Deuteronomy 17

1 “Do not sacrifice to Yahweh our God any cattle or sheep or goats that have any defects, because Yahweh hates that kind of gift.”

“You shall not immolate to the Lord your God a sheep or an ox, in which there is a blemish or any defect at all; for this is an abomination to the Lord your God.

2 “When you are living in any of the towns [in the land] that Yahweh our God is giving to you, suppose you hear that there is some man or woman who sins by disobeying the agreement that Yahweh has made with you.

When there will have been found among you, within one of your gates which the Lord your God will give to you, a man or a woman who is doing evil in the sight of the Lord your God, and who is transgressing his covenant,

3 Suppose someone tells you that that person has worshiped and served other gods, or the sun, or the moon, or the stars.

so as to go and serve foreign gods and adore them, such as the sun and the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not instructed,

4 If you hear that some person has been doing that, you must investigate it thoroughly. If [you find out that] it is true that this detestable thing has happened in Israel,

and when this will have been reported to you, and, upon hearing it, if you have inquired diligently and have found it to be true, that the abomination is being done in Israel:

5 you must take outside the town the man or woman who has done it. Then you must kill that person by throwing stones at him or her.

you shall lead forward the man or the woman who has perpetrated this most wicked thing to the gates of your city, and they shall be stoned to death.

6 But you are allowed to execute such people only if at least two witnesses testify that they saw them [doing that]. They must not be executed if there is only one witness.

By the mouth of two or three witnesses, he who is to be put to death shall perish. Let no one be killed with only one person speaking testimony against him.

7 The (witnesses/ones who saw them doing it) must be the first ones to throw stones at them. Then the other people [MTY] [should throw stones at them]. By doing that, you will get rid of this evil practice among you.”

First, the hands of the witnesses shall be upon him who will be put to death, and lastly, the hands of the remainder of the people shall be sent forth. So may you take away the evil from your midst.

8 “Sometimes it will be very difficult for a judge to decide what really happened. He might be trying to decide whether, when someone injured or killed another person, he did it accidentally or deliberately. Or he might be trying to decide if some person is suing another person unfairly. If in some town it is very difficult to know what really happened, with the result that the judge cannot decide it, you should go to the place that Yahweh our God has chosen for you [to worship him].

If you have perceived that there is among you a difficult and doubtful matter of judgment, between blood and blood, cause and cause, leprosy and leprosy, and if you will have seen that the words of the judges within your gates vary: rise up and ascend to the place which the Lord your God will choose.

9 There you should present the case to the descendants of Levi who are the priests, and to the judge who is serving at that time, and they should decide what should be done.

And you shall approach the priests of the Levitical stock, and the judge, who shall be among them at that time, and you shall inquire of them, and they will reveal to you the truth of the judgment.

10 After they make their decision, you must do what they tell you to do.

And you shall accept whatever they will say, those who preside in the place which the Lord will choose, and whatever they will teach you,

11 Accept what they have decided, and do what they say that you should do. Do not try to change in any way what they have decided [IDM].

in accord with his law, and you shall follow their sentence. Neither shall you turn aside to the right or to the left.

12 You must execute anyone who proudly/arrogantly disobeys the judge or the priest who stands there in the presence of Yahweh [and decides what should be done]. By doing that, you will get rid of evil practices among you.

But whoever will be arrogant, unwilling to obey the order of the priest who ministers at that time to the Lord your God, and the decree of the judge, that man shall die. And so shall you take away the evil from Israel.

13 Then [after that person is executed], all the people will hear about it, and they will be afraid, and none of them will act that way any more.”

And when the people hear about this, they shall be afraid, so that no one, from that time on, will swell with pride.

14 “[I know that] after you have occupied the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you, and you are living there, you will say, ‘We should have a king to rule over us, like the kings that other nations around us have.’

When you will have entered into the land which the Lord your God will give to you, and you possess it, and you live in it, and you say, ‘I will appoint a king over me, just as all the surrounding nations have done,’

15 Yahweh our God will permit you to have a king, but be sure that you appoint someone whom he has chosen. That man must be an Israeli; you must not appoint someone who is a foreigner to be your king.

you shall appoint him whom the Lord your God will choose from among the number of your brothers. You cannot make a man of another people king, one who is not your brother.

16 [After he becomes the king], he should not acquire a large number of horses for himself. He should not send people to Egypt to buy horses for him, because Yahweh said to you, ‘Never return to Egypt [for anything’]!

And when he will have been appointed king, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor lead the people back into Egypt, having been exalted by the number of his horsemen, especially since the Lord has instructed you never to return along the same way.

17 And he must not have a lot of wives, because if he did that, they would turn him [SYN] away from [worshiping only] Yahweh. And he must not acquire a lot of silver and gold.

He shall not have many wives, who might allure his mind, and he shall not have immense weights of silver and gold.

18 “When he becomes your king, he must [appoint someone to] copy these laws. He must copy them from the scroll that is kept by the priests who are descended from Levi.

Then, after he has been seated upon the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself the Deuteronomy of this law in a volume, using a copy from the priests of the Levitical tribe.

19 He must keep this new scroll near him and read from it every day of his life, in order that he may learn to revere Yahweh, and to faithfully obey [DOU] all the rules and regulations [that are written] in these laws.

And he shall have it with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, and to keep his words and ceremonies, which are instructed in the law.

20 If he does that, he [SYN] will not think that he is (better/more important) than [IDM] his fellow Israelis, and he will completely obey [LIT] Yahweh’s commands. As a result, he and his descendants will rule as kings in Israel for many years.”

And so may his heart not become exalted with arrogance over his brothers, nor turn aside to the right or to the left, so that he and his sons may reign for a long time over Israel.”