Deuteronomii 17
1 Non immolabis Domino Deo tuo ovem, et bovem, in quo est macula, aut quippiam vitii: quia abominatio est Domino Deo tuo.
“Do not sacrifice to Yahweh our God any cattle or sheep or goats that have any defects, because Yahweh hates that kind of gift.”
2 Cum reperti fuerint apud te intra unam portarum tuarum, quas Dominus Deus tuus dabit tibi, vir aut mulier qui faciant malum in conspectu Domini Dei tui, et transgrediantur pactum illius,
“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.
3 ut vadant et servant diis alienis, et adorent eos, solem et lunam, et omnem militiam cæli, quæ non præcepi:
Suppose someone tells you that that person has worshiped and served other gods, or the sun, or the moon, or the stars.
4 et hoc tibi fuerit nuntiatum, audiensque inquisieris diligenter et verum esse repereris, et abominatio facta est in Israël:
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,
5 educes virum ac mulierem, qui rem sceleratissimam perpetrarunt, ad portas civitatis tuæ, et lapidibus obruentur.
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.
6 In ore duorum aut trium testium peribit qui interficietur. Nemo occidatur, uno contra se dicente testimonium.
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.
7 Manus testium prima interficiet eum, et manus reliqui populi extrema mittetur: ut auferas malum de medio tui.
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.”
8 Si difficile et ambiguum apud te judicium esse perspexeris inter sanguinem et sanguinem, causam et causam, lepram et lepram: et judicum intra portas tuas videris verba variari: surge, et ascende ad locum, quem elegerit Dominus Deus tuus.
“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].
9 Veniesque ad sacerdotes Levitici generis, et ad judicem qui fuerit illo tempore: quæresque ab eis, qui indicabunt tibi judicii veritatem.
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.
10 Et facies quodcumque dixerint qui præsunt loco quem elegerit Dominus, et docuerint te
After they make their decision, you must do what they tell you to do.
11 juxta legem ejus, sequerisque sententiam eorum, nec declinabis ad dexteram neque ad sinistram.
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].
12 Qui autem superbierit, nolens obedire sacerdotis imperio, qui eo tempore ministrat Domino Deo tuo, et decreto judicis, morietur homo ille, et auferes malum de Israël:
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.
13 cunctusque populus audiens timebit, ut nullus deinceps intumescat superbia.
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.”
14 Cum ingressus fueris terram, quam Dominus Deus tuus dabit tibi, et possederis eam, habitaverisque in illa, et dixeris: Constituam super me regem, sicut habent omnes per circuitum nationes:
“[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.’
15 eum constitues, quem Dominus Deus tuus elegerit de numero fratrum tuorum. Non poteris alterius gentis hominem regem facere, qui non sit frater tuus.
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.
16 Cumque fuerit constitutus, non multiplicabit sibi equos, nec reducet populum in Ægyptum, equitatus numero sublevatus, præsertim cum Dominus præceperit vobis ut nequaquam amplius per eamdem viam revertamini.
[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’]!
17 Non habebit uxores plurimas, quæ alliciant animum ejus, neque argenti et auri immensa pondera.
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.
18 Postquam autem sederit in solio regni sui, describet sibi Deuteronomium legis hujus in volumine, accipiens exemplar a sacerdotibus Leviticæ tribus,
“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.
19 et habebit secum, legetque illud omnibus diebus vitæ suæ, ut discat timere Dominum Deum suum, et custodire verba et cæremonias ejus, quæ in lege præcepta sunt.
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.
20 Nec elevetur cor ejus in superbiam super fratres suos, neque declinet in partem dexteram vel sinistram, ut longo tempore regnet ipse et filii ejus super Israël.
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.”
