Deuteronomy 17

1 You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox, or a sheep, in which is a blemish, or anything evil; for that is an abomination to the LORD your God.

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.

2 If there is found in the midst of you, within any of your gates which the LORD your God gives you, man or woman, who does that which is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, in transgressing his covenant,

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,

3 and has gone and served other gods, and worshiped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;

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;

4 and it be told you, and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire diligently; and look, if it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is done in Israel,

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;

5 then you shall bring forth that man or that woman, who has done this evil thing, to your gates, even the man or the woman; and you shall stone them to death with stones.

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.

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

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.

7 The hand of the witnesses shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from the midst of you.

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.

8 If there arises a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within your gates; then you shall arise, and go up to the place which the LORD your God shall choose;

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;

9 and you shall come to the priests the Levites, and to the judge who shall be in those days: and you shall inquire; and they shall show you the sentence of judgment.

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:

10 You shall do according to the tenor of the sentence which they shall show you from that place which the LORD shall choose; and you shall observe to do according to all that they shall teach you:

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

11 according to the tenor of the law which they shall teach you, and according to the judgment which they shall tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside from the sentence which they shall show you, to the right hand, nor to the left.

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.

12 The man who does presumptuously, in not listening to the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or to the judge, even that man shall die: and you shall put away the evil from Israel.

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.

13 All the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.

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

14 When you have come to the land which the LORD your God gives you, and shall possess it, and shall dwell in it, and shall say, "I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me";

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;

15 you shall surely set him king over yourselves, whom the LORD your God shall choose: one from among your brothers you shall set king over you; you may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.

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.

16 Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses; because the LORD has said to you, "You shall not go back that way again."

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.

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

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.

18 It shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.

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:

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

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:

20 that his heart not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he not turn aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel.

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.