Deuteronomy 17

1 Thou shalt not sacrifice to the LORD thy God [any] bullock, or sheep, in which is blemish, [or] any evil favoredness: for that [is] an abomination to the LORD thy God.

“You do not sacrifice to your God YHWH ox or sheep in which there is a blemish—any bad thing; for it [is] an abomination [to] your God YHWH.

2 If there shall be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant,

When there is found in your midst, in one of your cities which your God YHWH is giving to you, a man or a woman who does evil in the eyes of your God YHWH by transgressing His covenant,

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

and he goes and serves other gods, and bows himself to them, and to the sun, or to the moon, or to any of the host of the heavens, which I have not commanded,

4 And it shall be told thee, and thou hast heard [of it], and inquired diligently, and behold, [it is] true, [and] the thing certain, [that] such abomination is wrought in Israel:

and it has been declared to you, and you have heard, and have searched diligently, and behold, [if] truth, the thing is established; this abomination has been done in Israel—

5 Then shalt thou bring forth to thy gates that man or that woman, who have committed that wicked thing, [even] that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.

then you have brought out that man or that woman who has done this evil thing, to your gates—the man or the woman—and you have stoned them with stones, and they have died.

6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; [but] at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.

By the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses is he who is being put to death put to death; he is not put to death by the mouth of one witness;

7 The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt remove the evil from among you.

the hand of the witnesses is on him in the first place to put him to death, and the hand of all the people last; and you have put away evil out of your midst.

8 If there shall arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, [being] matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and go up to the place which the LORD thy God shall choose;

When anything is too hard for you for judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke—matters of strife within your gates—then you have risen and gone up to the place on which your God YHWH fixes,

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

and have come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge who is in those days, and have inquired, and they have declared the word of judgment to you,

10 And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the LORD shall choose shall show thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee:

and you have done according to the tenor of the word which they declare to you ([they] of that place which YHWH chooses); and you have observed to do according to all that they direct you.

11 According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall show thee, [to] the right hand, nor [to] the left.

According to the tenor of the law which they direct you, and according to the judgment which they say to you, you do; you do not turn aside from the word which they declare to you [to] the right or left.

12 And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken to the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or to the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt remove the evil from Israel.

And the man who acts with presumption, so as not to listen to the priest (who is standing to serve your God YHWH there), or to the judge, even that man has died, and you have put away evil from Israel,

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

and all the people hear and fear, and do not presume anymore.

14 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell in it, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that [are] about me;

When you come into the land which your God YHWH is giving to you, and have possessed it, and dwelt in it, and you have said, Let me set a king over me like all the nations which [are] around me—

15 Thou shalt in any wise set [him] king over thee whom the LORD thy God shall choose: [one] from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, who [is] not thy brother.

you certainly set a king over you on whom YHWH fixes; you set a king over you from the midst of your brothers; you are not able to set a stranger over you, who is not your brother.

16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said to you, ye shall henceforth return no more that way.

Only, he does not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, so as to multiply horses, seeing YHWH has said to you, You do not add to return in this way anymore.

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

And he does not multiply wives for himself, and his heart does not turn aside, and he does not exceedingly multiply silver and gold for himself.

18 And it shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of [that which is] before the priests the Levites.

And it has been, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he has written a copy of this law for himself, on a scroll, from [that] before the priests, the Levites,

19 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 his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:

and it has been with him, and he has read in it all [the] days of his life, so that he learns to fear his God YHWH, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes—to do them,

20 That his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, and that he may 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 is not high above his brothers, and so as not to turn aside from the command [to] the right or left, so that he prolongs days over his kingdom, he and his sons in the midst of Israel.”