Deuteronomy 18–21

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. 

20TH CHAPTER

Laws for Warfare

¹When you go to war against your enemies, you may see horses, chariots, and armies larger than yours. Don’t be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, will be with you. ²Before the battle starts, a priest must come and speak to the troops. ³He should tell them, “Listen, Israel, today you’re going into battle against your enemies. Don’t lose your courage! Don’t be afraid or alarmed or tremble because of them. ⁴The Lord your God is going with you. He will fight for you against your enemies and give you victory.” 

⁵The officers should tell the troops, “If you have built a new house but not dedicated it, you may go home. Otherwise, you might die in battle, and someone else will dedicate it. ⁶If you have planted a vineyard and not enjoyed the grapes, you may go home. Otherwise, you might die in battle, and someone else will enjoy the grapes. ⁷If you are engaged to a woman but have not married her, you may go home. Otherwise, you might die in battle, and someone else will marry her.” 

⁸The officers should also tell the troops, “If you are afraid or have lost your courage, you may go home. Then you won’t ruin the morale of the other Israelites.” ⁹When the officers finish speaking to the troops, they should appoint commanders to lead them. 

¹⁰When you approach a city to attack it, offer its people a peaceful way to surrender. ¹¹If they accept it and open ⸤their gates⸥ to you, then all the people there will be made to do forced labor and serve you. ¹²If they won’t accept your offer of peace but declare war on you, set up a blockade around the city. ¹³When the Lord your God hands the city over to you, kill every man in that city with your swords. ¹⁴But take the women and children, the cattle and everything else in the city, including all its goods, as your loot. You may enjoy your enemies’ goods that the Lord your God has given you. ¹⁵This is what you must do to all the cities that are far away which don’t belong to the nations nearby. 

¹⁶However, you must not spare anyone’s life in the cities of these nations that the Lord your God is giving you as your property. ¹⁷You must claim the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites for the Lord and completely destroy them, as the Lord your God has commanded you. ¹⁸Otherwise, they will teach you to do all the disgusting things they do for their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God. 

¹⁹This is what you must do whenever you blockade a city for a long time in order to capture it in war. Don’t harm any of its fruit trees with an ax. You can eat the fruit. Never cut those trees down, because the trees of the field are not people you have come to blockade. ²⁰You may destroy trees that you know are not fruit trees. You may cut them down and use them in your blockade until you capture the city. 

21ST CHAPTER

When a Murder Is Committed, but the Murderer Can’t Be Found

¹This is what you must do if you find a murder victim lying in a field in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. If no one knows who committed the murder, ²your leaders and judges must go and measure the distance from the body to each of the neighboring cities. ³When it has been determined which city is nearest the body, the leaders from that city must choose a heifer that has never been put to work and never worn a yoke.^a4The leaders of that city will bring the heifer down to a river, to a location where the land hasn’t been plowed or planted. At the river they must break the heifer’s neck. ⁵The priests, the descendants of Levi, must come forward. The Lord your God has chosen them to serve him as priests and to bless people in the Lord’s name. Their decision is final in all cases involving a disagreement or an assault. ⁶All the leaders from the city which was nearest the murder victim must wash their hands over the…