Law Courts

If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge(A)—whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults(B)—take them to the place the Lord your God will choose.(C) Go to the Levitical(D) priests and to the judge(E) who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict.(F) 10 You must act according to the decisions they give you at the place the Lord will choose. Be careful to do everything they instruct you to do. 11 Act according to whatever 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.(G) 12 Anyone who shows contempt(H) for the judge or for the priest who stands ministering(I) there to the Lord your God is to be put to death.(J) You must purge the evil from Israel.(K) 13 All the people will hear and be afraid, and will not be contemptuous again.(L)

The King

14 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession(M) of it and settled in it,(N) and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,”(O) 15 be sure to appoint(P) over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites.(Q) Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. 16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses(R) for himself(S) or make the people return to Egypt(T) to get more of them,(U) for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”(V) 17 He must not take many wives,(W) or his heart will be led astray.(X) He must not accumulate(Y) large amounts of silver and gold.(Z)

18 When he takes the throne(AA) of his kingdom, he is to write(AB) for himself on a scroll a copy(AC) of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life(AD) so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees(AE) 20 and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law(AF) to the right or to the left.(AG) Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.(AH)

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If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose;

And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment:

10 And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the Lord shall choose shall shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee:

11 According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left.

12 And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.

13 And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.

14 When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;

15 Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.

16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.

17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:

19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:

20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

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(A)“If a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge, between degrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the (B)place which the Lord your God chooses. And (C)you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and (D)to the judge there in those days, and inquire of them; (E)they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment. 10 You shall do according to the sentence which they pronounce upon you in that place which the Lord chooses. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they order you. 11 According to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you, according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce upon you. 12 Now (F)the man who acts presumptuously and will not heed the priest who stands to minister there before the Lord your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall put away the evil from Israel. 13 (G)And all the people shall hear and fear, and no longer act presumptuously.

Principles Governing Kings

14 “When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, (H)‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you shall surely set a king over you (I)whom the Lord your God chooses; one (J)from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 But he shall not multiply (K)horses for himself, nor cause the people (L)to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for (M)the Lord has said to you, (N)‘You shall not return that way again.’ 17 Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and (O)gold for himself.

18 “Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one (P)before the priests, the Levites. 19 And (Q)it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 that his heart may not [a]be lifted above his brethren, that he (R)may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may [b]prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 17:20 become proud
  2. Deuteronomy 17:20 continue long in his kingdom

28 “Do not blaspheme God[a](A) or curse(B) the ruler of your people.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 22:28 Or Do not revile the judges

28 Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.

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28 (A)“You shall not revile God, nor curse a (B)ruler of your people.

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Judges

18 Appoint judges(A) and officials for each of your tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly.(B)

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18 Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

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Justice Must Be Administered

18 “You shall appoint (A)judges and officers in all your [a]gates, which the Lord your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 16:18 towns

Laws of Justice and Mercy

23 “Do not spread false reports.(A) Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.(B)

“Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice(C) by siding with the crowd,(D)

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23 Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

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Justice for All

23 “You (A)shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an (B)unrighteous witness. (C)You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; (D)nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice.

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Have nothing to do with a false charge(A) and do not put an innocent(B) or honest person to death,(C) for I will not acquit the guilty.(D)

“Do not accept a bribe,(E) for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.

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Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.

And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.

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(A)Keep yourself far from a false matter; (B)do not kill the innocent and righteous. For (C)I will not justify the wicked. And (D)you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.

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15 “‘Do not pervert justice;(A) do not show partiality(B) to the poor or favoritism to the great,(C) but judge your neighbor fairly.(D)

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15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

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15 ‘You shall do no injustice in (A)judgment. You shall not (B)be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.

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16 Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.(A)

17 Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless(B) of justice,(C) or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt(D) and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.

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16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

17 Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge:

18 But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee to do this thing.

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16 (A)“Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin.

17 (B)“You shall not pervert justice due the stranger or the fatherless, (C)nor take a widow’s garment as a pledge. 18 But (D)you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this thing.

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19 Do not pervert justice(A) or show partiality.(B) Do not accept a bribe,(C) for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent. 20 Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.

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19 Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.

20 That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

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19 (A)You shall not pervert justice; (B)you shall not [a]show partiality, (C)nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and [b]twists the words of the righteous. 20 You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may (D)live and inherit the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 16:19 Lit. regard faces
  2. Deuteronomy 16:19 perverts

20 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.(A)

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20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.

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20 (A)‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

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