< Deuteronomy 17 >
1 Thou shalt not sacrifice unto Yahweh thy God a bullock or a sheep wherein is a blemish, any unseemly thing: for an abomination unto Yahweh thy God, it would be.
2 When there shall be found in thy midst, within any of thy gates, which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee, man or woman who doeth the thing which is wicked in the eyes of Yahweh thy God by transgressing his covenant;
3 yea hath gone, and served other gods, and bowed down unto them, —whether unto the sun or unto the moon or unto any of the host of the heavens which I have not commanded;
4 and it shall be told thee and thou shalt hear, —and shalt enquire diligently, and lo! true—certain, is the report, this abominable thing hath been done in Israel,
5 then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman who hath done this wicked thing, within thy gates—the man, or the woman, —and shalt stone them with stones that they die.
6 At the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses, shall he that is to die be put to death, —he shall not be put to death at the mouth of one witness.
7 The hand of the witnesses, shall be upon him first to put him to death, and the hand of all the people, afterwards, —so shalt thou consume the wicked thing out of thy midst.
8 When any matter of judgment, shall be too difficult for thee—between blood and blood between plea and plea or between stroke and stroke, matters of contention within thy gates, then shalt thou arise and go up unto the place which Yahweh thy God shall choose;
9 and shalt come in unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge who shall be in those days, —and shalt enquire and they shall declare unto thee, the sentence of judgment;
10 and thou shalt do according to the sentence which they shall declare unto thee, out of that place, which Yahweh, shall choose, —yea thou shalt observe to do according to all which they shall direct thee:
11 according to the direction wherewith they direct thee and after the judgment which they shall announce to thee, shalt thou do, —thou shalt not turn aside from the sentence which they shall declare unto thee to the right hand or to the left.
12 And, the man who shall do presumptuously by not hearkening unto the priest that standeth to minister there to Yahweh thy God, or unto the judge, that man shall die, and so shalt thou consume the wicked thing out of Israel.
13 And, all the people, shall hear and fear, —and shall not act presumptuously any more.
14 When thou shalt enter into the land which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee, and shalt possess it and dwell therein, —and shalt say—I will set over me a king, like all the nations that are round about me,
15 thou shalt, set, over thee as king, him whom Yahweh thy God shall choose, —out of the midst of thy brethren, shalt thou set over thee a king, thou mayest not appoint over thee a man that is a foreigner, who is not thy brother.
16 Moreover he shall not multiply to himself horses, neither shall he cause the people to return to Egypt that he may multiply horses, —when, Yahweh, hath said unto you, Ye shall not again return this way any more.
17 Neither shall he multiply to himself wives, that his heart turn not aside, —nor silver and gold, shall he multiply to himself greatly.
18 But it shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, then shall he write for himself a copy of this law upon a scroll, out of that which is before the priests the Levites:
19 so shall it be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life, —that he may learn to revere Yahweh his God, to observe all the words of this law and these statutes to do them:
20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brethren, and he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, —that he may prolong his days over his kingdom—he and his sons, in the midst of Israel.
