The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 No ox or sheep which has a mark on it or is damaged in any way may be offered to the Lord your God: for that is disgusting to the Lord your God.
1
"Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God cattle or sheep that have any defects; the Lord hates this.
2 If there is any man or woman among you, in any of the towns which the Lord your God gives you, who does evil in the eyes of the Lord your God, sinning against his agreement,
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 becoming a servant of other gods and worshipping them or the sun or the moon or all the stars of heaven, against my orders;
3
by worshiping and serving other gods or the sun or the moon or the stars, contrary to the Lord's command.
4 If word of this comes to your ears, then let this thing be looked into with care, and if there is no doubt that it is true, and such evil has been done in Israel;
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 you are to take the man or woman who has done the evil to the public place of your town, and they are to be stoned with stones till they are dead.
5
then take them outside the town and stone them to death.
6 On the word of two or three witnesses, a man may be given the punishment of death; but he is not to be put to death on the word of one witness.
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 hands of the witnesses will be the first to put him to death, and after them the hands of all the people. So you are to put away the evil from among you.
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 If you are not able to give a decision as to who is responsible for a death, or who is right in a cause, or who gave the first blow in a fight, and there is a division of opinion about it in your town: then go to the place marked out by the Lord your God;
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 come before the priests, the Levites, or before him who is judge at the time: and they will go into the question and give you a decision:
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 And you are to be guided by the decision they give in the place named by the Lord, and do whatever they say:
10
They will give their decision, and you are to do exactly as they tell you.
11 Acting in agreement with their teaching and the decision they give: not turning to one side or the other from the word they have given you.
11
Accept their verdict and follow their instructions in every detail.
12 And any man who, in his pride, will not give ear to the priest whose place is there before the Lord your God, or to the judge, is to be put to death: you are to put away the evil from Israel.
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 And all the people, hearing of it, will be full of fear and put away their pride.
13
Then everyone will hear of it and be afraid, and no one else will dare to act in such a way.
14 When you have come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and have taken it for a heritage and are living in it, if it is your desire to have a king over you, like the other nations round about you;
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 Then see that you take as your king the man named by the Lord your God: let your king be one of your countrymen, not a man of another nation who is not one of yourselves.
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 And he is not to get together a great army of horses for himself, or make the people go back to Egypt to get horses for him: because the Lord has said, You will never again go back that way.
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 And he is not to have a great number of wives, for fear that his heart may be turned away; or great wealth of silver and gold.
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 And when he has taken his place on the seat of his kingdom, he is to make in a book a copy of this law, from that which the priests, the Levites, have in their care:
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 And it is to be with him for his reading all the days of his life, so that he may be trained in the fear of the Lord his God to keep and do all the words of this teaching and these laws:
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 So that his heart may not be lifted up over his countrymen, and he may not be turned away from the orders, to one side or the other: but that his life and the lives of his children may be long in his kingdom in Israel.
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.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.