Deuteronomy 17

1 Thou shalt not sacrifice to Jehovah thy God an ox or sheep wherein is a defect, or anything bad; for it is an abomination to Jehovah thy God.

You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God a calf or a sheep, in which there is a blemish, [or] any evil thing; for it is an abomination to the Lord your God.

2 If there be found in thy midst in any of thy gates which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that doeth what is evil in the sight of Jehovah thy God, in transgressing his covenant,

And if there should be found in any one of your cities, which the Lord your God gives you, a man or a woman who shall do that which is evil before the Lord your God, so as to transgress his covenant,

3 and goeth and serveth other gods, and boweth down to them, either to the sun or to the moon, or to the whole host of heaven, which I have not commanded;

and they should go and serve other gods, and worship them, the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which he commanded you not to do,

4 and it be told thee, and thou hearest of it; then thou shalt make thorough inquiry, and if it be truth [and] the thing be certain, that this abomination hath been wrought in Israel,

and it be told you, and you shall have enquired diligently, and, behold, the thing really took place, this abomination has been done in Israel;

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

then shall you bring out that man, or that woman, and you shall stone them with stones, and they shall die.

6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is to die be put to death: he shall not be put to death at the mouth of one witness.

He shall die on the testimony of two or three witnesses; a man who is put to death shall not be put to death for one witness.

7 The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people; and thou shalt put evil away from thy midst.

And the hand of the witnesses shall be upon him amongst the first to put him to death, and the hand of the people at the last; so shall you remove the evil one from amongst yourselves.

8 If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between cause and cause, and between stroke and stroke, matters of controversy within thy gates, then shalt thou arise, and go up to the place which Jehovah thy God will choose.

And if a matter shall be too hard for you in judgement, between blood and blood, and between cause and cause, and between stroke and stroke, and between contradiction and contradiction, matters of judgement in your cities;

9 And thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall declare unto thee the sentence of judgment;

then you shall arise and go up to the place which the Lord your God shall choose, and you shall come to the priests the Levites, and to the judge who shall be in those days, and they shall search out [the matter] and report the judgement to you.

10 and thou shalt do according to the tenor of the word, which they of that place which Jehovah will choose shall declare unto thee; and thou shalt take heed to do according to all that they instruct thee:

And you shall act according to the thing which they shall report to you out of the place which the Lord your God shall choose, and you shall observe to do all whatever shall have been by law appointed to you.

11 according to the sentence of the law which they shall declare unto thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the word which they shall declare unto thee, to the right hand, or the left.

You shall do according to the law and to the judgement which they shall declare to you: you shall not swerve to the right hand or to the left from any sentence which they shall report to you.

12 And the man that shall act presumptuously, and not hearken unto the priest that standeth to serve there before Jehovah thy God, or unto the judge, that man shall die; and thou shalt put away evil from Israel.

And the man whoever shall act in haughtiness, so as not to listen to the priest who stands to minister in the name of the Lord your God, or the judge who shall preside in those days, that man shall die, and you shall remove the evil one out of Israel.

13 And all the people shall hear, and fear, and no more act presumptuously.

And all the people shall hear and fear, and shall no more commit impiety.

14 When thou comest unto the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are about me;

And when you shall enter into the land which the Lord your God gives you, and shall inherit it and dwell in it, and shall say, I will set a ruler over me, as also the other nations round about me;

15 thou shalt only set him king over thee whom Jehovah thy God will choose: from among thy brethren shalt thou set a king over thee; thou mayest not set a foreigner over thee, who is not thy brother.

you shall surely set over you the ruler whom the Lord God shall choose: of your brethren you shall set over you a ruler; you shall not have power to set over you a stranger, because he is not your brother.

16 Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor lead back the people to Egypt, to multiply horses; for Jehovah hath said unto you, Ye shall not return again any more that way.

For he shall not multiply to himself horses, and he shall by no means turn the people back to Egypt, lest he should multiply to himself horses; for the Lord said, You shall not any more turn back by that way.

17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away; neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

And he shall not multiply to himself wives, lest his heart turn away; and he shall not greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

18 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;

And when he shall be established in his government, then shall he write for himself this repetition of the law into a book by the hands of the priests the Levites;

19 and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear Jehovah his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them;

and it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord your God, and to keep all these commandments, and to observe these ordinances:

20 that 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; that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his sons, in the midst of Israel.

that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, that he depart not from the commandments on the right hand or on the left; that he and his sons may reign long in his dominion amongst the children of Israel.