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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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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Deuteronomy 17
17
Use Only Good Animals for Sacrifices
1“You must not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or sheep that has anything wrong with it. The Lord your God would hate that.
Punishment for Worshiping Idols
2“You might hear about an evil thing that happens in one of the cities that the Lord your God is giving you. You might hear that a man or woman in your group has sinned against the Lord your God. You might hear that they have broken his agreement or 3that they have worshiped other gods or maybe the sun, the moon or the stars. I never told you to do that! 4If you hear bad news like this, you must check it carefully. You must learn if it is true that this terrible thing has really happened in Israel. If you prove that it is true, 5you must punish the person who did this evil thing. You must take that man or woman out to a public place near the city gates and kill them with stones. 6But no one should be punished with death if only one witness says that person did that evil thing. But if two or three witnesses say it is true, the person must be killed. 7The witnesses must throw the first stones to kill that person. Then the other people should throw stones to finish killing that person. In this way you will remove this evil from your group.
Difficult Court Decisions
8“There might be some problems that are too hard for your courts to judge. It might be a murder case or an argument between two people. Or it might be a fight in which someone was hurt. When these cases are argued in your towns, your judges there might not be able to decide what is right. Then you must go to the special place that the Lord your God will choose. 9You must go to the priests who are Levites and to the judge on duty at that time. They will decide what to do about that problem. 10There at the Lord’s special place they will tell you their decision. You must do whatever they say. Be sure to do everything they tell you to do. 11You must accept their decision and follow their instructions exactly—don’t change anything!
12“You must punish anyone who refuses to obey the judge or the priest who is there at that time serving the Lord your God. That person must die. You must remove this evil person from Israel. 13All the people will hear about this punishment and be afraid. Then they will not be stubborn anymore.
How to Choose a King
14“You will enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You will take that land and live in it. Then you will say, ‘We will put a king over us, like all the nations around us.’ 15When that happens, you must be sure to choose the king that the Lord your God chooses. The king over you must be one of your own people. You must not make a foreigner your king. 16The king must not get more and more horses for himself. And he must not send people to Egypt to get more horses, because the Lord has told you, ‘You must never go back that way.’ 17Also, the king must not have too many wives, because that will make him turn away from the Lord. And he must not make himself rich with silver and gold.
18“When the king begins to rule, he must write a copy of the law for himself in a book. He must make that copy from the books that the priests from the tribe of Levi keep. 19He must keep that book with him and read from it all his life, because he must learn to respect the Lord his God. He must learn to completely obey everything the law commands. 20Then the king will not think that he is better than any of his own people. He will not turn away from the law, but he will follow it exactly. Then he and his descendants will rule the kingdom of Israel a long time.
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