Deuteronomy 17

1 Don't sacrifice to the Lord your God cattle or a sheep that has a defect or has something seriously wrong, for that is offensive to the Lord your God.

“You shall not immolate to the Lord your God a sheep or an ox, in which there is a blemish or any defect at all; for this is an abomination to the Lord your God.

2 There may be a report that one of you, whether a man or a woman, living in a town that the Lord your God gave you, has been found to be sinning in the sight of the Lord your God by breaking the Lord's agreement.

When there will have been found among you, within one of your gates which the Lord your God will give to you, a man or a woman who is doing evil in the sight of the Lord your God, and who is transgressing his covenant,

3 This person has done this by going to worship other gods, bowing down to them—or to the sun, moon, or any of the stars of heaven—which I have ordered you not to do.

so as to go and serve foreign gods and adore them, such as the sun and the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not instructed,

4 If you hear such a report, you need to make a full investigation. If you find out that the report is true, and that such an awful sin has been committed in Israel,

and when this will have been reported to you, and, upon hearing it, if you have inquired diligently and have found it to be true, that the abomination is being done in Israel:

5 you must have the man or woman who has committed this terrible act taken outside the town and stoned to death.

you shall lead forward the man or the woman who has perpetrated this most wicked thing to the gates of your city, and they shall be stoned to death.

6 That person is to be executed based on the evidence given by two or three witnesses. No one shall be executed on the evidence given by a single witness.

By the mouth of two or three witnesses, he who is to be put to death shall perish. Let no one be killed with only one person speaking testimony against him.

7 The witnesses must act first in executing the person, and then the rest of those who are present. You must eliminate the evil from among you.

First, the hands of the witnesses shall be upon him who will be put to death, and lastly, the hands of the remainder of the people shall be sent forth. So may you take away the evil from your midst.

8 If there's a case before your town court that is too problematic for you to settle, whether the argument is over murder or manslaughter, one legal decision against another, or different degrees of assault, you must take the issue to the place the Lord your God will choose.

If you have perceived that there is among you a difficult and doubtful matter of judgment, between blood and blood, cause and cause, leprosy and leprosy, and if you will have seen that the words of the judges within your gates vary: rise up and ascend to the place which the Lord your God will choose.

9 Go to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge in charge. Present the case to them, and they will give you their decision.

And you shall approach the priests of the Levitical stock, and the judge, who shall be among them at that time, and you shall inquire of them, and they will reveal to you the truth of the judgment.

10 You must abide by the decision they give you there at the place the Lord will choose. Make sure you do everything they tell you to do,

And you shall accept whatever they will say, those who preside in the place which the Lord will choose, and whatever they will teach you,

11 in accordance with the legal instructions they give you and the verdict they delivered. Don't deviate from the decision they give you.

in accord with his law, and you shall follow their sentence. Neither shall you turn aside to the right or to the left.

12 Anyone who treats with contempt either the priest (who ministers before the Lord your God) or the judge, must be executed. You must eliminate this evil from Israel.

But whoever will be arrogant, unwilling to obey the order of the priest who ministers at that time to the Lord your God, and the decree of the judge, that man shall die. And so shall you take away the evil from Israel.

13 Then everyone else will hear about it and be afraid, and won't act with contempt in the future.

And when the people hear about this, they shall be afraid, so that no one, from that time on, will swell with pride.

14 After you've entered the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and have taken it over and settled in it, and you decide, “Let's have a king to rule over us like all the other nations around us do,”

When you will have entered into the land which the Lord your God will give to you, and you possess it, and you live in it, and you say, ‘I will appoint a king over me, just as all the surrounding nations have done,’

15 you can have a king but only one chosen by the Lord your God. He must be an Israelite. You must not have a king who is a foreigner; someone who is not an Israelite.

you shall appoint him whom the Lord your God will choose from among the number of your brothers. You cannot make a man of another people king, one who is not your brother.

16 Your king must not have large numbers of horses, or send his men to Egypt to buy more horses, because the Lord has declared, “You must never to return there again.”

And when he will have been appointed king, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor lead the people back into Egypt, having been exalted by the number of his horsemen, especially since the Lord has instructed you never to return along the same way.

17 He must not have many wives, so they don't lead him away from following the Lord. He must not have large quantities of silver and gold.

He shall not have many wives, who might allure his mind, and he shall not have immense weights of silver and gold.

18 Once he is king and sits on his royal throne, he must make a copy for himself of these instructions, writing them on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.

Then, after he has been seated upon the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself the Deuteronomy of this law in a volume, using a copy from the priests of the Levitical tribe.

19 He is to keep it with him, and he is to read from it each day throughout his life, so he may learn to respect the Lord his God by being careful to follow every word of these instructions and regulations.

And he shall have it with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, and to keep his words and ceremonies, which are instructed in the law.

20 Then he won't think more of himself than his fellow Israelites, and he won't deviate from the commandments, so that he and his sons may have long reigns over the kingdom of Israel.

And so may his heart not become exalted with arrogance over his brothers, nor turn aside to the right or to the left, so that he and his sons may reign for a long time over Israel.”