Deuteronomy 18–21

Chapter 18

The priests and Levites, and all that are of the same tribe, shall have no part nor inheritance with the rest of Israel, because they shall eat the sacrifices of the Lord, and his oblations,

²And they shall receive nothing else of the possession of their brethren: for the Lord himself is their inheritance, as he hath said to them.

³This shall be the priest’s due from the people, and from them that offer victims: whether they sacrifice an ox, or a sheep, they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the breast:

⁴The firstfruits also of corn, of wine, and of oil, and a part of the wool from the shearing of their sheep.

⁵For the Lord thy God hath chosen him of all thy tribes, to stand and to minister to the name of the Lord, him and his sons for ever.

⁶If a Levite go out of any one of the cities throughout all Israel, in which he dwelleth, and have a longing mind to come to the place which the Lord shall choose,

⁷He shall minister in the name of the Lord his God, as all his brethren the Levites do, that shall stand at that time before the Lord.

⁸He shall receive the same portion of food that the rest do: besides that which is due to him in his own city, by succession from his fathers.

⁹When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee, beware lest thou have a mind to imitate the abominations of those nations.

¹⁰Neither let there be found among you any one that shall expiate his son or daughter, making them to pass through the fire: or that consulteth soothsayers, or observeth dreams and omens, neither let there be any wizard,

¹¹Nor charmer, nor any one that consulteth pythonic spirits, or fortune tellers, or that seeketh the truth from the dead.

¹²For the Lord abhorreth all these things, and for these abominations he will destroy them at thy coming.

¹³Thou shalt be perfect, and without spot before the Lord thy God.

¹⁴These nations, whose land thou shalt possess, hearken to soothsayers and diviners: but thou art otherwise instructed by the Lord thy God.

¹⁵The Lord thy God will raise up to thee a PROPHET of thy nation and of thy brethren like unto me: him thou shalt hear:

¹⁶As thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the assembly was gathered together, and saidst: Let me not hear any more the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see any more this exceeding great fire, lest I die.

¹⁷And the Lord said to me: They have spoken all things well.

¹⁸I will raise them up a prophet out of the midst of their brethren like to thee: and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.

¹⁹And he that will not hear his words, which he shall speak in my name, I will be the revenger.

²⁰But the prophet, who being corrupted with pride, shall speak in my name things that I did not command him to say, or in the name of strange gods, shall be slain.

²¹And if in silent thought thou answer: How shall I know the word that the Lord hath not spoken?

²²Thou shalt have this sign: Whatsoever that same prophet foretelleth in the name of the Lord, and it cometh not to pass: that thing the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath forged it by the pride of his mind: and therefore thou shalt not fear him.

Chapter 19

When the Lord thy God hath destroyed the nations, whose land he will deliver to thee, and thou shalt possess it, and shalt dwell in the cities and houses thereof:

²Thou shalt separate to thee three cities in the midst of the land, which the Lord will give thee in possession,

³Paving diligently the way: and thou shalt divide the whole province of thy land equally into three parts: that he who is forced to flee for manslaughter, may have near at hand whither to escape.

⁴This shall be the law of the slayer that fleeth, whose life is to be saved: He that killeth his neighbor ignorantly, and who is proved to have had no hatred against him yesterday and the day before:

⁵But to have gone with him to the wood to hew wood, and in cutting down the tree the axe slipped out of his hand, and the iron slipping from the handle struck his friend, and killed him: he shall flee to one of the cities aforesaid, and live:

⁶Lest perhaps the next kinsman of him whose blood was shed, pushed on by his grief should pursue, and apprehend him, if the way be too long, and take away the life of him who is not guilty of death, because he is proved to have had no hatred before against him that was slain.

⁷Therefore I command thee, that thou separate three cities at equal distance one from another.

⁸And when the Lord thy God shall have enlarged thy borders, as he swore to the fathers, and shall give thee all the land that he promised them,

⁹(Yet so, if thou keep his commandments, and do the things which I command thee this day, that thou love the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways at all times) thou shalt add to thee other three cities, and shalt double the number of the three cities aforesaid:

¹⁰That innocent blood may not be shed in the midst of the land which the Lord thy God will give thee to possess, lest thou be guilty of blood.

¹¹But if any man hating his neighbour, lie in wait for his life, and rise and strike him, and he die, and he flee to one of the cities aforesaid,

¹²The ancients of his city shall send, and take him out of the place of refuge, and shall deliver him into the hand of the kinsman of him whose blood was shed, and he shall die.

¹³Thou shalt not pity him, and thou shalt take away the guilt of innocent blood out of Israel, that it may be well with thee.

¹⁴Thou shalt not take nor remove thy neighbour’s landmark, which thy predecessors have set in thy possession, which the Lord thy God will give thee in the land that thou shalt receive to possess.

¹⁵One witness shall not rise up against any man, whatsoever the sin or wickedness be: but in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall stand.

¹⁶If a lying witness stand against a man, accusing him of transgression,

¹⁷Both of them, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord in the sight of the priests and the judges that shall be in those days.

¹⁸And when after most diligent inquisition, they shall find that the false witness hath told a lie against his brother:

¹⁹They shall render to him as he meant to do to his brother, and thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee:

²⁰That others hearing may fear, and may not dare to do such things.

²¹Thou shalt not pity him, but shalt require life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Chapter 20

If thou go out to war against thy enemies, and see horsemen and chariots, and the numbers of the enemy’s army greater than thine, thou shalt not fear them: because the Lord thy God is with thee, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt.

²And when the battle is now at hand, the priest shall stand before the army, and shall speak to the people in this manner:

³Hear, O Israel, you join battle this day against your enemies, let not your heart be dismayed, be not afraid, do not give back, fear ye them not:

⁴Because the Lord your God is in the midst of you, and will fight for you against your enemies, to deliver you from danger.

⁵And the captains shall proclaim through every band in the hearing of the army: What man is there, that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.

⁶What man is there, that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not as yet made it to be common, whereof all men may eat? let him go, and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man execute his office.

⁷What man is there, that hath espoused a wife, and not taken her? let him go, and return to his house, lest he die in the war, and another man take her.

⁸After these things are declared they shall add the rest, and shall speak to the people: What man is there that is fearful, and faint hearted? let him go, and return to his house, lest he make the hearts of his brethren to fear, as he himself is possessed with fear.

⁹And when the captains of the army shall hold their peace, and have made an end of speaking, every man shall prepare their bands to fight.

¹⁰If at any time thou come to fight against a city, thou shalt first offer it peace.

¹¹If they receive it, and open the gates to thee, all the people that are therein, shall be saved, and shall serve thee paying tribute.

¹²But if they will not make peace, and shall begin war against thee, thou shalt besiege it.

¹³And when the Lord thy God shall deliver it into thy hands, thou shalt slay all that are therein of the male sex, with the edge of the sword,

¹⁴Excepting women and children, cattle and other things, that are in the city. And thou shalt divide all the prey to the army, and thou shalt eat the spoils of thy enemies, which the Lord thy God shall give thee.

¹⁵So shalt thou do to all cities that are at a great distance from thee, and are not of these cities which thou shalt receive in possession.

¹⁶But of those cities that shall be given thee, thou shalt suffer none at all to live:

¹⁷But shalt kill them with the edge of the sword, to wit, the Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Chanaanite, the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee:

¹⁸Lest they teach you to do all the abominations which they have done to their gods: and you should sin against the Lord your God.

¹⁹When thou hast besieged a city a long time, and hath compassed it with bulwarks, to take it, thou shalt not cut down the trees that may be eaten of, neither shalt thou spoil the country round about with axes: for it is a tree, and not a man, neither can it increase the number of them that fight against thee.

²⁰But if there be any trees that are not fruitful, but wild, and fit for other uses, cut them down, and make engines, until thou take the city, which fighteth against thee.

Chapter 21

When there shall be found in the land, which…