Deuteronomy 1; Deuteronomy 7; Deuteronomy 9; Deuteronomy 10; Deuteronomy 14; Deuteronomy 15; Deuteronomy 16; Deuteronomy 17; Deuteronomy 18; Deuteronomy 19; Deuteronomy 20; Deuteronomy 21; Deuteronomy 22; Deuteronomy 23; Deuteronomy 24; Deuteronomy 25; Deuteronomy 30

Deuteronomy 1

1 In this book are the words that Moses spoke to the people of Israel when they were in the wilderness east of the Jordan River. They were in the Jordan Valley near Suph, between the town of Paran on one side and the towns of Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab on the other

2 (It takes eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea by way of the hill country of Edom.)

3 On the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year after they had left Egypt, Moses told the people everything the Lord had commanded him to tell them.

4 This was after the Lord had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in the town of Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan, who ruled in the towns of Ashtaroth and Edrei.

5 It was while the people were east of the Jordan in the territory of Moab that Moses began to explain God's laws and teachings. He said,

6 "When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, "You have stayed long enough at this mountain.

7 Break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the surrounding regions - to the Jordan Valley, to the hill country and the lowlands, to the southern region, and to the Mediterranean coast. Go to the land of Canaan and on beyond the Lebanon Mountains as far as the great Euphrates River.

8 All of this is the land which I, the Lord, promised to give to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants. Go and occupy it.' "

9 Moses said to the people, "While we were still at Mount Sinai, I told you, "The responsibility for leading you is too much for me. I can't do it alone.

10 The Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

11 May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, make you increase a thousand times more and make you prosperous, as he promised!

12 But how can I alone bear the heavy responsibility for settling your disputes?

13 Choose some wise, understanding, and experienced men from each tribe, and I will put them in charge of you.'

14 And you agreed that this was a good thing to do.

15 So I took the wise and experienced leaders you chose from your tribes, and I placed them in charge of you. Some were responsible for a thousand people, some for a hundred, some for fifty, and some for ten. I also appointed other officials throughout the tribes.

16 "At that time I instructed them, "Listen to the disputes that come up among your people. Judge every dispute fairly, whether it concerns only your own people or involves foreigners who live among you.

17 Show no partiality in your decisions; judge everyone on the same basis, no matter who they are. Do not be afraid of anyone, for the decisions you make come from God. If any case is too difficult for you, bring it to me, and I will decide it.'

18 At the same time I gave you instructions for everything else you were to do.

19 "We did what the Lord our God commanded us. We left Mount Sinai and went through that vast and fearful desert on the way to the hill country of the Amorites. When we reached Kadesh Barnea,

20 I told you, "You have now come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God, the God of our ancestors, is giving us. Look, there it is. Go and occupy it as he commanded. Do not hesitate or be afraid.'

22 "But you came to me and said, "Let's send men ahead of us to spy out the land, so that they can tell us the best route to take and what kind of cities are there.'

23 "That seemed like a good thing to do, so I selected twelve men, one from each tribe.

24 They went into the hill country as far as Eshcol Valley and explored it.

25 They brought us back some fruit they found there, and reported that the land which the Lord our God was giving us was very fertile.

26 "But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God, and you would not enter the land.

27 You grumbled to one another: "The Lord hates us. He brought us out of Egypt just to hand us over to these Amorites, so that they could kill us.

28 Why should we go there? We are afraid. The men we sent tell us that the people there are stronger and taller than we are, and that they live in cities with walls that reach the sky. They saw giants there!'

29 "But I told you, "Don't be afraid of those people.

30 The Lord your God will lead you, and he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt

31 and in the desert. You saw how he brought you safely all the way to this place, just as a father would carry his son.'

32 But in spite of what I said, you still would not trust the Lord,

33 even though he always went ahead of you to find a place for you to camp. To show you the way, he went in front of you in a pillar of fire by night and in a pillar of cloud by day.

34 "The Lord heard your complaints and became angry, and so he solemnly declared,

35 "Not one of you from this evil generation will enter the fertile land that I promised to give your ancestors.

36 Only Caleb son of Jephunneh will enter it. He has remained faithful to me, and I will give him and his descendants the land that he has explored.'

37 Because of you the Lord also became angry with me and said, "Not even you, Moses, will enter the land.

38 But strengthen the determination of your helper, Joshua son of Nun. He will lead Israel to occupy the land.'

39 "Then the Lord said to all of us, "Your children, who are still too young to know right from wrong, will enter the land - the children you said would be seized by your enemies. I will give the land to them, and they will occupy it.

40 But as for you people, turn around and go back into the desert on the road to the Gulf of Aqaba.'

41 "You replied, "Moses, we have sinned against the Lord. But now we will attack, just as the Lord our God commanded us.' Then each one of you got ready to fight, thinking it would be easy to invade the hill country.

42 "But the Lord said to me, "Warn them not to attack, for I will not be with them, and their enemies will defeat them.'

43 I told you what the Lord had said, but you paid no attention. You rebelled against him, and in your pride you marched into the hill country.

44 Then the Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you like a swarm of bees. They chased you as far as Hormah and defeated you there in the hill country of Edom.

45 So you cried out to the Lord for help, but he would not listen to you or pay any attention to you.

46 "So then, after we had stayed at Kadesh for a long time,

Deuteronomy 7

1 "The Lord your God will bring you into the land that you are going to occupy, and he will drive many nations out of it. As you advance, he will drive out seven nations larger and more powerful than you: the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

2 When the Lord your God places these people in your power and you defeat them, you must put them all to death. Do not make an alliance with them or show them any mercy.

3 Do not marry any of them, and do not let your children marry any of them,

4 because then they would lead your children away from the Lord to worship other gods. If that happens, the Lord will be angry with you and destroy you at once.

5 So then, tear down their altars, break their sacred stone pillars in pieces, cut down their symbols of the goddess Asherah, and burn their idols.

6 Do this because you belong to the Lord your God. From all the peoples on earth he chose you to be his own special people.

7 "The Lord did not love you and choose you because you outnumbered other peoples; you were the smallest nation on earth.

8 But the Lord loved you and wanted to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors. That is why he saved you by his great might and set you free from slavery to the king of Egypt.

9 Remember that the Lord your God is the only God and that he is faithful. He will keep his covenant and show his constant love to a thousand generations of those who love him and obey his commands,

10 but he will not hesitate to punish those who hate him.

11 Now then, obey what you have been taught; obey all the laws that I have given you today.

12 "If you listen to these commands and obey them faithfully, then the Lord your God will continue to keep his covenant with you and will show you his constant love, as he promised your ancestors.

13 He will love you and bless you, so that you will increase in number and have many children; he will bless your fields, so that you will have grain, wine, and olive oil; and he will bless you by giving you many cattle and sheep. He will give you all these blessings in the land that he promised your ancestors he would give to you.

14 No people in the world will be as richly blessed as you. None of you nor any of your livestock will be sterile.

15 The Lord will protect you from all sickness, and he will not bring on you any of the dreadful diseases that you experienced in Egypt, but he will bring them on all your enemies.

16 Destroy every nation that the Lord your God places in your power, and do not show them any mercy. Do not worship their gods, for that would be fatal.

17 "Do not tell yourselves that these peoples outnumber you and that you cannot drive them out.

18 Do not be afraid of them; remember what the Lord your God did to the king of Egypt and to all his people.

19 Remember the terrible plagues that you saw with your own eyes, the miracles and wonders, and the great power and strength by which the Lord your God set you free. In the same way that he destroyed the Egyptians, he will destroy all these people that you now fear.

20 He will even cause panic among them and will destroy those who escape and go into hiding.

21 So do not be afraid of these people. The Lord your God is with you; he is a great God and one to be feared.

22 Little by little he will drive out these nations as you advance. You will not be able to destroy them all at once, for, if you did, the number of wild animals would increase and be a threat to you.

23 The Lord will put your enemies in your power and make them panic until they are destroyed.

24 He will put their kings in your power. You will kill them, and they will be forgotten. No one will be able to stop you; you will destroy everyone.

25 Burn their idols. Do not desire the silver or gold that is on them, and do not take it for yourselves. If you do, that will be fatal, because the Lord hates idolatry.

26 Do not bring any of these idols into your homes, or the same curse will be on you that is on them. You must hate and despise these idols, because they are under the Lord's curse.

Deuteronomy 9

1 "Listen, people of Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan River and occupy the land belonging to nations greater and more powerful than you. Their cities are large, with walls that reach the sky.

2 The people themselves are tall and strong; they are giants, and you have heard it said that no one can stand against them.

3 But now you will see for yourselves that the Lord your God will go ahead of you like a raging fire. He will defeat them as you advance, so that you will drive them out and destroy them quickly, as he promised.

4 "After the Lord your God has driven them out for you, do not say to yourselves that he brought you in to possess this land because you deserved it. No, the Lord is going to drive these people out for you because they are wicked.

5 It is not because you are good and do what is right that the Lord is letting you take their land. He will drive them out because they are wicked and because he intends to keep the promise that he made to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

6 You can be sure that the Lord is not giving you this fertile land because you deserve it. No, you are a stubborn people.

7 "Never forget how you made the Lord your God angry in the desert. From the day that you left Egypt until the day you arrived here, you have rebelled against him.

8 Even at Mount Sinai you made the Lord angry - angry enough to destroy you.

9 I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets on which was written the covenant that the Lord had made with you. I stayed there forty days and nights and did not eat or drink anything.

10 Then the Lord gave me the two stone tablets on which he had written with his own hand what he had said to you from the fire on the day that you were gathered there at the mountain.

11 Yes, after those forty days and nights the Lord gave me the two stone tablets on which he had written the covenant.

12 "Then the Lord said to me, "Go down the mountain at once, because your people, whom you led out of Egypt, have become corrupt and have done evil. They have already turned away from what I commanded them to do, and they have made an idol for themselves.'

13 "The Lord also said to me, "I know how stubborn these people are.

14 Don't try to stop me. I intend to destroy them so that no one will remember them any longer. Then I will make you the father of a nation larger and more powerful than they are.'

15 "So I turned and went down the mountain, carrying the two stone tablets on which the covenant was written. Flames of fire were coming from the mountain.

16 I saw that you had already disobeyed the command that the Lord your God had given you, and that you had sinned against him by making yourselves a metal idol in the form of a bull-calf.

17 So there in front of you I threw the stone tablets down and broke them to pieces.

18 Then once again I lay face downward in the Lord's presence for forty days and nights and did not eat or drink anything. I did this because you had sinned against the Lord and had made him angry.

19 I was afraid of the Lord's fierce anger, because he was furious enough to destroy you; but once again the Lord listened to me.

20 The Lord was also angry enough with Aaron to kill him, so I prayed for Aaron at the same time.

21 I took that sinful thing that you had made - that metal bull-calf - and threw it into the fire. Then I broke it in pieces, ground it to dust, and threw the dust into the stream that flowed down the mountain.

22 "You also made the Lord your God angry when you were at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth Hattaavah.

23 And when he sent you from Kadesh Barnea with orders to go and take possession of the land that he was giving you, you rebelled against him; you did not trust him or obey him.

24 Ever since I have known you, you have rebelled against the Lord.

25 "So I lay face downward in the Lord's presence those forty days and nights, because I knew that he was determined to destroy you.

26 And I prayed, "Sovereign Lord, don't destroy your own people, the people you rescued and brought out of Egypt by your great strength and power.

27 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and do not pay any attention to the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of this people.

28 Otherwise, the Egyptians will say that you were unable to take your people into the land that you had promised them. They will say that you took your people out into the desert to kill them, because you hated them.

29 After all, these are the people whom you chose to be your own and whom you brought out of Egypt by your great power and might.'

Deuteronomy 10

1 "Then the Lord said to me, "Cut two stone tablets like the first ones and make a wooden Box to put them in. Come up to me on the mountain,

2 and I will write on those tablets what I wrote on the tablets that you broke, and then you are to put them in the Box.'

3 "So I made a Box of acacia wood and cut two stone tablets like the first ones and took them up the mountain.

4 Then the Lord wrote on those tablets the same words that he had written the first time, the Ten Commandments that he gave you when he spoke from the fire on the day you were gathered at the mountain. The Lord gave me the tablets,

5 and I turned and went down the mountain. Then, just as the Lord had commanded, I put them in the Box that I had made - and they have been there ever since."

6 (The Israelites set out from the wells that belonged to the people of Jaakan, and went to Moserah. There Aaron died and was buried, and his son Eleazar succeeded him as priest.

7 From there they went to Gudgodah and then on to Jotbathah, a well-watered place.

8 At the mountain the Lord appointed the men of the tribe of Levi to be in charge of the Covenant Box, to serve him as priests, and to pronounce blessings in his name. And these are still their duties.

9 That is why the tribe of Levi received no land as the other tribes did; what they received was the privilege of being the Lord's priests, as the Lord your God promised.)

10 "I stayed on the mountain forty days and nights, as I did the first time. The Lord listened to me once more and agreed not to destroy you.

11 Then he told me to go and lead you, so that you could take possession of the land that he had promised to give to your ancestors.

12 "Now, people of Israel, listen to what the Lord your God demands of you: Worship the Lord and do all that he commands. Love him, serve him with all your heart,

13 and obey all his laws. I am giving them to you today for your benefit.

14 To the Lord belong even the highest heavens; the earth is his also, and everything on it.

15 But the Lord's love for your ancestors was so strong that he chose you instead of any other people, and you are still his chosen people.

16 So then, from now on be obedient to the Lord and stop being stubborn.

17 The Lord your God is supreme over all gods and over all powers. He is great and mighty, and he is to be obeyed. He does not show partiality, and he does not accept bribes.

18 He makes sure that orphans and widows are treated fairly; he loves the foreigners who live with our people, and gives them food and clothes.

19 So then, show love for those foreigners, because you were once foreigners in Egypt.

20 Have reverence for the Lord your God and worship only him. Be faithful to him and make your promises in his name alone.

21 Praise him - he is your God, and you have seen with your own eyes the great and astounding things that he has done for you.

22 When your ancestors went to Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Deuteronomy 14

1 "You are the people of the Lord your God. So when you mourn for the dead, don't gash yourselves or shave the front of your head, as other people do.

2 You belong to the Lord your God; he has chosen you to be his own people from among all the peoples who live on earth.

3 "Do not eat anything that the Lord has declared unclean.

4 You may eat these animals: cattle, sheep, goats,

5 deer, wild sheep, wild goats, or antelopes -

6 any animals that have divided hoofs and that also chew the cud.

7 But no animals may be eaten unless they have divided hoofs and also chew the cud. You may not eat camels, rabbits, or rock badgers. They must be considered unclean; they chew the cud but do not have divided hoofs.

8 Do not eat pigs. They must be considered unclean; they have divided hoofs but do not chew the cud. Do not eat any of these animals or even touch their dead bodies.

9 "You may eat any kind of fish that has fins and scales,

10 but anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales may not be eaten; it must be considered unclean.

11 "You may eat any clean bird.

12 But these are the kinds of birds you are not to eat: eagles, owls, hawks, falcons; buzzards, vultures, crows; ostriches; seagulls, storks, herons, pelicans, cormorants; hoopoes; and bats.

19 "All winged insects are unclean; do not eat them.

20 You may eat any clean insect.

21 "Do not eat any animal that dies a natural death. You may let the foreigners who live among you eat it, or you may sell it to other foreigners. But you belong to the Lord your God; you are his people. "Do not cook a young sheep or goat in its mother's milk.

22 "Set aside a tithe - a tenth of all that your fields produce each year.

23 Then go to the one place where the Lord your God has chosen to be worshiped; and there in his presence eat the tithes of your grain, wine, and olive oil, and the first-born of your cattle and sheep. Do this so that you may learn to honor the Lord your God always.

24 If the place of worship is too far from your home for you to carry there the tithe of the produce that the Lord has blessed you with, then do this:

25 Sell your produce and take the money with you to the one place of worship.

26 Spend it on whatever you want - beef, lamb, wine, beer - and there, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families are to eat and enjoy yourselves.

27 "Do not neglect the Levites who live in your towns; they have no property of their own.

28 At the end of every third year bring the tithe of all your crops and store it in your towns.

29 This food is for the Levites, since they own no property, and for the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your towns. They are to come and get all they need. Do this, and the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

Deuteronomy 15

1 "At the end of every seventh year you are to cancel the debts of those who owe you money.

2 This is how it is to be done. Each of you who has lent money to any Israelite is to cancel the debt; you must not try to collect the money; the Lord himself has declared the debt canceled.

3 You may collect what a foreigner owes you, but you must not collect what any of your own people owe you.

4 "The Lord your God will bless you in the land that he is giving you. Not one of your people will be poor

5 if you obey him and carefully observe everything that I command you today.

6 The Lord will bless you, as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations, but you will not have to borrow from any; you will have control over many nations, but no nation will have control over you.

7 "If in any of the towns in the land that the Lord your God is giving you there are Israelites in need, then do not be selfish and refuse to help them.

8 Instead, be generous and lend them as much as they need.

9 Do not refuse to lend them something, just because the year when debts are canceled is near. Do not let such an evil thought enter your mind. If you refuse to make the loan, they will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be held guilty.

10 Give to them freely and unselfishly, and the Lord will bless you in everything you do.

11 There will always be some Israelites who are poor and in need, and so I command you to be generous to them.

12 "If any Israelites, male or female, sell themselves to you as slaves, you are to release them after they have served you for six years. When the seventh year comes, you must let them go free.

13 When you set them free, do not send them away empty-handed.

14 Give to them generously from what the Lord has blessed you with - sheep, grain, and wine.

15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God set you free; that is why I am now giving you this command.

16 "But your slave may not want to leave; he may love you and your family and be content to stay.

17 Then take him to the door of your house and there pierce his ear; he will then be your slave for life. Treat your female slave in the same way.

18 Do not be resentful when you set slaves free; after all, they have served you for six years at half the cost of hired servants. Do this, and the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.

19 "Set aside for the Lord your God all the first-born males of your cattle and sheep; don't use any of these cattle for work and don't shear any of these sheep.

20 Each year you and your family are to eat them in the Lord's presence at the one place of worship.

21 But if there is anything wrong with the animals, if they are crippled or blind or have any other serious defect, you must not sacrifice them to the Lord your God.

22 You may eat such animals at home. All of you, whether ritually clean or unclean, may eat them, just as you eat deer or antelope.

23 But do not use their blood for food; instead, you must pour it out on the ground like water.

Deuteronomy 16

1 "Honor the Lord your God by celebrating Passover in the month of Abib; it was on a night in that month that he rescued you from Egypt.

2 Go to the one place of worship and slaughter there one of your sheep or cattle for the Passover meal to honor the Lord your God.

3 When you eat this meal, do not eat bread prepared with yeast. For seven days you are to eat bread prepared without yeast, as you did when you had to leave Egypt in such a hurry. Eat this bread - it will be called the bread of suffering - so that as long as you live you will remember the day you came out of Egypt, that place of suffering.

4 For seven days no one in your land is to have any yeast in the house; and the meat of the animal killed on the evening of the first day must be eaten that same night.

5 "Slaughter the Passover animals at the one place of worship - and nowhere else in the land that the Lord your God will give you. Do it at sunset, the time of day when you left Egypt.

7 Boil the meat and eat it at the one place of worship; and the next morning return home.

8 For the next six days you are to eat bread prepared without yeast, and on the seventh day assemble to worship the Lord your God, and do no work on that day.

9 "Count seven weeks from the time that you begin to harvest the grain,

10 and then celebrate the Harvest Festival, to honor the Lord your God, by bringing him a freewill offering in proportion to the blessing he has given you.

11 Be joyful in the Lord's presence, together with your children, your servants, and the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your towns. Do this at the one place of worship.

12 Be sure that you obey these commands; do not forget that you were slaves in Egypt.

13 "After you have threshed all your grain and pressed all your grapes, celebrate the Festival of Shelters for seven days.

14 Enjoy it with your children, your servants, and the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your towns.

15 Honor the Lord your God by celebrating this festival for seven days at the one place of worship. Be joyful, because the Lord has blessed your harvest and your work.

16 "All the men of your nation are to come to worship the Lord three times a year at the one place of worship: at Passover, Harvest Festival, and the Festival of Shelters. Each man is to bring a gift

17 as he is able, in proportion to the blessings that the Lord your God has given him.

18 "Appoint judges and other officials in every town that the Lord your God gives you. These men are to judge the people impartially.

19 They are not to be unjust or show partiality in their judgments; and they are not to accept bribes, for gifts blind the eyes even of wise and honest men, and cause them to give wrong decisions.

20 Always be fair and just, so that you will occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you and so that you will continue to live there.

21 "When you make an altar for the Lord your God, do not put beside it a wooden symbol of the goddess Asherah.

22 And do not set up any stone pillar for idol worship; the Lord hates them.

Deuteronomy 17

1 "Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God cattle or sheep that have any defects; the Lord hates this.

2 "Suppose you hear that in one of your towns some men or women have sinned against the Lord and broken his covenant

3 by worshiping and serving other gods or the sun or the moon or the stars, contrary to the Lord's command.

4 If you hear such a report, then investigate it thoroughly. If it is true that this evil thing has happened in Israel,

5 then take them outside the town and stone them to death.

6 However, they may be put to death only if two or more witnesses testify against them; they are not to be put to death if there is only one witness.

7 The witnesses are to throw the first stones, and then the rest of the people are to stone them; in this way you will get rid of this evil.

8 "It may be that some cases will be too difficult for the local judges to decide, such as certain cases of property rights or of bodily injury or those cases that involve a distinction between murder and manslaughter. When this happens, go to the one place of worship chosen by the Lord your God,

9 and present your case to the levitical priests and to the judge who is in office at that time, and let them decide the case.

10 They will give their decision, and you are to do exactly as they tell you.

11 Accept their verdict and follow their instructions in every detail.

12 Anyone who dares to disobey either the judge or the priest on duty is to be put to death; in this way you will remove this evil from Israel.

13 Then everyone will hear of it and be afraid, and no one else will dare to act in such a way.

14 "After you have taken possession of the land that the Lord your God is going to give you and have settled there, then you will decide you need a king like all the nations around you.

15 Be sure that the man you choose to be king is the one whom the Lord has chosen. He must be one of your own people; do not make a foreigner your king.

16 The king is not to have a large number of horses for his army, and he is not to send people to Egypt to buy horses, because the Lord has said that his people are never to return there.

17 The king is not to have many wives, because this would make him turn away from the Lord; and he is not to make himself rich with silver and gold.

18 When he becomes king, he is to have a copy of the book of God's laws and teachings made from the original copy kept by the levitical priests.

19 He is to keep this book near him and read from it all his life, so that he will learn to honor the Lord and to obey faithfully everything that is commanded in it.

20 This will keep him from thinking that he is better than other Israelites and from disobeying the Lord's commands in any way. Then he will reign for many years, and his descendants will rule Israel for many generations.

Deuteronomy 18

1 "The priestly tribe of Levi is not to receive any share of land in Israel; instead, they are to live on the offerings and other sacrifices given to the Lord.

2 They are to own no land, as the other tribes do; their share is the privilege of being the Lord's priests, as the Lord has promised.

3 "Whenever cattle or sheep are sacrificed, the priests are to be given the shoulder, the jaw, and the stomach.

4 They are to receive the first share of the grain, wine, olive oil, and wool.

5 The Lord chose from all your tribes the tribe of Levi to serve him as priests forever.

6 "Any Levite who wants to may come from any town in Israel to the one place of worship

7 and may serve there as a priest of the Lord his God, like the other Levites who are serving there.

8 He is to receive the same amount of food as the other priests, and he may keep whatever his family sends him.

9 "When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, don't follow the disgusting practices of the nations that are there.

10 Don't sacrifice your children in the fires on your altars; and don't let your people practice divination or look for omens or use spells

11 or charms, and don't let them consult the spirits of the dead.

12 The Lord your God hates people who do these disgusting things, and that is why he is driving those nations out of the land as you advance.

13 Be completely faithful to the Lord."

14 Then Moses said, "In the land you are about to occupy, people follow the advice of those who practice divination and look for omens, but the Lord your God does not allow you to do this.

15 Instead, he will send you a prophet like me from among your own people, and you are to obey him.

16 "On the day that you were gathered at Mount Sinai, you begged not to hear the Lord speak again or to see his fiery presence any more, because you were afraid you would die.

17 So the Lord said to me, "They have made a wise request.

18 I will send them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will tell him what to say, and he will tell the people everything I command.

19 He will speak in my name, and I will punish anyone who refuses to obey him.

20 But if any prophet dares to speak a message in my name when I did not command him to do so, he must die for it, and so must any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods.'

21 "You may wonder how you can tell when a prophet's message does not come from the Lord.

22 If a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord and what he says does not come true, then it is not the Lord's message. That prophet has spoken on his own authority, and you are not to fear him.

Deuteronomy 19

1 "After the Lord your God has destroyed the people whose land he is giving you and after you have taken their cities and houses and settled there,

2 divide the territory into three parts, each with a city that can be easily reached. Then any of you that kill will be able to escape to one of them for protection.

4 If you accidentally kill someone who is not your enemy, you may escape to any of these cities and be safe.

5 For example, if two of you go into the forest together to cut wood and if, as one of you is chopping down a tree, the ax head comes off the handle and kills the other, you can run to one of those three cities and be safe.

6 If there were only one city, the distance to it might be too great, and the relative who is responsible for taking revenge for the killing might catch you and angrily kill an innocent person. After all, it was by accident that you killed someone who was not your enemy.

7 This is why I order you to set aside three cities.

8 "When the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he told your ancestors he would, and gives you all the land he has promised,

9 then you are to select three more cities. (He will give you this land if you do everything that I command you today and if you love the Lord your God and live according to his teachings.)

10 Do this, so that innocent people will not die and so that you will not be guilty of putting them to death in the land that the Lord is giving you.

11 "But suppose you deliberately murder your enemy in cold blood and then escape to one of those cities for protection.

12 In that case, the leaders of your own town are to send for you and hand you over to the relative responsible for taking revenge for the murder, so that you may be put to death.

13 No mercy will be shown to you. Israel must rid itself of murderers, so that all will go well.

14 "Do not move your neighbor's property line, established long ago in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

15 "One witness is not enough to convict someone of a crime; at least two witnesses are necessary to prove that someone is guilty.

16 If any of you try to harm another by false accusations,

17 both of you are to go to the one place of worship and be judged by the priests and judges who are then in office.

18 The judges will investigate the case thoroughly; and if you have made a false accusation,

19 you are to receive the punishment the accused would have received. In this way your nation will get rid of this evil.

20 Then everyone else will hear what happened; they will be afraid, and no one will ever again do such an evil thing.

21 In such cases show no mercy; the punishment is to be a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot.

Deuteronomy 20

1 "When you go out to fight against your enemies and you see chariots and horses and an army that outnumbers yours, do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who rescued you from Egypt, will be with you.

2 Before you start fighting, a priest is to come forward and say to the army,

3 "Men of Israel, listen! Today you are going into battle. Do not be afraid of your enemies or lose courage or panic.

4 The Lord your God is going with you, and he will give you victory.'

5 "Then the officers will address the men and say, "Is there any man here who has just built a house, but has not yet dedicated it? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, if he is killed in battle, someone else will dedicate his house.

6 Is there any man here who has just planted a vineyard, but has not yet had the chance to harvest its grapes? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, if he is killed in battle, someone else will enjoy the wine.

7 Is there anyone here who is engaged to be married? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, if he is killed in battle, someone else will marry the woman he is engaged to.'

8 "The officers will also say to the men, "Is there any man here who has lost his nerve and is afraid? If so, he is to go home. Otherwise, he will destroy the morale of the others.'

9 When the officers have finished speaking to the army, leaders are to be chosen for each unit.

10 "When you go to attack a city, first give its people a chance to surrender.

11 If they open the gates and surrender, they are all to become your slaves and do forced labor for you.

12 But if the people of that city will not surrender, but choose to fight, surround it with your army.

13 Then, when the Lord your God lets you capture the city, kill every man in it.

14 You may, however, take for yourselves the women, the children, the livestock, and everything else in the city. You may use everything that belongs to your enemies. The Lord has given it to you.

15 That is how you are to deal with those cities that are far away from the land you will settle in.

16 "But when you capture cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, kill everyone.

17 Completely destroy all the people: the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord ordered you to do.

18 Kill them, so that they will not make you sin against the Lord by teaching you to do all the disgusting things that they do in the worship of their gods.

19 "When you are trying to capture a city, do not cut down its fruit trees, even though the siege lasts a long time. Eat the fruit, but do not destroy the trees; the trees are not your enemies.

20 You may cut down the other trees and use them in the siege mounds until the city is captured.

Deuteronomy 21

1 "Suppose someone is found murdered in a field in the land that the Lord your God is going to give you, and you do not know who killed him.

2 Your leaders and judges are to go out and measure the distance from the place where the body was found to each of the nearby towns.

3 Then the leaders of the town nearest to where the body was found are to select a young cow that has never been used for work.

4 They are to take it down to a spot near a stream that never runs dry and where the ground has never been plowed or planted, and there they are to break its neck.

5 The levitical priests are to go there also, because they are to decide every legal case involving violence. The Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name.

6 Then all the leaders from the town nearest the place where the murdered person was found are to wash their hands over the cow

7 and say, "We did not murder this one, and we do not know who did it.

8 Lord, forgive your people Israel, whom you rescued from Egypt. Forgive us and do not hold us responsible for the murder of an innocent person.'

9 And so, by doing what the Lord requires, you will not be held responsible for the murder.

10 "When the Lord your God gives you victory in battle and you take prisoners,

11 you may see among them a beautiful woman that you like and want to marry.

12 Take her to your home, where she will shave her head, cut her fingernails,

13 and change her clothes. She is to stay in your home and mourn for her parents for a month; after that, you may marry her.

14 Later, if you no longer want her, you are to let her go free. Since you forced her to have intercourse with you, you cannot treat her as a slave and sell her.

15 "Suppose a man has two wives and they both bear him sons, but the first son is not the child of his favorite wife.

16 When the man decides how he is going to divide his property among his children, he is not to show partiality to the son of his favorite wife by giving him the share that belongs to the first-born son.

17 He is to give a double share of his possessions to his first son, even though he is not the son of his favorite wife. A man must acknowledge his first son and give him the share he is legally entitled to.

18 "Suppose someone has a son who is stubborn and rebellious, a son who will not obey his parents, even though they punish him.

19 His parents are to take him before the leaders of the town where he lives and make him stand trial.

20 They are to say to them, "Our son is stubborn and rebellious and refuses to obey us; he wastes money and is a drunkard.'

21 Then the men of the city are to stone him to death, and so you will get rid of this evil. Everyone in Israel will hear what has happened and be afraid.

22 "If someone has been put to death for a crime and the body is hung on a post,

23 it is not to remain there overnight. It must be buried the same day, because a dead body hanging on a post brings God's curse on the land. Bury the body, so that you will not defile the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Deuteronomy 22

1 "If you see an Israelite's cow or sheep running loose, do not ignore it; take it back.

2 But if its owner lives a long way off or if you don't know who owns it, then take it home with you. When its owner comes looking for it, give it to him.

3 Do the same thing if you find a donkey, a piece of clothing, or anything else that an Israelite may have lost.

4 "If an Israelite's donkey or cow has fallen down, don't ignore it; help him get the animal to its feet again.

5 "Women are not to wear men's clothing, and men are not to wear women's clothing; the Lord your God hates people who do such things.

6 "If you happen to find a bird's nest in a tree or on the ground with the mother bird sitting either on the eggs or with her young, you are not to take the mother bird.

7 You may take the young birds, but you must let the mother bird go, so that you will live a long and prosperous life.

8 "When you build a new house, be sure to put a railing around the edge of the roof. Then you will not be responsible if someone falls off and is killed.

9 "Do not plant any crop in the same field with your grapevines; if you do, you are forbidden to use either the grapes or the produce of the other crop.

10 "Do not hitch an ox and a donkey together for plowing.

11 "Do not wear cloth made by weaving wool and linen together.

12 "Sew tassels on the four corners of your clothes.

13 "Suppose a man marries a young woman and later he decides he doesn't want her.

14 So he makes up false charges against her, accusing her of not being a virgin when they got married.

15 "If this happens, the young woman's parents are to take the blood-stained wedding sheet that proves she was a virgin, and they are to show it in court to the town leaders.

16 Her father will say to them, "I gave my daughter to this man in marriage, and now he doesn't want her.

17 He has made false charges against her, saying that she was not a virgin when he married her. But here is the proof that my daughter was a virgin; look at the bloodstains on the wedding sheet!'

18 Then the town leaders are to take the husband and beat him.

19 They are also to fine him a hundred pieces of silver and give the money to the young woman's father, because the man has brought disgrace on an Israelite woman. Moreover, she will continue to be his wife, and he can never divorce her as long as he lives.

20 "But if the charge is true and there is no proof that she was a virgin,

21 then they are to take her out to the entrance of her father's house, where the men of her city are to stone her to death. She has done a shameful thing among our people by having intercourse before she was married, while she was still living in her father's house. In this way you will get rid of this evil.

22 "If a man is caught having intercourse with another man's wife, both of them are to be put to death. In this way you will get rid of this evil.

23 "Suppose a man is caught in a town having intercourse with a young woman who is engaged to someone else.

24 You are to take them outside the town and stone them to death. She is to die because she did not cry out for help, although she was in a town, where she could have been heard. And the man is to die because he had intercourse with someone who was engaged. In this way you will get rid of this evil.

25 "Suppose a man out in the countryside rapes a young woman who is engaged to someone else. Then only the man is to be put to death;

26 nothing is to be done to the woman, because she has not committed a sin worthy of death. This case is the same as when one man attacks another man and murders him.

27 The man raped the engaged woman in the countryside, and although she cried for help, there was no one to help her.

28 "Suppose a man is caught raping a young woman who is not engaged.

29 He is to pay her father the bride price of fifty pieces of silver, and she is to become his wife, because he forced her to have intercourse with him. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

30 "No man is to disgrace his father by having intercourse with any of his father's wives.

Deuteronomy 23

1 "No man who has been castrated or whose penis has been cut off may be included among the Lord's people.

2 "No one born out of wedlock or any descendant of such a person, even in the tenth generation, may be included among the Lord's people.

3 "No Ammonite or Moabite - or any of their descendants, even in the tenth generation - may be included among the Lord's people.

4 They refused to provide you with food and water when you were on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor, from the city of Pethor in Mesopotamia, to curse you.

5 But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam; instead he turned the curse into a blessing, because he loved you.

6 As long as you are a nation, never do anything to help these nations or to make them prosperous.

7 "Do not despise the Edomites; they are your relatives. And do not despise the Egyptians; you once lived in their land.

8 From the third generation onward their descendants may be included among the Lord's people.

9 "When you are in camp in time of war, you are to avoid anything that would make you ritually unclean.

10 If a man becomes unclean because he has had a wet dream during the night, he is to go outside the camp and stay there.

11 Toward evening he is to wash himself, and at sunset he may come back into camp.

12 "You are to have a place outside the camp where you can go when you need to relieve yourselves.

13 Carry a stick as part of your equipment, so that when you have a bowel movement you can dig a hole and cover it up.

14 Keep your camp ritually clean, because the Lord your God is with you in your camp to protect you and to give you victory over your enemies. Do not do anything indecent that would cause the Lord to turn his back on you

15 "If slaves run away from their owners and come to you for protection, do not send them back.

16 They may live in any of your towns that they choose, and you are not to treat them harshly.

17 "No Israelite, man or woman, is to become a temple prostitute.

18 Also, no money earned in this way may be brought into the house of the Lord your God in fulfillment of a vow. The Lord hates temple prostitutes.

19 "When you lend money or food or anything else to Israelites, do not charge them interest.

20 You may charge interest on what you lend to foreigners, but not on what you lend to Israelites. Obey this rule, and the Lord your God will bless everything you do in the land that you are going to occupy.

21 "When you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not put off doing what you promised; the Lord will hold you to your vow, and it is a sin not to keep it.

22 It is no sin not to make a vow to the Lord,

23 but if you make one voluntarily, be sure that you keep it.

24 "When you walk along a path in someone else's vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but you must not carry any away in a container.

25 When you walk along a path in someone else's grainfield, you may eat all the grain you can pull off with your hands, but you must not cut any grain with a sickle.

Deuteronomy 24

1 "Suppose a man marries a woman and later decides that he doesn't want her, because he finds something about her that he doesn't like. So he writes out divorce papers, gives them to her, and sends her away from his home.

2 Then suppose she marries another man,

3 and he also decides that he doesn't want her, so he also writes out divorce papers, gives them to her, and sends her away from his home. Or suppose her second husband dies.

4 In either case, her first husband is not to marry her again; he is to consider her defiled. If he married her again, it would be offensive to the Lord. You are not to commit such a terrible sin in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

5 "When a man is newly married, he is not to be drafted into military service or any other public duty; he is to be excused from duty for one year, so that he can stay at home and make his wife happy.

6 "When you lend someone something, you are not to take as security his millstones used for grinding his grain. This would take away the family's means of preparing food to stay alive.

7 "If any of you kidnap Israelites and make them your slaves or sell them into slavery, you are to be put to death. In this way your nation will get rid of this evil.

8 "When you are suffering from a dreaded skin disease, be sure to do exactly what the levitical priests tell you; follow the instructions that I have given them.

9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam as you were coming from Egypt.

10 "When you lend someone something, do not go into his house to get the garment he is going to give you as security;

11 wait outside and let him bring it to you himself.

12 If he is poor, do not keep it overnight;

13 return it to him each evening, so that he can have it to sleep in. Then he will be grateful, and the Lord your God will be pleased with you.

14 "Do not cheat poor and needy hired servants, whether they are Israelites or foreigners living in one of your towns.

15 Each day before sunset pay them for that day's work; they need the money and have counted on getting it. If you do not pay them, they will cry out against you to the Lord, and you will be guilty of sin.

16 "Parents are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their children, and children are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their parents; people are to be put to death only for a crime they themselves have committed.

17 "Do not deprive foreigners and orphans of their rights; and do not take a widow's garment as security for a loan.

18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God set you free; that is why I have given you this command.

19 "When you gather your crops and fail to bring in some of the grain that you have cut, do not go back for it; it is to be left for the foreigners, orphans, and widows, so that the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

20 When you have picked your olives once, do not go back and get those that are left; they are for the foreigners, orphans, and widows.

21 When you have gathered your grapes once, do not go back over the vines a second time; the grapes that are left are for the foreigners, orphans, and widows.

22 Never forget that you were slaves in Egypt; that is why I have given you this command.

Deuteronomy 25

1 "Suppose two Israelites go to court to settle a dispute, and one is declared innocent and the other guilty.

2 If the guilty one is sentenced to be beaten, the judge is to make him lie face downward and have him whipped. The number of lashes will depend on the crime he has committed.

3 He may be given as many as forty lashes, but no more; more than that would humiliate him publicly.

4 "Do not muzzle an ox when you are using it to thresh grain.

5 "If two brothers live on the same property and one of them dies, leaving no son, then his widow is not to be married to someone outside the family; it is the duty of the dead man's brother to marry her.

6 The first son that they have will be considered the son of the dead man, so that his family line will continue in Israel.

7 But if the dead man's brother does not want to marry her, she is to go before the town leaders and say, "My husband's brother will not do his duty; he refuses to give his brother a descendant among the people of Israel.'

8 Then the town leaders are to summon him and speak to him. If he still refuses to marry her,

9 his brother's widow is to go up to him in the presence of the town leaders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face, and say, "This is what happens to the man who refuses to give his brother a descendant.'

10 His family will be known in Israel as "the family of the man who had his sandal pulled off.'

11 "If two men are having a fight and the wife of one tries to help her husband by grabbing hold of the other man's genitals,

12 show her no mercy; cut off her hand.

13 "Do not cheat when you use weights and measures.

15 Use true and honest weights and measures, so that you may live a long time in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

16 The Lord hates people who cheat.

17 "Remember what the Amalekites did to you as you were coming from Egypt.

18 They had no fear of God, and so they attacked you from the rear when you were tired and exhausted, and killed all who were straggling behind.

19 So then, when the Lord your God has given you the land and made you safe from all your enemies who live around you, be sure to kill all the Amalekites, so that no one will remember them any longer. Do not forget!

Deuteronomy 30

1 "I have now given you a choice between a blessing and a curse. When all these things have happened to you, and you are living among the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you, you will remember the choice I gave you.

2 If you and your descendants will turn back to the Lord and with all your heart obey his commands that I am giving you today,

3 then the Lord your God will have mercy on you. He will bring you back from the nations where he has scattered you, and he will make you prosperous again.

4 Even if you are scattered to the farthest corners of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you together and bring you back,

5 so that you may again take possession of the land where your ancestors once lived. And he will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your ancestors ever were.

6 The Lord your God will give you and your descendants obedient hearts, so that you will love him with all your heart, and you will continue to live in that land.

7 He will turn all these curses against your enemies, who hated you and oppressed you,

8 and you will again obey him and keep all his commands that I am giving you today.

9 The Lord will make you prosperous in all that you do; you will have many children and a lot of livestock, and your fields will produce abundant crops. He will be as glad to make you prosperous as he was to make your ancestors prosperous,

10 but you will have to obey him and keep all his laws that are written in this book of his teachings. You will have to turn to him with all your heart.

11 "The command that I am giving you today is not too difficult or beyond your reach.

12 It is not up in the sky. You do not have to ask, "Who will go up and bring it down for us, so that we can hear it and obey it?'

13 Nor is it on the other side of the ocean. You do not have to ask, "Who will go across the ocean and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and obey it?'

14 No, it is here with you. You know it and can quote it, so now obey it.

15 "Today I am giving you a choice between good and evil, between life and death.

16 If you obey the commands of the Lord your God, which I give you today, if you love him, obey him, and keep all his laws, then you will prosper and become a nation of many people. The Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are about to occupy.

17 But if you disobey and refuse to listen, and are led away to worship other gods,

18 you will be destroyed - I warn you here and now. You will not live long in that land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy.

19 I am now giving you the choice between life and death, between God's blessing and God's curse, and I call heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Choose life.

20 Love the Lord your God, obey him and be faithful to him, and then you and your descendants will live long in the land that he promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."