:32; 1 Kgs. 15:5 may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, #ch. 4:40so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.
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D'varim (Deu) 17
17
1“You are not to sacrifice to Adonai your God a cow or sheep that has a defect or anything wrong with it; that would be an abomination to Adonai your God.
2“If there is found among you, within any of your gates [in any city] that Adonai your God gives you, a man or woman who does what Adonai your God sees as wicked, transgressing his covenant 3by going and serving other gods and worshipping them, the sun, the moon, or anything in the sky — something I have forbidden — 4and it is told to you, or you hear about it; then you are to investigate the matter diligently. If it is true, if it is confirmed that such detestable things are being done in Isra’el; 5then you are to bring the man or woman who has done this wicked thing to your city gates, and stone that man or woman to death. 6The death sentence is to be carried out only if there was testimony from two or three witnesses; he may not be sentenced to death on the testimony of only one witness. 7The witnesses are to be the first to stone him to death; afterwards, all the people are to stone him. Thus you will put an end to this wickedness among you.
8“If a case comes before you at your city gate which is too difficult for you to judge, concerning bloodshed, civil suit, personal injury or any other controversial issue; you are to get up, go to the place which Adonai your God will choose, 9and appear before the cohanim, who are L’vi’im, and the judge in office at the time. Seek their opinion, and they will render a verdict for you. 10You will then act according to what they have told you there in that place which Adonai will choose; you are to take care to act according to all their instructions. 11In accordance with the Torah they teach you, you are to carry out the judgment they render, not turning aside to the right or the left from the verdict they declare to you. 12Anyone presumptuous enough not to pay attention to the cohen appointed there to serve Adonai your God or to the judge — that person must die. Thus you will exterminate such wickedness from Isra’el — 13all the people will hear about it and be afraid to continue acting presumptuously.
(ii) 14“When you have entered the land Adonai your God is giving you, have taken possession of it and are living there, you may say, ‘I want to have a king over me, like all the other nations around me.’ 15In that event, you must appoint as king the one whom Adonai your God will choose. He must be one of your kinsmen, this king you appoint over you — you are forbidden to appoint a foreigner over you who is not your kinsman. 16However, he is not to acquire many horses for himself or have the people return to Egypt to obtain more horses, inasmuch as Adonai told you never to go back that way again. 17Likewise, he is not to acquire many wives for himself, so that his heart will not turn away; and he is not to acquire excessive quantities of silver and gold.
18“When he has come to occupy the throne of his kingdom, he is to write a copy of this Torah for himself in a scroll, from the one the cohanim and L’vi’im use. 19It is to remain with him, and he is to read in it every day, as long as he lives; so that he will learn to fear Adonai his God and keep all the words of this Torah and these laws and obey them; 20so that he will not think he is better than his kinsmen; and so that he will not turn aside either to the right or to the left from the mitzvah. In this way he will prolong his own reign and that of his children in Isra’el.
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