Deuteronomy 17

1 No ox or sheep which has a mark on it or is damaged in any way may be offered to the Lord your God: for that is disgusting to the Lord your God.

Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God any bullock, or lamb, whereon there is a blemish, any thing evil; for it is an abomination unto the Lord thy God.

2 If there is any man or woman among you, in any of the towns which the Lord your God gives you, who does evil in the eyes of the Lord your God, sinning against his agreement,

If there be found in the midst of thee, within any one of thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee. a man or a woman, that doth the wickedness in the eyes of the Lord thy God, to transgress his covenant,

3 By becoming a servant of other gods and worshipping them or the sun or the moon or all the stars of heaven, against my orders;

And he hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have prohibited;

4 If word of this comes to your ears, then let this thing be looked into with care, and if there is no doubt that it is true, and such evil has been done in Israel;

And it be told thee, and thou hearest of it: then shalt thou inquire diligently; and, behold, if it be true, the thing is certain, such abomination hath been wrought in Israel:

5 Then you are to take the man or woman who has done the evil to the public place of your town, and they are to be stoned with stones till they are dead.

Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, who have committed this wicked thing, unto thy gates, the man or the woman, and thou shalt stone them with stones till they die.

6 On the word of two or three witnesses, a man may be given the punishment of death; but he is not to be put to death on the word of one witness.

Upon the evidence of two witnesses, or of three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; he shall not be put to death upon the evidence of one witness.

7 The hands of the witnesses will be the first to put him to death, and after them the hands of all the people. So you are to put away the evil from among you.

The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and the hand of all the people at the last; and thou shalt put the evil away from the midst of thee.

8 If you are not able to give a decision as to who is responsible for a death, or who is right in a cause, or who gave the first blow in a fight, and there is a division of opinion about it in your town: then go to the place marked out by the Lord your God;

If a matter be unknown to thee for decision, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between bodily injury and injury, [or] matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up unto the place which the Lord thy God will choose;

9 And come before the priests, the Levites, or before him who is judge at the time: and they will go into the question and give you a decision:

And thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites, and unto the judge that may be in those days, and thou shalt inquire, and they shall inform thee of the sentence of the case;

10 And you are to be guided by the decision they give in the place named by the Lord, and do whatever they say:

And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they may tell thee from that place which the Lord will choose, and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they may instruct thee;

11 Acting in agreement with their teaching and the decision they give: not turning to one side or the other from the word they have given you.

In accordance with the instruction which they may instruct thee, and according to the decision which they may say unto thee, shalt thou do: thou shalt not depart from the sentence which they may tell thee, to the right, or to the left.

12 And any man who, in his pride, will not give ear to the priest whose place is there before the Lord your God, or to the judge, is to be put to death: you are to put away the evil from Israel.

And the man that will act presumptuously, so as not to hearken 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.

13 And all the people, hearing of it, will be full of fear and put away their pride.

And all the people shall hear, and be afraid, and not act presumptuously any more.

14 When you have come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and have taken it for a heritage and are living in it, if it is your desire to have a king over you, like the other nations round about you;

When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and thou hast taken possession of it, and dwellest therein, and thou sayest, I wish to set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me:

15 Then see that you take as your king the man named by the Lord your God: let your king be one of your countrymen, not a man of another nation who is not one of yourselves.

Then mayest thou indeed set a king over thee, the one whom the Lord thy God will choose; [but] from the midst of thy brethren shalt thou set a king over thee; thou mayest not set over thee a stranger, who is not thy brother.

16 And he is not to get together a great army of horses for himself, or make the people go back to Egypt to get horses for him: because the Lord has said, You will never again go back that way.

Only he shall not acquire for himself many horses; so that he may not cause the people to return to Egypt, in order to acquire many horses; whereas the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth not return on that way any more.

17 And he is not to have a great number of wives, for fear that his heart may be turned away; or great wealth of silver and gold.

Neither shall he take to himself many wives, that his heart may not turn away; nor shall he acquire for himself too much silver and gold.

18 And when he has taken his place on the seat of his kingdom, he is to make in a book a copy of this law, from that which the priests, the Levites, have in their care:

And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book out of [that which is] before the priests, the Levites;

19 And it is to be with him for his reading all the days of his life, so that he may be trained in the fear of the Lord his God to keep and do all the words of this teaching and these laws:

And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: in order that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them.

20 So that his heart may not be lifted up over his countrymen, and he may not be turned away from the orders, to one side or the other: but that his life and the lives of his children may be long in his kingdom in Israel.

So that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and so that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right, or to the left: in order that he may live many days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.