Deuteronomy 17:14–20

APPOINTING A KING

¹⁴“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you,^z take possession of it, live in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations around me,’ ¹⁵you are to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses.^aa Appoint a king from your brothers. You are not to set a foreigner over you, or one who is not of your people.^{ab 16}However, he must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’^{a 17}He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won’t go astray.^b He must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself.^{c 18}When he is seated on his royal throne, he is to write a copy of this instruction for himself on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. ¹⁹It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear^d the Lord his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these statutes. ²⁰Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, he will not turn from this command to the right or the left, and he and his sons will continue reigning many years^A in Israel.