Deuteronomy 17-19
Expanded Bible
17 If an ox or sheep has ·something wrong with it [L a blemish/defect, anything wrong with it; Lev. 22:17–25], do not offer it as a sacrifice to the Lord your God. He would ·hate [detest] that.
2 A man or woman in one of the ·towns [L gates] the Lord gave you might be found doing something evil in the ·sight [L eyes] of the Lord your God and ·breaking [transgressing] the ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty]. 3 That person may have served other gods and bowed down to them or to the sun or moon or ·stars of the sky [any of the host of heaven], which I have commanded should not be done [4:19]. 4 If someone has told you about it, you must look into the matter carefully. If it is true that such a ·hateful [detestable; abhorrent; abominable] thing has happened in Israel, 5 take the man or woman who has done the evil thing to the city gates and ·throw stones at [stone] that person until he dies. 6 There must be two or three witnesses that it is true before the person is put to death; if there is only one witness, the person should not be put to death [Num. 35:30]. 7 The hands of the witnesses must be the first to ·throw stones at [stone] the person, and then everyone else will follow. You must get rid of the evil among you.
Courts of Law
8 Some cases that come before you, ·such as murder [between one kind of bloodshed and another; C intentional or unintentional], ·quarreling [between one kind of right and another], or ·attack [L between one kind of assault and another; Ex. 21:18–21], may be too difficult to judge. Take these cases to the place the Lord your God will choose [12:4–7]. 9 Go to the priests who are Levites and to the judge who is ·on duty at that time [in office in those days]. ·Ask them about the case [Make inquiry], and they will decide. 10 You must follow the decision they give you at the place the Lord your God will choose. Be careful to do everything they ·tell [L teach] you. 11 Follow the ·teachings [laws; instructions] they give you, and do whatever they decide, ·exactly as they tell you [L you must not turn aside from the thing they tell you to the right or to the left]. 12 The person who ·does not show respect for [presumes not to listen to] the judge or priest who is there serving the Lord your God must be put to death. You must ·get rid of [banish; purge] that evil from Israel. 13 Then everyone will hear about this and will be afraid, and they will not ·show disrespect [be presumptuous] anymore.
Choosing a King
14 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, taking it as your ·own [possession] and living in it, you will say, “·Let’s appoint [L I will set] a king over ·us [L me] like the nations all around us [1 Sam. 8:5, 20].” 15 Be sure to ·appoint [set] over you the king the Lord your God chooses. He must be one of your own ·people [relatives; L brothers]. Do not ·appoint [set] as your king a foreigner who is not a ·fellow Israelite [relative; L brother]. 16 The king must not ·have too many [multiply] horses for himself [Is. 2:7–9], and he must not send people to Egypt to get more horses, because the Lord has told you, “Don’t return that way again.” 17 The king must not ·have many [multiply for himself] wives, or his heart will ·be led away [turn aside] from God [1 Kin. 11:1–13]. He must not have too much silver and gold.
18 When he ·becomes king [L sits on the throne of his kingdom], he should write a copy of ·the teachings [these laws/instructions] on a scroll for himself, a copy taken from the priests and Levites. 19 He should keep it with him all the time and read from it every day of his life. Then he will learn to ·respect [fear] the Lord his God, and he will obey all ·the teachings [these laws/instructions] and ·commands [statutes; ordinances; requirements]. 20 He should not ·think he is better than his fellow Israelites [L exalt his heart above his relatives/brothers], and he must not ·stop obeying [turn aside from] the law ·in any way [L to the right or the left] so that he and his ·descendants [sons] may rule the kingdom for a long time [2 Sam. 7:16].
Shares for Priests and Levites
18 The priests are from the tribe of Levi, and that tribe will not ·receive a share of the land [L have an allotment or inheritance] with the Israelites. They will eat the offerings made to the Lord by fire, which is their ·share [L inheritance]. 2 They will not inherit any of the land like their brothers [Num. 26:62; Josh. 13:14; 14:4–5; 21], but they will inherit the Lord himself [10:9; Ex. 32:25–29; Josh. 18:7], as he has promised them.
3 When you offer a bull or sheep as a sacrifice, you must share with the priests, giving them the shoulder, the ·cheeks [jowls], and the ·inner organs [stomach]. 4 Give them the first of your grain, new wine, and oil, as well as the first wool you cut from your sheep. 5 The Lord your God has chosen the priests and their ·descendants [sons] out of all your tribes to stand and serve ·the [L in the name of the] Lord ·always [L all their days; 33:8–11].
6 If a Levite moves from one of your ·towns [L gates] anywhere in Israel where he ·lives [resides; sojourns] and comes to the place the Lord will choose [12:4–7], because ·he wants [L his soul desires] to serve the Lord there, 7 he may serve ·the [L the name of the] Lord his God. He will be like his ·fellow [L brother] Levites who ·serve [L stand] there before the Lord. 8 They all will have an equal share of the food. That is separate from what he has received from the sale of family possessions.
Do Not Follow Other Nations
9 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, don’t learn to do the ·hateful [detestable; abhorrent; abominable] things the other nations do. 10 Don’t let anyone among you offer a son or daughter as a sacrifice in the fire [12:30–31]. Don’t let anyone use ·magic [divination; Ex. 7:11; Ezek. 21:21] or witchcraft, or ·try to explain the meaning of signs [augury or sorcery]. 11 Don’t let anyone ·try to control others with magic [cast spells], and don’t let them ·be mediums [consult/inquire of ghosts or spirits] or try to ·talk with the spirits of [consult] dead people [1 Sam. 28]. 12 The Lord ·hates [detests] anyone who does these things. Because the other nations do these things, the Lord your God will ·force [dispossess] them out of the land ahead of you. 13 But you must be ·innocent [blameless] in the presence of the Lord your God.
The Lord’s Special Prophet
14 The nations you will ·force out [dispossess] listen to people who use ·magic [divination] and witchcraft, but the Lord your God will not let you do those things. 15 The Lord your God will ·give [L raise up for] you a prophet like me, who is one of your own ·people [relatives; brothers; C ultimately Jesus]. Listen to him [Acts 3:25–26; 7:37]. 16 This is what you asked the Lord your God to do when you were ·gathered [assembled] at ·Mount Sinai [Horeb; 1:6]. You said, “Don’t make ·us [L me] listen to the voice of the Lord ·our [L my] God again, and don’t make ·us [L me] look at this ·terrible [great] fire anymore, or ·we [L I] will die [5:23–27].”
17 So the Lord said to me, “What they have said is good. 18 So I will ·give [L raise up for] them a prophet like you, who is one of their own ·people [relatives; brothers]. I will ·tell him what to say [L put my words in his mouth], and he will tell them everything I command. 19 This prophet will speak for me; anyone who does not listen when he speaks in my name will ·answer [be accountable] to me. 20 But if a prophet ·says something I did not tell him to say as though he were speaking for me [L speaks presumptuously in my name a word I did not command him to speak], or if a prophet speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must be killed [Jer. 28:15–17].”
21 You might be ·thinking [L saying in your heart/mind], “How can we know if a message is not from the Lord?” 22 If what a prophet says in the name of the Lord does not happen, it is not the Lord’s message. That prophet was speaking ·his own ideas [presumptuously]. Don’t be afraid of him.
Cities of Safety
19 When the Lord your God gives you land that belongs to the other nations, nations that he will ·destroy [cut off], you will ·force them out [dispossess them] and live in their cities and houses. 2 Then ·choose [set apart; separate] three cities in the middle of the land the Lord your God is giving you as your ·own [possession]. 3 ·Build roads to these cities [or Work out the distances], and divide the land the Lord is giving you into three parts so that someone who kills another person may run to ·these cities [L there].
4 This is the rule for someone who kills another person and runs to one of these cities in order to save his life [Ex. 21:13–14; Num. 35:6–34; Josh. 20]. But the person must have killed a neighbor ·without meaning to [accidentally; unintentionally], not out of hatred. 5 For example, suppose someone goes into the forest with a neighbor to cut wood and swings an ax to cut down a tree. If the ax head ·flies [slips] off the handle, ·hitting and killing [L finds] the neighbor, the one who killed him may run to one of these cities to save his life. 6 Otherwise, the ·dead person’s relative who has the duty of punishing a murderer [near-kinsman; L avenger of blood] might be angry and chase him. If the city is far away, the relative might ·catch [L pursue and overtake] and kill the person, even though he should not be killed because there was no intent to kill his neighbor. 7 This is why I command you to ·choose [set apart; separate] these three cities.
11 But if a person hates his neighbor and, after ·hiding and waiting [lying in wait], ·attacks [L rises up] and ·kills [L strikes] him and then runs to one of these cities for safety, 12 the elders of his own city should send for the murderer. They should bring the person back from the city of safety and hand him over to the ·relative who has the duty of punishing the murderer [near-kinsman; L avenger of blood]. 13 ·Show no mercy [L Do not let your eyes show compassion on him]. You must ·remove [banish; purge] from Israel the ·guilt of murdering [L blood of] innocent people so that things will go well for you.
14 Do not move the ·stone that marks the border [boundary marker] of your neighbor’s land, which people long ago set in place [27:17; Job 24:2–4; Prov. 23:10–11; Hos. 5:10]. It marks what you inherit in the land the Lord your God is giving you as your ·own [possession].
Rules About Witnesses
15 One witness is not enough to accuse a person of a crime or sin. A case must be proved by two or three witnesses [17:6; Num. 35:30].
16 If a witness ·lies [is malicious/unjust] and accuses a person of a crime, 17 the two people who are arguing must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and judges who are ·on duty [in office in those days]. 18 The judges must check the matter carefully. The witness who is a liar, lying about a ·fellow Israelite [relative; brother], 19 must be punished. He must be punished in the same way the ·other person [relative; brother] would have been punished. You must ·get rid of [banish; purge] the evil among you. 20 The rest of the people will hear about this and be afraid, and no one among you will ever do such an evil thing again. 21 ·Show no mercy [L Do not let your eyes show compassion on him]. A life must be paid for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot [Ex. 21:24–25; Lev. 24:17–20].
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