Deuteronomy 17

1 You must not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox or a sheep in which is any blemish or anything bad, for that would be an abomination to Yahweh 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 If there is found among you, within any of your city gates that Yahweh your God is giving you, any man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of Yahweh your God and transgresses his covenant,

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 anyone who has gone and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, either the sun, the moon, or any of the host of heaven—nothing that I have commanded—

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 and if you are told about this, or if you have heard of it, then you must make a careful investigation. If it is true and certain that such an abomination has been done in Israel, this is what you should do.

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 bring that man or woman, who has done this evil thing, to your city gates, that very man or woman, and you must stone that person 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 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, will he who must die be put to death; but at the mouth of only one witness he must not be put to death.

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 hand of the witnesses must be the first to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people; and you will remove 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 a matter arises that is too hard for you to judge—perhaps a question of murder or accidental death, of one person's right and another person's right, or a question of one kind of harm done, or another kind of matter, matters of controversy within your city gates—then you must go up to the place that Yahweh your God will choose as his sanctuary.

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 You must go to the priests, the descendants of Levi, and to the judge who will be serving at that time; you will seek their advice, and they will give you the verdict.

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 follow the law given to you at the place Yahweh will choose as his sanctuary. You will be careful to do everything that they direct 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 Follow the law they teach you, and do according to the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right hand or to the left.

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 acts arrogantly, in not listening to the priest who is standing to serve before Yahweh your God, or in not listening to the judge—that man will die; you will put away the 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 All the people must hear and fear, and act arrogantly no more.

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

14 When you have come to the land that Yahweh your God gives you, and when you take possession of it and begin to live in it, and then you say, 'I will set a king over myself, like all the nations that are round about me,'

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 then you must surely set as king over yourself someone whom Yahweh your God will choose. You must set as king over yourself someone from among your brothers. You may not put a foreigner, who is not your brother, over yourself.

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 But he must not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt so that he may multiply horses, for Yahweh had said to you, 'You will never return that way 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 take many wives for himself, so that his heart does not turn away. He must not accumulate large amounts 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 When he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he must write for himself in a scroll a copy of this law, from the law that is before the priests, who are Levites.

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 The scroll must be with him, and he must read in it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to honor Yahweh his God, so as to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to observe them.

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 He must do this so that his heart is not lifted up above his brothers, and so that he does not turn away from the commandments, to the right hand or to the left; for the purpose that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, among 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.”