Deuteronomy 18–21

18The 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 thine 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 which they have spoken. ^18aI will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and ^bwill put my words in his mouth; and ^che shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. ^19dAnd it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. ²⁰But the prophet, which ^eshall presume ^fto speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or ^gthat shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. ²¹And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? ^22hWhen a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it ⁱpresumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

19When ^athe Lord thy God hath cut off the nations, whose land the Lord thy God giveth thee, and thou ^†succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses; ^2bThou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it. ³Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the coasts of thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither. ⁴And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live: ^cWhoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he hated not ^†in time past; ⁵As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the ^†head slippeth from the ^†helve, and ^†lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live: ⁶Lest ^dthe avenger of the blood pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and ^†slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not ^†in time past. ⁷Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee. ^8eAnd if the Lord thy God ^eenlarge thy coast, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and ^fgive thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers; ⁹If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the Lord thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; ^gthen shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three: ¹⁰That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee. ¹¹But ^hif any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him ^†mortally that he die, and fleeth into one of these cities: ¹²Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. ¹³ⁱThine eye shall not pity him, ^jbut thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.

^14kThou shalt not remove thy neighbour’s landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it. ¹⁵One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: ^lat the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. ¹⁶If ^ma false witness rise up against any man to testify against him ^||that which is wrong; ¹⁷Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord, ⁿbefore the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days; ¹⁸And the judges shall make ^odiligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother; ^19pThen shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so ^qshalt thou put the evil away from among you. ²⁰And those which remain ^rshall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you. ^21sAnd thine eye shall not pity; but ^tlife shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

20When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest ^ahorses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the Lord thy God is ^bwith thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. ²And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, ³And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts ^†faint, fear not, and do not ^†tremble, neither ^cbe ye terrified because of them; ⁴For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, ^cto fight for you against your enemies, to save you.

⁵And ^dthe officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not ^ededicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it. ⁶And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet ^†eaten of it? let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it. ^7fAnd what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her. ⁸And ^dthe officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, ^gWhat man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart ^†faint as well as his heart. ⁹And it shall be, when ^dthe officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies ^†to lead the people.

¹⁰When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, ^hthen proclaim peace unto it. ¹¹And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. ¹²And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: ¹³And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, ⁱthou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: ¹⁴But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou ^†take unto thyself; and ^kthou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given thee. ¹⁵Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations. ¹⁶But ^lof the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: ¹⁷But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee: ¹⁸That ^mthey teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye ⁿsin against the Lord your God.

¹⁹When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof ^oby forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down ^||(for the tree of the field is ^pman’s life) ^†to employ them in the siege: ²⁰Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build ^qbulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until ^†it be subdued.

21If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess…