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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

  1. Deuteronomy 16:18 Lit gates
  2. Deuteronomy 16:19 Lit recognize faces
  3. Deuteronomy 16:21 I.e., wooden symbol of a female deity
  4. Deuteronomy 17:1 Lit bad thing
  5. Deuteronomy 17:2 Lit gates
  6. Deuteronomy 17:3 Lit host
  7. Deuteronomy 17:4 Lit behold, true
  8. Deuteronomy 17:5 Lit death with stones
  9. Deuteronomy 17:6 Lit mouth
  10. Deuteronomy 17:6 Lit one dying
  11. Deuteronomy 17:6 Lit mouth
  12. Deuteronomy 17:8 Lit blood to blood
  13. Deuteronomy 17:8 Lit lawsuit to lawsuit
  14. Deuteronomy 17:8 Lit blow to blow
  15. Deuteronomy 17:8 Lit gates
  16. Deuteronomy 17:9 Lit word of decision
  17. Deuteronomy 17:10 Lit mouth
  18. Deuteronomy 17:11 Lit mouth
  19. Deuteronomy 17:18 Lit from before
  20. Deuteronomy 17:19 Lit to keep all...to do them,
  21. Deuteronomy 17:20 Lit prolong days
  22. Deuteronomy 18:1 Or inheritance
  23. Deuteronomy 18:2 Lit spoke to
  24. Deuteronomy 18:6 Lit gates
  25. Deuteronomy 18:6 Lit with all the desire of his soul
  26. Deuteronomy 18:8 Lit portion like portion
  27. Deuteronomy 18:9 Lit do as
Close TLB

Deuteronomy 16:18-18:13
Living Bible

18 “Appoint judges and administrative officials for all the cities the Lord your God is giving you. They will administer justice in every part of the land. 19 Never twist justice to benefit a rich man, and never accept bribes. For bribes blind the eyes of the wisest and corrupt their decisions. 20 Justice must prevail.

“That is the only way you will be successful in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

21 “Never, under any circumstances, are you to erect shameful images beside the altar of the Lord your God. 22 And never set up stone pillars to worship them, for the Lord hates them!

17 “Never sacrifice a sick or defective ox or sheep to the Lord your God. He doesn’t feel honored by such gifts!

2-3 “If anyone, whether man or woman, in any village throughout your land violates your covenant with God by worshiping other gods, the sun, moon, or stars—which I have strictly forbidden— 4 first check the rumor very carefully; if there is no doubt it is true, 5 then that man or woman shall be taken outside the city and shall be stoned to death. 6 However, never put a man to death on the testimony of only one witness; there must be at least two or three. 7 The witnesses shall throw the first stones, and then all the people shall join in. In this way you will purge all evil from among you.

8 “If a case arises that is too hard for you to decide—for instance, whether someone is guilty of murder when there is insufficient evidence, or whether someone’s rights have been violated—you shall take the case to the sanctuary of the Lord your God, 9 to the priests and Levites, and the chief judge on duty at the time will make the decision. 10 His decision is without appeal and is to be followed to the letter. 11 The sentence he imposes is to be fully executed. 12 If the defendant refuses to accept the decision of the priest or judge appointed by God for this purpose, the penalty is death. Such sinners must be purged from Israel. 13 Then everyone will hear about what happened to the man who refused God’s verdict, and they will be afraid to defy a court’s judgment.

14 “When you arrive in the land the Lord your God will give you, and have conquered it, and begin to think, ‘We ought to have a king like the other nations around us’— 15 be sure that you select as king the man the Lord your God shall choose. He must be an Israelite, not a foreigner. 16 Be sure that he doesn’t build up a large stable of horses for himself, nor send his men to Egypt to raise horses for him there, for the Lord has told you, ‘Never return to Egypt again.’ 17 He must not have too many wives, lest his heart be turned away from the Lord, neither shall he be excessively rich.

18 “And when he has been crowned and sits upon his throne as king, then he must copy these laws from the book kept by the Levite-priests. 19 That copy of the laws shall be his constant companion. He must read from it every day of his life so that he will learn to respect the Lord his God by obeying all of his commands. 20 This regular reading of God’s laws will prevent him from feeling that he is better than his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from God’s laws in the slightest respect and will ensure his having a long, good reign. His sons will then follow him upon the throne.

18 “Remember that the priests and all the other members of the Levite tribe will not be given property like the other tribes. So the priests and Levites are to be supported by the sacrifices brought to the altar of the Lord and by the other offerings the people bring to him. 2 They don’t need to own property, for the Lord is their property! That is what he promised them! 3 The shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach of every ox or sheep brought for sacrifice must be given to the priests. 4 In addition, the priests shall receive the harvest samples brought in thanksgiving to the Lord—the first of the grain, the new wine, the olive oil, and of the fleece at shearing time. 5 For the Lord your God has chosen the tribe of Levi, of all the tribes, to minister to the Lord from generation to generation.

6-7 “Any Levite, no matter where he lives in the land of Israel, has the right to come to the sanctuary at any time and minister in the name of the Lord, just like his brother Levites who work there regularly. 8 He shall be given his share of the sacrifices and offerings as his right, not just if he is in need.

9 “When you arrive in the Promised Land you must be very careful lest you be corrupted by the horrible customs of the nations now living there. 10 For example, any Israeli who presents his child to be burned to death as a sacrifice to heathen gods must be killed.[a] No Israeli may practice black magic, or call on the evil spirits for aid, or be a fortune-teller, 11 or be a serpent charmer, medium, or wizard, or call forth the spirits of the dead. 12 Anyone doing these things is an object of horror and disgust to the Lord, and it is because the nations do these things that the Lord your God will displace them. 13 You must walk blamelessly before the Lord your God.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 18:10 must be killed, implied.
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Deuteronomy 19
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