Deuteronomy 16:18-18:13
New American Standard Bible
18 “You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your [a]towns which the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 (A)You shall not distort justice, (B)you shall not [b]show partiality; and (C)you shall not accept a bribe, because a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and distorts the words of the righteous. 20 Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that (D)you may live and possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
21 “(E)You shall not plant for yourself an [c]Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the Lord your God, which you shall make for yourself. 22 And (F)you shall not set up for yourself a memorial stone, which the Lord your God hates.
Administration of Justice
17 “(G)You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep which has a blemish or any [d]defect, for that is a detestable thing to the Lord your God.
2 “(H)If there is found in your midst, in any of your [e]towns which the Lord your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, by violating His covenant, 3 and that person has gone and (I)served other gods and worshiped them, (J)or the sun, the moon, or any of the heavenly [f]lights, (K)which I have commanded not to do, 4 and if it is reported to you and you have heard about it, then you shall investigate thoroughly. And [g]if it is true and the report is trustworthy that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, 5 then you are to bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil deed, that is, the man or the woman, and (L)you shall stone them to [h]death. 6 (M)On the [i]testimony of two witnesses or three witnesses, the [j]condemned shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the [k]testimony of only one witness. 7 (N)The hands of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. (O)So you shall eliminate the evil from your midst.
8 “(P)If a case is too difficult for you to decide, between [l]one kind of homicide or another, between [m]one kind of lawsuit or another, and between [n]one kind of assault or another, that are cases of dispute in your [o]courts, then you shall arise and go up to (Q)the place which the Lord your God chooses. 9 So you shall come to (R)the Levitical priests or the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall inquire of them and they will declare to you the [p]verdict. 10 Then you shall act in accordance with the [q]terms of the verdict which they declare to you from that place which the Lord chooses; and you shall be careful to act in accordance with everything that they instruct you to do. 11 (S)In accordance with the [r]terms of the law about which they instruct you, and in accordance with the verdict which they tell you, you shall act; you shall not turn aside from the word which they declare to you, to the right or the left. 12 But the person who acts (T)insolently by not listening to the priest who stands there to serve the Lord your God, nor to the judge, that person shall die; so you shall eliminate the evil from Israel. 13 Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and will not act (U)insolently again.
14 “When you enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and you (V)take possession of it and live in it, and you say, ‘(W)I will appoint a king over me like all the nations who are around me,’ 15 you shall in fact appoint a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses. One (X)from among your countrymen you shall appoint as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves, anyone who is not your countryman. 16 (Y)In any case, he is not to acquire many horses for himself, nor shall he (Z)make the people return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since (AA)the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never again return that way.’ 17 And (AB)he shall not acquire many wives for himself, so that his heart does not turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself.
18 “Now it shall come about, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this Law on a scroll [s](AC)in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read it (AD)all the days of his life, so that he will learn to fear the Lord his God, [t]by carefully following all the words of this Law and these statutes, 20 so that his heart will not be haughty toward his countrymen, (AE)and that he will not turn away from the commandment to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may [u]live long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel.
Portion for the Levites
18 “(AF)The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, shall not have a portion or inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the Lord’s offerings by fire and His [v]property. 2 (AG)They shall not have an inheritance among their countrymen; the Lord is their inheritance, as He [w]promised them.
3 “(AH)Now this shall be the priests’ portion from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, either an ox or a sheep: they shall give the priest the shoulder, the two cheeks, and the stomach. 4 You shall give him the (AI)first fruits of your grain, your new wine, and your oil, and the first fleece of your sheep. 5 (AJ)For the Lord your God has chosen him and his sons from all your tribes, to (AK)stand to serve in the name of the Lord always.
6 “Now if a Levite comes from any of your [x]towns throughout Israel where he (AL)resides, and he comes [y]whenever he desires to the place which the Lord chooses, 7 then he shall serve in the name of the Lord his God, like all his fellow Levites who stand there before the Lord. 8 (AM)They shall eat [z]equal portions, except for what they receive from the sale of their fathers’ estates.
Spiritism Forbidden
9 “When you enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to [aa](AN)imitate the detestable things of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone (AO)who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, a (AP)soothsayer, one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who casts a spell, (AQ)or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who consults the dead. 12 For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord; and (AR)because of these detestable things the Lord your God is going to drive them out before you. 13 (AS)You are to be blameless before the Lord your God.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 16:18 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 16:19 Lit recognize faces
- Deuteronomy 16:21 I.e., wooden symbol of a female deity
- Deuteronomy 17:1 Lit bad thing
- Deuteronomy 17:2 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 17:3 Lit host
- Deuteronomy 17:4 Lit behold, true
- Deuteronomy 17:5 Lit death with stones
- Deuteronomy 17:6 Lit mouth
- Deuteronomy 17:6 Lit one dying
- Deuteronomy 17:6 Lit mouth
- Deuteronomy 17:8 Lit blood to blood
- Deuteronomy 17:8 Lit lawsuit to lawsuit
- Deuteronomy 17:8 Lit blow to blow
- Deuteronomy 17:8 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 17:9 Lit word of decision
- Deuteronomy 17:10 Lit mouth
- Deuteronomy 17:11 Lit mouth
- Deuteronomy 17:18 Lit from before
- Deuteronomy 17:19 Lit to keep all...to do them,
- Deuteronomy 17:20 Lit prolong days
- Deuteronomy 18:1 Or inheritance
- Deuteronomy 18:2 Lit spoke to
- Deuteronomy 18:6 Lit gates
- Deuteronomy 18:6 Lit with all the desire of his soul
- Deuteronomy 18:8 Lit portion like portion
- Deuteronomy 18:9 Lit do as
Deuteronomy 16:18-18:13
King James Version
18 Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.
19 Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
20 That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
21 Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee.
22 Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the Lord thy God hateth.
17 Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish, or any evilfavouredness: for that is an abomination unto the Lord thy God.
2 If there 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 the Lord thy God, in transgressing his covenant,
3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
4 And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel:
5 Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.
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.
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 put the evil away from among you.
8 If there 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 get thee up into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose;
9 And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment:
10 And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the Lord shall choose shall shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee:
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 shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left.
12 And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.
13 And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.
14 When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about 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, which is not thy 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 unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
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:
19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein 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:
20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not 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.
18 The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and his inheritance.
2 Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the Lord is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them.
3 And this shall be the priest's due from the people, from them that offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep; and they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw.
4 The firstfruit also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him.
5 For the Lord thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for ever.
6 And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of all Israel, where he sojourned, and come with all the desire of his mind unto the place which the Lord shall choose;
7 Then he shall minister in the name of the Lord his God, as all his brethren the Levites do, which stand there before the Lord.
8 They shall have like portions to eat, beside that which cometh of the sale of his patrimony.
9 When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.
11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
13 Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
