The Bible in Its Traditions

Deuteronomy 16:0; 17:1–20

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Thou shalt not sacrifice unto YHWH thy God an ox, or a sheep, wherein is a blemish, even any evil thing; for that is an abomination unto the YHWH thy God.

“You shall not immolate to the Lord your God a sheep or an ox, in which there is a blemish or any defect at all; for this is an abomination to the Lord your God.

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If there be found in the midst of thee, within any of thy gates which YHWH thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that doeth that which is evil in the sight of the YHWH thy God, in transgressing His covenant,

And if there should be found in any one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God gives thee, a man or a woman who shall do that which is evil before the Lord thy God, so as to transgress his covenant,

When there will have been found among you, within one of your gates which the Lord your God will give to you, a man or a woman who is doing evil in the sight of the Lord your God, and who is transgressing his covenant,

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and hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have commanded not;

and they should go and serve other gods, and worship them, the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which he commanded thee not to do,

so as to go and serve foreign gods and adore them, such as the sun and the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not instructed,

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and it be told thee, and thou hear it, then shalt thou inquire diligently, and, behold, if it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel;

and when this will have been reported to you, and, upon hearing it, if you have inquired diligently and have found it to be true, that the abomination is being done in Israel

And it is told you, and you shall hear of it, you shall inquire diligently, and if it is true that such an abomination has been committed in Israel;

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then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, who have done this evil thing, unto thy gates, even the man or the woman; and thou shalt stone them with stones, that they die.

you shall lead forward the man or the woman who has perpetrated this most wicked thing to the gates of your city, and they shall be stoned to death.

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At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is to die be put to death; at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.

He shall die on the testimony of two or three witnesses; a man who is put to death shall not be put to death for one witness.

By the mouth of two or three witnesses, he who is to be put to death shall perish. Let no one be killed with only one person speaking testimony against him.

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The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So thou shalt put away the evil from the midst of thee.

And the hand of the witnesses shall be upon him among the first to put him to death, and the hand of the people at the last; so shalt thou remove the evil one from among yourselves.

First, the hands of the witnesses shall be upon him who will be put to death, and lastly, the hands of the remainder of the people shall be sent forth. So may you take away the evil from your midst.

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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, even matters of controversy within thy gates; then shalt thou arise, and get thee up unto the place which YHWH thy God shall choose.

And if a matter shall be too hard for thee in judgement, between blood and blood, and between cause and cause, and between stroke and stroke, and between contradiction and contradiction, matters of judgement in your cities;

If you have perceived that there is among you a difficult and doubtful matter of judgment, between blood and blood, cause and cause, leprosy and leprosy, and if you will have seen that the words of the judges within your gates vary: rise up and ascend to the place which the Lord your God will choose.

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And thou shall come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days; and thou shalt inquire; and they shall declare unto thee the sentence of judgment.

then thou shalt arise and go up to the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, and thou shalt come to the priests the Levites, and to the judge who shall be in those days, and they shall search out the matter and report the judgement to thee.

And you shall approach the priests of the Levitical stock, and the judge, who shall be among them at that time, and you shall inquire of them, and they will reveal to you the truth of the judgment.

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10  And thou shalt do according to the tenor of the sentence, which they shall declare unto thee from that place which YHWH shall choose; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they shall teach thee.

10  And you shall accept whatever they will say, those who preside in the place which the Lord will choose, and whatever they will teach you,

10  And you shall do according to the decision which they of that place shall show you, as the LORD has commanded; and you shall observe to do according to all that they teach you;

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11  According to the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do; thou shalt not turn aside from the sentence which they shall declare unto thee, to the right hand, nor to the left.

11  Thou shalt do according to the law and to the judgement which they shall declare to thee: thou shalt not swerve to the right hand or to the left from any sentence which they shall report to thee.

11  in accord with his law, and you shall follow their sentence. Neither shall you turn aside to the right or to the left.

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12  And the man that doeth presumptuously, in not hearkening unto the priest that standeth to minister there before YHWH thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die; and thou shalt exterminate the evil from Israel.

12  And the man whosoever shall act in haughtiness, so as not to hearken to the priest who stands to minister in the name of the Lord thy God, or the judge who shall preside in those days, that man shall die, and thou shalt remove the evil one out of Israel.

12  But whoever will be arrogant, unwilling to obey the order of the priest who ministers at that time to the Lord your God, and the decree of the judge, that man shall die. And so shall you take away the evil from Israel.

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

13  And when the people hear about this, they shall be afraid, so that no one, from that time on, will swell with pride.

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

14  When you will have entered into the land which the Lord your God will give to you, and you possess it, and you live in it, and you say, ‘I will appoint a king over me, just as all the surrounding nations have done,’

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15  thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom YHWH thy God shall choose; one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee; thou mayest not put a foreigner over thee, who is not thy brother.

15  you shall appoint him whom the Lord your God will choose from among the number of your brothers. You cannot make a man of another people king, one who is not your brother.

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16  Only 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 YHWH hath said unto you: 'Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.'

16  For he shall not multiply to himself horses, and he shall by no means turn the people back to Egypt, lest he should multiply to himself horses; for the Lord said, Ye shall not any more turn back by that way.

16  And when he will have been appointed king, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor lead the people back into Egypt, having been exalted by the number of his horsemen, especially since the Lord has instructed you never to return along the same way.

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

17  And he shall not multiply to himself wives, lest his heart turn away; and he shall not greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

17  He shall not have many wives, who might allure his mind, and he shall not have immense weights of silver and gold.

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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.

18  And when he shall be established in his government, then shall he write for himself this repetition of the law into a book by the hands of the priests the Levites;

18  Then, after he has been seated upon the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself the Deuteronomy of this law in a volume, using a copy from the priests of the Levitical tribe.

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

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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.

20  And so may his heart not become exalted with arrogance over his brothers, nor turn aside to the right or to the left, so that he and his sons may reign for a long time over Israel.”