Deuteronomy 18-21

Deuteronomy 18

¹‘There is not to the priests the Levites -- all the tribe of Levi -- a portion and inheritance with Israel; fire-offerings of Jehovah, even His inheritance, they eat,

²and he hath no inheritance in the midst of his brethren; Jehovah Himself is his inheritance, as He hath spoken to him.

³‘And this is the priest's right from the people, from those sacrificing a sacrifice, whether ox or sheep, he hath even given to the priest the leg, and the two cheeks, and the stomach;

⁴the first of thy corn, of thy new wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy flock, thou dost give to him;

⁵for on him hath Jehovah thy God fixed, out of all thy tribes, to stand to serve in the name of Jehovah, He and his sons continually.

⁶‘And when the Levite cometh from one of thy cities out of all Israel, where he hath sojourned, and hath come with all the desire of his soul unto the place which Jehovah doth choose,

⁷then he hath ministered in the name of Jehovah his God, like all his brethren, the Levites, who are standing there before Jehovah,

⁸portion as portion they do eat, apart from his sold things, with the fathers.

⁹‘When thou art coming in unto the land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, thou dost not learn to do according to the abominations of those nations:

¹⁰there is not found in thee one causing his son and his daughter to pass over into fire, a user of divinations, an observer of clouds, and an enchanter, and a sorcerer,

¹¹and a charmer, and one asking at a familiar spirit, and a wizard, and one seeking unto the dead.

¹²‘For the abomination of Jehovah is every one doing these, and because of these abominations is Jehovah thy God dispossessing them from thy presence.

¹³Perfect thou art with Jehovah thy God,

¹⁴for these nations whom thou art possessing, unto observers of clouds, and unto diviners, do hearken; and thou -- not so hath Jehovah thy God suffered thee.

¹⁵‘A prophet out of thy midst, out of thy brethren, like to me, doth Jehovah thy God raise up to thee -- unto him ye hearken;

¹⁶according to all that thou didst ask from Jehovah thy God, in Horeb, in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not add to hear the voice of Jehovah my God, and this great fire let me not see any more, and I die not;

¹⁷and Jehovah saith unto me, They have done well that they have spoken;

¹⁸a prophet I raise up to them, out of the midst of their brethren, like to thee; and I have given my words in his mouth, and he hath spoken unto them all that which I command him;

¹⁹and it hath been -- the man who doth not hearken unto My words which he doth speak in My name, I require it of him.

²⁰‘Only, the prophet who presumeth to speak a word in My name -- that which I have not commanded him to speak -- and who speaketh in the name of other gods -- even that prophet hath died.

²¹‘And when thou sayest in thy heart, How do we know the word which Jehovah hath not spoken? --

²²that which the prophet speaketh in the name of Jehovah, and the thing is not, and cometh not -- it is the word which Jehovah hath not spoken; in presumption hath the prophet spoken it; -- thou art not afraid of him.

Deuteronomy 19

¹‘When Jehovah thy God doth cut off the nations, whose land Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, and thou hast succeeded them, and dwelt in their cities, and in their houses,

²three cities thou dost separate for thee in the midst of thy land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to possess it.

³Thou dost prepare for thee the way, and hast divided into three parts the border of thy land which Jehovah thy God doth cause thee to inherit, and it hath been for the fleeing thither of every man-slayer.

⁴‘And this is the matter of the man-slayer who fleeth thither, and hath lived: He who smiteth his neighbour unknowingly, and is not hating him heretofore,

⁵even he who cometh in with his neighbour into a forest to hew wood, and his hand hath driven with an axe to cut the tree, and the iron hath slipped from the wood, and hath met his neighbour, and he hath died -- he doth flee unto one of these cities, and hath lived,

⁶lest the redeemer of blood pursue after the man-slayer when his heart is hot, and hath overtaken him (because the way is great), and hath smitten him -- the life, and he hath no sentence of death, for he is not hating him heretofore;

⁷therefore I am commanding thee, saying, Three cities thou dost separate to thee.

⁸‘And if Jehovah thy God doth enlarge thy border, as He hath sworn to thy fathers, and hath given to thee all the land which He hath spoken to give to thy fathers --

⁹when thou keepest all this command to do it, which I am commanding thee to-day, to love Jehovah thy God, and to walk in His ways all the days -- then thou hast added to thee yet three cities to these three;

¹⁰and innocent blood is not shed in the midst of thy land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee -- an inheritance, and there hath been upon thee blood.

¹¹‘And when a man is hating his neighbour, and hath lain in wait for him, and risen against him, and smitten him -- the life, and he hath died, and he hath fled unto one of these cities,

¹²then the elders of his city have sent and taken him from thence, and given him into the hand of the redeemer of blood, and he hath died;

¹³thine eye hath no pity on him, and thou hast put away the innocent blood from Israel, and it is well with thee.

¹⁴‘Thou dost not remove a border of thy neighbour, which they of former times have made, in thine inheritance, which thou dost inherit in the land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to possess it.

¹⁵‘One witness doth not rise against a man for any iniquity, and for any sin, in any sin which he sinneth; by the mouth of two witnesses, or by the mouth of three witnesses, is a thing established.

¹⁶‘When a violent witness doth rise against a man, to testify against him apostacy,

¹⁷then have both the men who have the strife stood before Jehovah, before the priests and the judges who are in those days,

¹⁸and the judges have searched diligently, and lo, the witness is a false witness, a falsehood he hath testified against his brother:

¹⁹‘Then ye have done to him as he devised to do to his brother, and thou hast put away the evil thing out of thy midst,

²⁰and those who are left do hear and fear, and add not to do any more according to this evil thing in thy midst;

²¹and thine eye doth not pity -- life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Deuteronomy 20

¹‘When thou goest out to battle against thine enemy, and hast seen horse and chariot -- a people more numerous than thou -- thou art not afraid of them, for Jehovah thy God is with thee, who is bringing thee up out of the land of Egypt;

²and it hath been, in your drawing near unto the battle, that the priest hath come nigh, and spoken unto the people,

³and said unto them, Hear, Israel, ye are drawing near to-day to battle against your enemies, let not your hearts be tender, fear not, nor make haste, nor be terrified at their presence,

⁴for Jehovah your God is He who is going with you, to fight for you with your enemies -- to save you.

⁵‘And the authorities have spoken unto the people, saying, Who is the man that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? -- let him go and turn back to his house, lest he die in battle, and another man dedicate it.

⁶‘And who is the man that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not made it common? -- let him go and turn back to his house, lest he die in battle, and another man make it common.

⁷‘And who is the man that hath betrothed a woman, and hath not taken her? -- let him go and turn back to his house, lest he die in battle, and another man take her.

⁸‘And the authorities have added to speak unto the people, and said, Who is the man that is afraid and tender of heart? -- let him go and turn back to his house, and the heart of his brethren doth not melt like his heart;

⁹and it hath come to pass as the authorities finish to speak unto the people, that they have appointed princes of the hosts at the head of the people.

¹⁰‘When thou drawest near unto a city to fight against it, then thou hast called unto it for Peace,

¹¹and it hath been, if Peace it answer thee, and hath opened to thee, then it hath come to pass -- all the people who are found in it are to thee for tributaries, and have served thee.

¹²‘And if it doth not make peace with thee, and hath made with thee war, then thou hast laid siege against it,

¹³and Jehovah thy God hath given it into thy hand, and thou hast smitten every male of it by the mouth of the sword.

¹⁴Only, the women, and the infants, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, all its spoil, thou dost seize for thyself, and thou hast eaten the spoil of thine enemies which Jehovah thy God hath given to thee.

¹⁵So thou dost do to all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.

¹⁶‘Only, of the cities of these peoples which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee for an inheritance, thou dost not keep alive any breathing;

¹⁷for thou dost certainly devote the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, as Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee,

¹⁸so that they teach you not to do according to all their abominations which they have done to their gods, and ye have sinned against Jehovah your God.

¹⁹‘When thou layest siege unto a city many days, to fight against it, to capture it, thou dost not destroy its trees to force an axe against them, for of them thou dost eat, and them thou dost not cut down -- for man's is the tree of the field -- to go in at thy presence in the siege.

²⁰Only, the tree, which thou knowest that it is not a fruit-tree, it thou dost destroy, and hast cut down, and hast built a bulwark against the city which is making with thee war till thou hast subdued it.

Deuteronomy 21

¹‘When one is found slain on the ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to possess it -- fallen in a field -- it is not known who hath smitten him,

²then have thine elders and thy judges gone out and measured unto the cities which are round about the slain one,

³and it hath been, the city which is near unto the slain one, even the elders of that city have taken a heifer of the herd, which hath not been wrought with, which hath not drawn in the yoke,

⁴and the elders of that city have brought down the heifer unto a hard valley, which is not tilled nor sown, and have beheaded there the heifer in the valley.

⁵‘And the priests, sons of Levi, have come nigh -- for on them hath Jehovah thy God fixed to serve Him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah, and by their mouth is every strife, and every stroke --

⁶and all the elders of that city, who are near unto the slain one, do wash their hands over the heifer which is beheaded in the valley,

⁷and they have answered and said, Our hands have not shed this blood, and our eyes have not seen --

⁸receive atonement for Thy people Israel, whom Thou hast ransomed, O Jehovah, and suffer not innocent blood in the midst of Thy people Israel; and the blood hath been pardoned to them,

⁹and thou dost put away the innocent blood out of thy midst, for thou dost that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah.

¹⁰‘When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and Jehovah thy God hath given them into thy hand, and thou hast taken captive its captivity,

¹¹and hast seen in the captivity a woman of fair form, and hast delighted in her, and hast taken to thee for a wife,

¹²then thou hast brought her in unto the midst of thy household, and she hath shaved her head, and prepared her nails,

¹³and turned aside the raiment of her captivity from off her, and hath dwelt in thy house, and bewailed her father and her mother a month of days, and afterwards thou dost go in unto her and hast married her, and she hath been to thee for a wife:

¹⁴‘And it hath been -- if thou hast not delighted in her, that thou hast sent her away at her desire, and thou dost not at all sell her for money; thou dost not tyrannize over her, because that thou hast humbled her.

¹⁵‘When a man hath two wives, the one loved and the other hated, and they have borne to him sons (the loved one and the hated one), and the first-born son hath been to the hated one;

¹⁶then it hath been, in the day of his causing his sons to inherit that which he hath, he is not able to declare first-born the son of the loved one, in the face of the son of the hated one -- the first-born.

¹⁷But the first-born, son of the hated one, he doth acknowledge, to give to him a double portion of all that is found with him, for he is the beginning of his strength; to him is the right of the first-born.

¹⁸‘When a man hath a son apostatizing and rebellious -- he is not hearkening to the voice of his father, and to the voice of his mother, and they have chastised him, and he doth not hearken unto them --

¹⁹then laid hold on him have his father and his mother, and they have brought him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place,

²⁰and have said unto the elders of his city, Our son -- this one -- is apostatizing and rebellious; he is not hearkening to our voice -- a glutton and drunkard;

²¹and all the men of his city have stoned him with stones, and he hath died, and thou hast put away the evil out of thy midst, and all Israel do hear and fear.

²²‘And when there is in a man a sin -- a cause of death, and he hath been put to death, and thou hast hanged him on a tree,

²³his corpse doth not remain on the tree, for thou dost certainly bury him in that day -- for a thing lightly esteemed of God is the hanged one -- and thou dost not defile thy ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee -- an inheritance.