17:1 Do not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect or flaw in it, for that would be detestable to him.
17:2 If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the LORD gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the LORD your God in violation of his covenant,
17:3 and contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars of the sky,
17:4 and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel,
17:5 take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death.
17:6 On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.
17:7 The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from among you.
17:8 If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge–whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults–take them to the place the LORD your God will choose.
17:9 Go to the priests, who are Levites, and to the judge who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict.
17:10 You must act according to the decisions they give you at the place the LORD will choose. Be careful to do everything they direct you to do.
17:11 Act according to the law they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left.
17:12 The man who shows contempt for the judge or for the priest who stands ministering there to the LORD your God must be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel.
17:13 All the people will hear and be afraid, and will not be contemptuous again.
17:14 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,”
17:15 be sure to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite.
17:16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”
17:17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.
17:18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites.
17:19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees
17:20 and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.
17:1 You shall not sacrifice to Jehovah your God any ox or sheep in which there is a blemish, anything seriously wrong, for that is an abomination to Jehovah your God.
17:2 If there is found in your midst, within any of your gates which Jehovah your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of Jehovah your God by transgressing His covenant,
17:3 And has gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, that is, to the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded you to do;
17:4 And it is told to you and you hear of it; then you shall investigate thoroughly. And if indeed the thing is true and certain ? this abomination has been done in Israel ?
17:5 Then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil thing, to your gates, that very man or woman, and you shall stone them with stones so that they die.
17:6 At the word of two witnesses or three witnesses shall he who is to die be put to death; he shall not be put to death at the word of only one witness.
17:7 The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. Thus you shall utterly remove the evil from your midst.
17:8 If a case is too complicated for you to judge between one kind of homicide and another, or between one kind of civil suit and another, or between one kind of assault and another, being disputed cases within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which Jehovah your God will choose;
17:9 And you shall come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is presiding in those days and investigate the matter; and they shall declare to you the sentence of judgment.
17:10 And you shall do according to the word of the sentence that they declare to you from that place which Jehovah will choose; and you shall be certain to do according to all that they instruct you.
17:11 You shall do according to the word of the instruction with which they instruct you and according to the judgment which they speak to you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left from the sentence that they declare to you.
17:12 And the man who acts presumptuously by not listening to the priest who stands to minister there before Jehovah your God, or to the judge, that man shall die. Thus you shall utterly remove the evil from Israel.
17:13 And all the people will hear and will fear, and they will not act presumptuously anymore.
17:14 When you enter the land which Jehovah your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it, and you say, I will set a king over me like all the nations which surround me;
17:15 You must set a king over you whom Jehovah your God will choose; from among your brothers you shall set a king over you; you may not put a foreigner, who is not your brother, over you.
17:16 However, he shall not amass horses to himself, and he shall not turn the people back to Egypt so that he may amass horses, since Jehovah has said to you, You shall never again return that way.
17:17 And he shall not amass wives to himself, so that his heart does not turn aside; nor shall he amass silver and gold to himself in great amounts.
17:18 And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write out for himself a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the Levitical priests.
17:19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, in order that he may learn to fear Jehovah his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes and doing them,
17:20 So that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers and he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right or to the left; that he and his sons may extend their days over their kingdom in the midst of Israel.