Deuteronomy 17
1 “Do not sacrifice to Yahweh our God any cattle or sheep or goats that have any defects, because Yahweh hates that kind of gift.”
Thou shalt not sacrifice unto Yahweh thy God a bullock or a sheep wherein is a blemish, any unseemly thing: for an abomination unto Yahweh thy God, it would be.
2 “When you are living in any of the towns [in the land] that Yahweh our God is giving to you, suppose you hear that there is some man or woman who sins by disobeying the agreement that Yahweh has made with you.
When there shall be found in thy midst, within any of thy gates, which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee, man or woman who doeth the thing which is wicked in the eyes of Yahweh thy God by transgressing his covenant;
3 Suppose someone tells you that that person has worshiped and served other gods, or the sun, or the moon, or the stars.
yea hath gone, and served other gods, and bowed down unto them, —whether unto the sun or unto the moon or unto any of the host of the heavens which I have not commanded;
4 If you hear that some person has been doing that, you must investigate it thoroughly. If [you find out that] it is true that this detestable thing has happened in Israel,
and it shall be told thee and thou shalt hear, —and shalt enquire diligently, and lo! true—certain, is the report, this abominable thing hath been done in Israel,
5 you must take outside the town the man or woman who has done it. Then you must kill that person by throwing stones at him or her.
then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman who hath done this wicked thing, within thy gates—the man, or the woman, —and shalt stone them with stones that they die.
6 But you are allowed to execute such people only if at least two witnesses testify that they saw them [doing that]. They must not be executed if there is only one witness.
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.
7 The (witnesses/ones who saw them doing it) must be the first ones to throw stones at them. Then the other people [MTY] [should throw stones at them]. By doing that, you will get rid of this evil practice among you.”
The hand of the witnesses, shall be upon him first to put him to death, and the hand of all the people, afterwards, —so shalt thou consume the wicked thing out of thy midst.
8 “Sometimes it will be very difficult for a judge to decide what really happened. He might be trying to decide whether, when someone injured or killed another person, he did it accidentally or deliberately. Or he might be trying to decide if some person is suing another person unfairly. If in some town it is very difficult to know what really happened, with the result that the judge cannot decide it, you should go to the place that Yahweh our God has chosen for you [to worship him].
When any matter of judgment, shall be too difficult for thee—between blood and blood between plea and plea or between stroke and stroke, matters of contention within thy gates, then shalt thou arise and go up unto the place which Yahweh thy God shall choose;
9 There you should present the case to the descendants of Levi who are the priests, and to the judge who is serving at that time, and they should decide what should be done.
and shalt come in unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge who shall be in those days, —and shalt enquire and they shall declare unto thee, the sentence of judgment;
10 After they make their decision, you must do what they tell you to do.
and thou shalt do according to the sentence which they shall declare unto thee, out of that place, which Yahweh, shall choose, —yea thou shalt observe to do according to all which they shall direct thee:
11 Accept what they have decided, and do what they say that you should do. Do not try to change in any way what they have decided [IDM].
according to the direction wherewith they direct thee and after the judgment which they shall announce to thee, shalt thou do, —thou shalt not turn aside from the sentence which they shall declare unto thee to the right hand or to the left.
12 You must execute anyone who proudly/arrogantly disobeys the judge or the priest who stands there in the presence of Yahweh [and decides what should be done]. By doing that, you will get rid of evil practices among you.
And, the man who shall do presumptuously by not hearkening unto the priest that standeth to minister there to Yahweh thy God, or unto the judge, that man shall die, and so shalt thou consume the wicked thing out of Israel.
13 Then [after that person is executed], all the people will hear about it, and they will be afraid, and none of them will act that way any more.”
And, all the people, shall hear and fear, —and shall not act presumptuously any more.
14 “[I know that] after you have occupied the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you, and you are living there, you will say, ‘We should have a king to rule over us, like the kings that other nations around us have.’
When thou shalt enter into the land which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee, and shalt possess it and dwell therein, —and shalt say—I will set over me a king, like all the nations that are round about me,
15 Yahweh our God will permit you to have a king, but be sure that you appoint someone whom he has chosen. That man must be an Israeli; you must not appoint someone who is a foreigner to be your king.
thou shalt, set, over thee as king, him whom Yahweh thy God shall choose, —out of the midst of thy brethren, shalt thou set over thee a king, thou mayest not appoint over thee a man that is a foreigner, who is not thy brother.
16 [After he becomes the king], he should not acquire a large number of horses for himself. He should not send people to Egypt to buy horses for him, because Yahweh said to you, ‘Never return to Egypt [for anything’]!
Moreover he shall not multiply to himself horses, neither shall he cause the people to return to Egypt that he may multiply horses, —when, Yahweh, hath said unto you, Ye shall not again return this way any more.
17 And he must not have a lot of wives, because if he did that, they would turn him [SYN] away from [worshiping only] Yahweh. And he must not acquire a lot of silver and gold.
Neither shall he multiply to himself wives, that his heart turn not aside, —nor silver and gold, shall he multiply to himself greatly.
18 “When he becomes your king, he must [appoint someone to] copy these laws. He must copy them from the scroll that is kept by the priests who are descended from Levi.
But it shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, then shall he write for himself a copy of this law upon a scroll, out of that which is before the priests the Levites:
19 He must keep this new scroll near him and read from it every day of his life, in order that he may learn to revere Yahweh, and to faithfully obey [DOU] all the rules and regulations [that are written] in these laws.
so shall it be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life, —that he may learn to revere Yahweh his God, to observe all the words of this law and these statutes to do them:
20 If he does that, he [SYN] will not think that he is (better/more important) than [IDM] his fellow Israelis, and he will completely obey [LIT] Yahweh’s commands. As a result, he and his descendants will rule as kings in Israel for many years.”
that his heart may not be lifted up above his brethren, and he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, —that he may prolong his days over his kingdom—he and his sons, in the midst of Israel.
