Deuteronomy 16–19

Observe the ^amonth of Abib, and keep the passover unto the Lord thy God: for ^bin the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. ²Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the Lord thy God, of the flock and ^cthe herd, ^din the place which the Lord shall choose to place his name there. ³Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in ^ehaste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life. ^4fAnd there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, ^gremain all night until the morning. ⁵Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee: ⁶but at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover ^hat even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt. ⁷And thou shalt ⁱroast and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents. ^8kSix days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and ^lon the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work therein.

^9mSeven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to ⁿthe corn. ¹⁰And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God, ^oaccording as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee: ¹¹and ^pthou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there. ^12qAnd thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.

^13rThou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine: ¹⁴and ^sthou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates. ^15tSeven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord shall choose: because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice. ^16uThree times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and ^xthey shall not appear before the Lord empty: ¹⁷every man shall give as he is able, ^yaccording to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee.

^18zJudges and ^aofficers 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. ^19bThou shalt not wrest judgment; ^cthou shalt not respect persons, ^dneither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. ²⁰That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

²¹Thou shalt not plant thee ^ea grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou ^eshalt make thee. ²²Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the Lord thy God hateth.

XVII.Thou ^ashalt not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish, or any evil favouredness: for that is an abomination unto the Lord thy God.

^2bIf 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, ^cin transgressing his covenant, ³and hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either ^dthe sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, ^ewhich I have not commanded; ⁴and it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and inquired ^fdiligently, and behold, it is true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel: ⁵then 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 ^gshalt stone them with stones, till they die. ^6hAt 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. ⁷ⁱThe hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So ^kthou shalt put the evil away from among you.

^8lIf there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, ^lbetween 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 ^minto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose; ⁹and thou shalt come unto ^lthe priests the Levites, and unto ^lthe judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; ⁿand they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment: ¹⁰and 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: ¹¹according 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. ¹²And the man that ^owill do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest ^pthat standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and ^qthou shalt put away the evil from Israel. ¹³And all the people ^rshall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.

¹⁴When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, ^sI will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; ¹⁵thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, ^twhom the Lord thy God shall choose: one ^ufrom among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. ¹⁶But he shall not multiply ^xhorses to himself, nor cause the people ^yto return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, ^zYe shall henceforth return no more that way. ¹⁷Neither ^ashall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. ^18bAnd 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 ^cbefore ^dthe priests the Levites: ¹⁹and ^eit shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that ^fhe may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: ²⁰that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he ^gturn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: ^hto the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

XVIII.The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, ^ashall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they ^bshall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and his inheritance. ²Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the Lord is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them. ³And this shall be the priest’s due from the people, from them that offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep; and ^cthey shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw. ^4dThe firstfruit also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thy oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him. ⁵For the Lord thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, ^eto stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for ever. ⁶And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of all Israel, ^fwhere he sojourned, and come ^gwith all the desire of his mind ^hunto the place which the Lord shall choose; ⁷then he ^eshall minister in the name of the Lord his God, ⁱas all his brethren the Levites do, ^ewhich stand there before the Lord. ⁸They shall have like ^kportions to eat, beside that which cometh of the sale of his patrimony.

⁹When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, ^lthou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. ¹⁰There shall not be found among you any one ^mthat maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or ⁿthat useth divination, or ^oan observer of times, or ^pan enchanter, or ^qa witch, ¹¹or ^ra charmer, or a consulter with ^sfamiliar spirits, or ^sa wizard, or ^ta necromancer. ¹²For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and ^ubecause of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. ¹³Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. ¹⁴For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto ^oobservers of times, and unto ⁿdiviners: but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.

^15wThe Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; ¹⁶according to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb ^xin the day of the assembly, saying, ^yLet me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. ¹⁷And the Lord said unto me, ^zThey have well spoken that…