Chapter 17
1; You shall not sacrifice to YAHWEH your Elohim an ox or sheep in which there is a blemish, any evil thing, for it is a hateful thing to YAHWEH your Elohim.
2; When there is found among you, in one of your gates which YAHWEH your Elohim is giving to you, a man or woman who does that which is evil in the sight of YAHWEH your Elohim, in transgressing His covenant,
3; and has gone and served other gods, and worshiped them; or the sun, or the moon, or of the host of the heavens, which I have not instructed;
4; and it has been revealed to you, and you have heard, and searching have searched; and, behold, it is true; and the thing is confirmed, that this hateful thing has been done in Israel,
5; then you shall bring out to your gates that man or that woman who has done this evil thing, the man or the woman; and you shall stone them with stones, and they shall die.
6; At the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses shall he that is to die be put to death. He shall not be put to death at the mouth of one witness.
7; The hand of the witnesses shall be first on him, to put him to death; and the hand of all the people last. And you shall cut off the evil from among you.
8; If a matter is too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between cause and cause, or between stroke and stroke, matters of strife within your gates, then you shall rise and go up to the place which YAHWEH your Elohim shall choose.
9; And you shall come in to the priest, of the Levites, and to the judge who is in those days, and shall inquire. And they shall declare the word of judgment to you.
10; And you shall do according to the word which they declare to you from that place which YAHWEH shall choose. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they direct you.
11; You shall do according to the mouth of the Torah which they direct you, and according to the judgment which they deliver to you. You shall not turn aside from the word which they declare to you, right or left.
12; And the man who acts with pride so as not to listen to the priest who is standing to serve YAHWEH your Elohim there, or to the judge, even that man shall die; and you shall cut off the evil from Israel.
13; And all the people shall hear, and rever, and shall not presume any more.
14; When you come into the land which YAHWEH your Elohim is giving to you, and have possessed it, and settled in it; and you shall say, Let me set a king over me like all the nations around me,
15; then you shall certainly set a king over you. You may not give an alien the rule over you, one who is not your brother.
16; Only, he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to turn back to Egypt so as to multiply horses, since YAHWEH has said to you, You shall not again return in this way any more.
17; And he shall not multiply wives to himself, and his heart shall not turn aside. And he shall not greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
18; And it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this Torah in a book, from before the priests, the Levites.
19; And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to rever YAHWEH your Elohim, to keep all the Words of this Torah and these statutes, to do them;
20; so that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the mitzvot, to the right or to the left; so that he may prolong his days over his kingdom, he and his sons in the midst of Israel.
Chapter 18
1; The priests, the Levites, all the tribe of Levi shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They shall eat fire offerings of YAHWEH, even His inheritance.
2; And he shall have no inheritance among his brothers. YAHWEH Himself is his inheritance, as He has spoken to him.
3; And this shall be the priest's due from the people, from those that offer a sacrifice, whether an ox or sheep, that they shall give to the priest the leg, and the two cheeks, and the stomach,
4; the first of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your flock, you shall give to him.
5; For YAHWEH your Elohim has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to serve in the name of YAHWEH, he and his sons continually.
6; And if a Levite comes from one of your gates of all Israel, where he has been living, and comes with all the desire of his soul to the place which YAHWEH shall choose,
7; then he shall serve in the name of YAHWEH his Elohim, as all his brothers the Levites who stand before YAHWEH do.
8; They shall eat portion like portion, except of the sales of what belonged to his father.
9; When you come to the land which YAHWEH your Elohim is giving to you, you shall not learn to do according to the hateful acts of those nations.
10; There shall not be found in you one who passes his son or his daughter through the fire, one that uses divination, an observer of clouds, or one fortune-telling, or a spell caster,
11; or a magic charmer, or one consulting spirits, or a wizard, or one communicating with the dead.
12; For all doing these things are an abomination to YAHWEH. And because of these filthy acts YAHWEH your Elohim is expelling these nations before you.
13; You shall be perfect with YAHWEH your Elohim.
14; For these nations whom you shall expel listen to observers of clouds, and to those divining. But as to you, your Elohim has not given to you to do so.
15; YAHWEH your Elohim shall raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, one like me; you shall listen to him,
16; according to all that you desired of YAHWEH your Elohim in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me
not hear again the voice of YAHWEH my Elohim, nor let me see this great fire any more, lest I die.
17; And YAHWEH said to me, They have spoken well, what they have said.
18; I shall raise up a prophet to them from among their brothers, one like you; and I will put My Words in his mouth; and he shall speak to them all that I shall instruct him.
19; And it shall be, whoever will not listen to My Words which he shall speak in My name, I will require it at his hand.
20; But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, that which I have not instructed him to speak, and who speaks in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
21; And if you say in your heart, How shall we know the word which YAHWEH has not spoken?
22; When a prophet speaks in the name of YAHWEH, if the thing does not happen or come about, that is the thing which YAHWEH has not spoken; that prophet has spoken it proudly; you shall not be afraid of him.
Chapter 19
1; When YAHWEH your Elohim shall cut off the nations whose land YAHWEH your Elohim is giving to you, and when you dispossess them, and live in their cities, and in their houses,
2; you shall separate three cities for you in the midst of your land, which YAHWEH your Elohim is giving you to possess it.
3; You shall prepare the way for yourself, and shall divide into three parts the border of your land which YAHWEH your Elohim shall cause you to inherit, so that every manslayer may flee there.
4; And this is the case of the man- slayer who shall flee there, that he may live: whoever strikes his neighbor without knowing, and has not hated him yesterday and the day before;
5; even he who goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand brings a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the iron head slips from the wood and finds his neighbor so that he dies; he shall flee to one of these cities, and shall live;
6; that the avenger of blood not pursue the manslayer when his heart is hot, and shall overtake him because the way is long, and shall strike him so as to die, and he had no sentence of death, for he did not hate him yesterday or the day before.
7; On account of this I am instructing you, saying, You shall separate to yourself three cities.
8; And if YAHWEH your Elohim shall enlarge your border, as He has sworn to your fathers, and shall give to you all the land which He has spoken to give to your fathers,
9; if you will keep these mitzvot which I am instructing you today, to love YAHWEH your Elohim, and to walk in His ways forever, then you shall add to yourself another three cities to these three.
10; And innocent blood shall not be shed in the midst of your land, which YAHWEH your Elohim is giving to you as an inheritance, and there be blood on you.
11; And if a man hates his neighbor, and lies in wait for him, and rises up against him, and strikes his life from him, so that he dies, and flees to one of these cities,
12; then the elders of his city shall send and bring from him there, and give him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.
13; Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away the innocent blood from Israel, and it shall be well with you.
14; You may not remove your neighbor's landmark, which those formerly have set in your inheritance, which you shall inherit in the land which YAHWEH your Elohim is giving you, to possess it.
15; One witness shall not rise against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin which he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses a thing shall be established.
16; If a vicious witness rises up against any man to charge apostasy against him,
17; then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before YAHWEH, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days.
18; And the judges shall carefully investigate and, behold, if the witness is a false witness, and he has testified falsely against his brother,
19; then you shall do to him as he plotted to do to his brother. And you shall put away the evil from among you.
20; And those who remain shall hear and rever, and thereafter shall not add to commit any such evil among you.
21; And your eye shall not pity; life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Chapter 20
1; When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots, a people more than you, you shall not be afraid of them. For YAHWEH your Elohim is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
2; And it shall be, when you draw near to battle, the priest shall come and speak to the people,
3; and say to them. Hear, Israel, you are drawing near today to battle against your enemies. Do not let your heart be faint; do not fear nor tremble, nor be terrified before their faces.
4; For YAHWEH your Elohim is He who is going before you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
5; And the officers shall speak to the people, saying, Who is the man that has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, that he not die in battle and another man dedicate it.
6; And who is the man that has planted a vineyard, and has not used its fruit? Let him go and return to his house, that he not die in battle, and another man use its fruit.
7; And who is the man who has betrothed a woman, and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house, that he not die in the battle, and another man take her.
8; And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, Who is the man who is afraid, and faint of heart? Let him go and return to his house; then the heart of his brothers will not melt like his heart.
9; And it shall be, when the officers have finished speaking to the people, commanders of the armies shall be appointed at the head of the people.
10; When you come near a city to fight against it, then call to it for peace.
11; And it shall be, if it answers peace to you, and shall open to you, then it shall be that all the people found in it shall be forced laborers for you, and shall serve you.
12; And if it shall not make peace with you, and shall make war with you, then you shall lay siege against it.
13; And YAHWEH your Elohim shall give it into your hand; and you shall strike every male of it by the mouth of the sword.
14; Only, the women, and the little ones, and the livestock, and all in the city, all its plunder, you shall seize for yourself. And you shall eat the plunder of your enemies which YAHWEH your Elohim has given to you.
15; So you shall do to all the cities very far away from you, which are not of the cities of these nations.
16; But of the cities of these peoples which YAHWEH your Elohim is giving to you as an inheritance, you shall not keep alive any that breathes.
17; But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as YAHWEH your Elohim has instructed you;
18; so that they may not teach you to do according to all their filthy deeds which they have done for their elohim; and you would sin against YAHWEH your Elohim.
19; When you shall lay siege to a city many days, to fight against it, to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees in order to force an axe against them. For you shall eat of them, and you shall not cut them down; for is the tree of the field a man, that it should be used by you to lay siege?
20; Only the tree which you know not to be a fruit tree, you may destroy it, and may cut it down, and may build a bulwark against the city making war with you, until you have subdued it.
Chapter 21
1; If one is found slain in the land which YAHWEH your Elohim is giving to you, to possess it, lying in the field, and it is not known who has struck him;
2; then your elders and your judges shall come out. And they shall measure to the cities which are around the one slain.
3; And it shall be, that the city nearest to the one slain, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked with, and which has not drawn in the yoke.
4; And the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to an ever- flowing stream, which is not plowed nor sown. And they shall break the heifer's neck there by the stream.
5; And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near and by their mouth shall every controversy and every stroke be tried.
6; And all the elders of that city nearest to the one slain shall wash their hands by the stream, over the heifer whose neck was broken.
7; And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen it.
8; O YAHWEH, be merciful to Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not allow innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them.
9; And you shall put away the innocent blood from among you, for you shall do that which is right in the eyes of YAHWEH.
10; When you go out to battle against your enemies, and YAHWEH your Elohim has given them into your hands, and you have taken them captive;
11; and you have seen in the captivity a woman of beautiful form, and you desire her, even to take her to you for a wife,
12; then you shall bring her into the midst of your household. And she shall shave her head, and prepare her nails,
13; and shall remove the clothing of her captivity from her, and shall live in your house, and shall sorrow for her father and her mother a month of days. Then afterwards you shall go in to her, and shall marry her; and she shall be a wife to you.
14; And it shall be, if you do not delight in her, you shall send her away at her desire; and you shall not at all sell her for silver; you shall not treat her as a slave, because you have humbled her.
15; If a man has two wives, the one loved, and the other hated; and they have borne him sons, both the loved one and the hated one; and if the firstborn son was of her who was hated,
16; then it shall be, in the day that he causes his sons to inherit that which is his, he is not able to cause to inherit the first-born son of the one loved before the first-born son of the one hated, who is truly the first-born.
17; But he shall respect the first-born, the son of the hated one, by giving him a double portion of all that he has; for he is the first-fruit of his strength, the right of the first-born is his.
18; If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not listen to his father's voice, or his mother's voice; even though they discipline him, he will not listen to them;
19; then his father and his mother shall lay hold on him and bring him out to the elders of his city, and to the gate of his place;
20; and they shall say to the elders of his city, This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not listen to our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.
21; And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, and he shall die. So you shall put away the evil from among you that all Israel shall hear, and rever.
22; And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang him on a tree,
23; his body shall not remain all night on the tree; but surely, you shall bury him the same day. For he that is hanged is a reproach to Elohim. And you shall not defile your land which YAHWEH your Elohim is giving to you as an inheritance.
Chapter 22
1; You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep driven away, and hide yourself from them. surely you shall return them back to your brother.
2; And if your brother is not near you, and you do not know him, then you shall surely bring it home to your house; and it shall be with you until your brother inquires of it; and you shall restore it to him.
3; And so you shall do with his donkey, and so you will do with his clothing, and so you shall do with everything lost of your brother's, which he has lost and you have found; you may not hide it.
4; You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen down in the highway, and hide yourself from them. Surely, you shall help him lift it up.
5; There shall not be the thing of a man on a woman, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment. For whoever does these things is an abomination to YAHWEH your Elohim.
6; If a bird's nest happens to be before you in the way in any tree, or on the ground, with young ones, or eggs; and the mother is sitting on the young, or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young.
7; But in every case you shall let the mother go, and take the young for yourself, so that it may be well with you, and you may prolong your days.
8; When you build a new house, then you shall make a guardrail for your roof, so that you do not put blood on your house if someone falls from it.
9; You shall not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seeds, that the fruit of your seed which you have sown and the fruit of your vineyard not be defiled.
10; You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.
11; You shall not wear a garment of different kinds, of wool and linen together.
12; You shall make for yourself tassels on the four corners of your cloak which you cover with.
13; If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and hates her,
14; then makes against her shameful charges, and brings up an evil name on her, and says, I took this woman, and when I came near her, I did not find in her the tokens of virginity.
15; Then the girl's father and her mother shall take and bring the girl's tokens of virginity to the elders of the city in the gate.
16; And the girl's father shall say to the elders, I have given my daughter to this man for a wife, and he hates her.
17; And, behold, he has laid shameful charges, saying, I have not found in your daughter the tokens of virginity. And yet see these tokens of my daughter's virginity. And they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city.
18; And the elders of that city shall take that man and punish him.
19; And they shall fine him a hundred pieces of silver, and give them to the girl's father, because he has brought an evil name on a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.
20; But if this thing is true that tokens of virginity have not been found for the girl,
21; then they shall bring out the girl to the door of her father's house. And the men of her city shall stone her with stones, and she shall die; for she has done folly in Israel, to commit fornication in her father's house. And you shall put away the evil from among you.
22; If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die, the man that lay with the woman, and the woman. And you shall put away the evil from Israel.
23; If there is a girl that is a virgin, betrothed to a man, and a man finds her in the city, and they commit fornication together,
24; then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city. And you shall stone them with stones so that they die, the girl because she did not cry out, being in the city; and the man, because he has humbled his neighbor's wife. And you shall put away the evil from among you.
25; But if a man finds a betrothed girl in the field, and the man forces her and lies with her; then only the man that lay with her shall die.
26; And you shall do nothing to the girl; the girl has no sin worthy of death; for as when a man rises against his neighbor and murders him, even so is this matter.
27; For he found her in the field, and the betrothed girl cried out, but no one saved her.
28; If a man finds a virgin girl, not being betrothed, and manipulates her and commits fornication with her, and they be found;
29; then the man lying with her shall give to the girl's father fifty pieces of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has humbled her. He may not put her away all his days.
30; A man shall not take his father's wife, and shall not uncover his father's skirt.