Deuteronomy 17
New American Standard Bible
Administration of Justice
17 “(A)You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep which has a blemish or any [a]defect, for that is a detestable thing to the Lord your God.
2 “(B)If there is found in your midst, in any of your [b]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 (C)served other gods and worshiped them, (D)or the sun, the moon, or any of the heavenly [c]lights, (E)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 [d]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 (F)you shall stone them to [e]death. 6 (G)On the [f]testimony of two witnesses or three witnesses, the [g]condemned shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the [h]testimony of only one witness. 7 (H)The hands of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. (I)So you shall eliminate the evil from your midst.
8 “(J)If a case is too difficult for you to decide, between [i]one kind of homicide or another, between [j]one kind of lawsuit or another, and between [k]one kind of assault or another, that are cases of dispute in your [l]courts, then you shall arise and go up to (K)the place which the Lord your God chooses. 9 So you shall come to (L)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 [m]verdict. 10 Then you shall act in accordance with the [n]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 (M)In accordance with the [o]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 (N)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 (O)insolently again.
14 “When you enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and you (P)take possession of it and live in it, and you say, ‘(Q)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 (R)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 (S)In any case, he is not to acquire many horses for himself, nor shall he (T)make the people return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since (U)the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never again return that way.’ 17 And (V)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 [p](W)in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read it (X)all the days of his life, so that he will learn to fear the Lord his God, [q]by carefully following all the words of this Law and these statutes, 20 so that his heart will not be haughty toward his countrymen, (Y)and that he will not turn away from the commandment to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may [r]live long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel.
Footnotes
- 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 17
King James Version
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.
Deuteronomy 17
Living Bible
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.
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The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.