Deuteronomy 17–19

17TH CHAPTER

¹Never offer an ox or a sheep that has a defect or anything seriously wrong with it as a sacrifice to the Lord your God. That would be disgusting to him. 

²In one of the cities the Lord your God is giving you, there may be a man or woman among you who is doing what the Lord considers evil. This person may be disregarding the conditions of the Lord’s promise^a3by worshiping and bowing down to other gods, the sun, the moon, or the whole army of heaven. I have forbidden this. ⁴When you are told about it, investigate it thoroughly. If it’s true and it can be proven that this disgusting thing has been done in Israel, ⁵then bring the man or woman who did this evil thing to the gates of your city, and stone that person to death. ⁶The person can only be sentenced to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses, but no one should ever be sentenced to death on the testimony of only one witness. ⁷The witnesses must start the execution, then all the other people will join them in putting the person to death. You must get rid of this evil. 

⁸There may be a case that is too hard for you to decide. It may involve murder, assault, or a dispute—any case which may be brought to court in your cities. Take this case to the place that the Lord your God will choose. ⁹Go to the Levitical priests and the judge who is serving at that time. Ask for their opinion, and they will give you their verdict ¹⁰at the place that the Lord will choose. Do what they tell you. Follow all their instructions carefully, ¹¹and do what they tell you to do in their verdict. Do exactly what they tell you to do in their decision. ¹²If anyone deliberately disobeys the priest (who serves the Lord your God) or the judge, that person must die. You must get rid of this evil in Israel. ¹³When all the people hear about it, they will be afraid and will never defy ⸤God’s law⸥ again. 

¹⁴You will enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You will take possession of it and live there. You will say, “Let’s have our own king like all the other nations around us.” ¹⁵Be sure to appoint the king the Lord your God will choose. He must be one of your own people. Never let a foreigner be king, because he’s not one of your own people. 

¹⁶The king must never own a large number of horses or make the people return to Egypt to get more horses. The Lord has told you, “You will never go back there again.” ¹⁷The king must never have a large number of wives, or he will turn away ⸤from God⸥. And he must never own a lot of gold and silver. 

¹⁸When he becomes king, he should have the Levitical priests make him a copy of these teachings on a scroll. ¹⁹He must keep it with him and read it his entire life. He will learn to fear the Lord his God and faithfully obey everything found in these teachings and laws. ²⁰Then he won’t think he’s better than the rest of his people, and he won’t disobey these commands in any way. So he and his sons will rule for a long time in Israel. 

18TH CHAPTER

Laws for the Levites

¹The Levitical priests—in fact, the whole tribe of Levi—will receive no land or property of their own like the rest of the Israelites. They will eat what has been sacrificed to the Lord. These sacrifices will be what they receive.^a2So the Levites will have no land of their own like the other Israelites. The Lord will be their inheritance, as he promised them. 

³This is what the people owe the priests whenever they sacrifice an ox, a sheep, or a goat: the shoulder, jaws, and stomach. ⁴Also, give them the first produce harvested: grain, new wine, olive oil, and the first wool you shear from your sheep. ⁵Out of all your tribes, the Lord your God has chosen the Levites and their descendants to do the work of serving in the name of the Lord forever. 

⁶A Levite from any of your cities in Israel may come from where he has been living to the place the Lord will choose. He may come as often as he wants ⁷and may serve in the name of the Lord his God like all the other Levites who do their work in the Lord’s presence. ⁸If he does, he’ll get the same amount of food as they do, in addition to what he gets from selling his family’s goods. 

Laws about Prophets

⁹When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, never learn the disgusting practices of those nations. ¹⁰You must never sacrifice your sons or daughters by burning them alive, practice black magic, be a fortuneteller, witch, or sorcerer, ¹¹cast spells, ask ghosts or spirits for help, or consult the dead. ¹²Whoever does these things is disgusting to the Lord. The Lord your God is forcing these nations out of your way because of their disgusting practices. ¹³You must have integrity ⸤in dealing⸥ with the Lord your God. ¹⁴These nations you are forcing out listen to fortunetellers and to those who practice black magic. But the Lord your God won’t let you do anything like that. 

¹⁵The Lord your God will send you a prophet, an Israelite like me. You must listen to him. ¹⁶This is what you asked the Lord your God to give you on the day of the assembly at Mount Horeb. You said, “We never want to hear the voice of the Lord our God or see this raging fire again. If we do, we’ll die!” 

¹⁷The Lord told me, “What they’ve said is good. ¹⁸So I will send them a prophet, an Israelite like you. I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. ¹⁹Whoever refuses to listen to the words that prophet speaks in my name will answer to me. ²⁰But any prophet who dares to say something in my name that I didn’t command him to say or who speaks in the name of other gods must die.” 

²¹You may be wondering, “How can we recognize that the Lord didn’t speak this message?” ²²If a prophet speaks in the Lord’s name and what he says doesn’t happen or come true, then it didn’t come from the Lord. That prophet has spoken on his own authority. Never be afraid of him. 

19TH CHAPTER

Criminal Laws

¹The Lord your God will destroy all the nations that are living in the land that he’s giving you. You will force them out and live in their cities and houses. ²When all this is done, set aside three cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ³Provide a route to each of these cities and divide the land that the Lord your God is giving you into three regions. Whoever kills someone may run to one of these cities. 

⁴A person who unintentionally kills someone he never hated in the past may run to one of these cities to save his life. ⁵Suppose two people go into the woods to cut wood. As one of them swings the ax to cut down a tree, the head flies off the handle, hits, and kills the other person. The one who accidentally killed the other person may run to one of these cities and save his life. ⁶Otherwise, in a rage the relative who has the authority to avenge the death will pursue him. If the place is too far away, the relative may catch up with him and take his life even though he didn’t deserve the death penalty, because in the past he never hated the person he killed. ⁷This is why I’m commanding you to set aside three cities for yourselves. 

⁸The Lord your God may expand your country’s borders as he promised your ancestors with an oath. He may give you the whole land he promised to give them. ⁹He may do this because you faithfully obey all these commands I am now giving you—to love the Lord your God and follow his directions as long as you live. If this happens, you may add three more cities of refuge to these three. ¹⁰That way, innocent people won’t be killed in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you won’t be guilty of murder. 

¹¹Suppose someone hates another person, waits in ambush for him, attacks him, takes his life, and runs to one of these cities. ¹²If someone does this, the leaders of your city must send for that person. They must take him from that city and hand him over to the relative who has the authority to avenge the death. He must die. ¹³They must have no pity on him. The guilt of murdering an innocent person must be removed from Israel. Then things will go well for Israel. 

¹⁴Never move your neighbor’s original boundary marker on any property in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 

¹⁵One witness is never enough to convict someone of a crime, offense, or sin he may have committed. Cases must be settled based on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 

¹⁶This is what you must do whenever a witness takes the stand to accuse a person falsely of a crime. ¹⁷The two people involved must stand in the Lord’s presence, in front of the priests and judges who are serving at that time. ¹⁸The judges must make a thorough investigation. If it is found that the witness lied when he testified against the other Israelite, ¹⁹then do to him what he planned to do to the other person. You must get rid of this evil. ²⁰When the rest of the people hear about this, they will be afraid. Never again will such an evil thing be done among you. ²¹Have no pity on him: ⸤Take⸥ a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot.