(KJV) Deuteronomy 17¹

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⥃Detestable Sacrifices

[1] Thou shalt² not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God [any] bullock, or sheep³, wherein is blemish, [or] any evilfavouredness: for that⁴ [is] an abomination unto the Lord thy God.⁵

⥃Purge the Idolater

[2] [¶]If there be found among you, within any of thy gates⁶ which the Lord thy God giveth thee, man⁷ or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy God, in transgressing⁸ his covenant, [3] And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun⁹, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which¹⁰ I have not commanded; [4] And it be told thee, and thou hast heard [of it], and enquired¹¹ diligently, and, behold, [it be] true, [and] the thing certain, [that] such abomination is wrought in Israel: [5] Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, [even] that man or that woman, and shalt stone them¹² with stones, till they die. [6] At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; [but] at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.¹³ [7] The hands of the witnesses¹⁴ shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou¹⁵ shalt put the evil away from among you.

⥃Courts of Law

[8] If there arise¹⁶ a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood¹⁷ 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 up¹⁸ into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose; [9] And thou shalt come unto the priests¹⁹ the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall²⁰ 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:²¹ [11] According to²² 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 right²³ hand, nor [to] the left. [12] And the man that will do²⁴ presumptuously, and will not hearken²⁵ unto the priest²⁶ that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man²⁷ shall die: and thou shalt²⁸ put away the evil from Israel. [13] And all the people shall hear²⁹, and fear, and do no more presumptuously³⁰.

⥃Guidelines for a King ^{[ 1 Samuel 8:1–9 ]}

[14] When thou³¹ 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 set³² a king over me, like as all the nations that [are] about me; [15] Thou shalt in any wise set [him] king over thee, whom³³ the Lord thy God shall choose: [one] from among³⁴ thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set³⁵ a stranger over thee, which [is] not thy brother. [16] But he shall not multiply horses³⁶ to himself, nor cause³⁷ the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth³⁸ return no more that way. [17] Neither shall he multiply wives³⁹ to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he⁴⁰ greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. [18] And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall⁴¹ write him a copy⁴² of this law in a book out of [that which⁴³ 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:⁴⁴ [20] That his heart⁴⁵ be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn⁴⁶ not aside from the commandment, [to] the right hand⁴⁷, or [to] the left: to the end that he⁴⁸ may prolong [his] days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

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