Deuteronomy 17:14–20

Statutes for the King

¹⁴“When you enter the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and you ^apossess it and live in it, and you say, ‘^bI will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,’

¹⁵you shall surely set a king over you whom Yahweh your God chooses, one ^afrom among your brothers you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your brother.

¹⁶“^aMoreover, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor shall he ^bcause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses. ^cYahweh has said to you, ‘You shall never again return that way.’

¹⁷“^aAnd he shall not multiply wives for himself, ¹or else his heart will turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself.

¹⁸“Now it will be when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll ^1ain the presence of the Levitical priests.

¹⁹“And it shall be with him, and he shall read it ^aall the days of his life, that he may learn to fear Yahweh his God, ¹to carefully observe all the words of this law and these statutes,

²⁰that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers ^aand that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left, so that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his sons in the midst of Israel.