Deuteronomy 17

lo-tizbakh la-Adonai elohekha shor vaseh asher yihyeh vo mum kol davar ra ki to'avat Adonai elohekha hu

You shall not sacrifice to the ETERNAL your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect of a serious kind, for that is abhorrent to the ETERNAL your God.

ki-yimmatse veqirbekha be'akhad she'arekha asher-Adonai elohekha noten lakh ish o-isha asher ya'aseh et-hara be'ene Adonaielohekha la'avor berito

If there is found among you, in one of the settlements that the ETERNAL your God is giving you, a man or woman who has affronted the ETERNAL your God and transgressed the covenant—

vayyelekh vayya'avod elohim akherim vayyishtakhu lahem velashemesh o layyareakh o lekhol-tseva hashamayim asher lo-tsivviti

turning to the worship of other gods and bowing down to them, to the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host, something I never commanded—

vehuggad-lekha veshama'eta vedarashta hetev vehinneh emet nakhon haddavar ne'estah hatto'evah hazzot beyisra'el

and you have been informed or have learned of it, then you shall make a thorough inquiry. If it is true, the fact is established, that abhorrent thing was perpetrated in Israel,

vehotseta et-ha'ish hahu o et-ha'isha hahiv asher asu et-haddavar hara hazzeh el-she'arekha et-ha'ish o et-ha'isha useqaltam ba'avanim vametu

you shall take the man or the woman who did that wicked thing out to the public place, and you shall stone them, that man or woman, to death.—

al-pi shenayim edim o sheloshah edim yumat hammet lo yumat al-pi ed ekhad

A person shall be put to death only on the testimony of two or more witnesses; no one shall be put to death on the testimony of a single witness.—

yad ha'edim tihyeh-bbo varishonah lahamito veyad kol-ha'am ba'akharonah uvi'arta hara miqqirbekha

Let the hands of the witnesses be the first to put [the condemned] to death, followed by the hands of the rest of the people. Thus you will sweep out evil from your midst.

ki yippale mimmekha davar lammishpat ben-dam ledam ben-din ledin uven nega lanega divre rivot bisharekha veqamta ve'alita el-hammaqom asher yivkhar Adonai elohekha bo

If a case is too baffling for you to decide, be it a controversy over homicide, civil law, or assault—matters of dispute in your courts—you shall promptly repair to the place that the ETERNAL your God will have chosen,

uvata el-hakkohanim haleviyyim ve'el-hashofet asher yihyeh bayyamim hahem vedarashta vehiggidu lekha et devar hammishpat

and appear before the levitical priests, or the magistrate in charge at the time, and present your problem. When they have announced to you the verdict in the case,

ve'asita al-pi haddavar asher yaggidu lekha min-hammaqom hahu asher yivkhar Adonai veshamarta la'asot kekhol asher yorukha

you shall carry out the verdict that is announced to you from that place that GOD chose, observing scrupulously all their instructions to you.

al-pi hattorah asher yorukha ve'al-hammishpat asher-yomeru lekha ta'aseh lo tasur min-haddavar asher-yaggidu lekha yamin usemol

You shall act in accordance with the instructions given you and the ruling handed down to you; you must not deviate from the verdict that they announce to you either to the right or to the left.

veha'ish asher-ya'aseh vezadon levilti shemoa el-hakkohen ha'omed lesharet sham et-Adonai elohekha o el-hashofet umet ha'ish hahu uvi'arta hara miyyisra'el

Should the [losing] party act presumptuously and disregard the priest charged with serving there the ETERNAL your God, or the magistrate, that person shall die. Thus you will sweep out evil from Israel:

vekhol-ha'am yishme'u veyira'u velo yezidun od

all the people will hear and be afraid and will not act presumptuously again.

ki-tavo el-ha'arets asher Adonai elohekha noten lakh virishtah veyashavtah bah ve'amarta asimah alay melekh kekhol-haggoyim asher sevivotay

If, after you have entered the land that the ETERNAL your God has assigned to you, and taken possession of it and settled in it, you decide, “I will set a king over me, as do all the nations about me,”

som tasim alekha melekh asher yivkhar Adonai elohekha bo miqqerev akhekha tasim alekha melekh lo tukhal latet alekha ish nokhri asher lo-akhikha hu

you shall be free to set a king over yourself, one chosen by the ETERNAL your God. Be sure to set as king over yourself one of your own people; you must not set a foreigner over you, one who is not your fellow Israelite.

raq lo-yarbeh-llo susim velo-yashiv et-ha'am mitsraymah lema'an harbot sus va-Adonai amar lakhem lo tosifun lashuv badderekh hazzeh od

Moreover, he shall not keep many horses or send people back to Egypt to add to his horses, since GOD has warned you, “You must not go back that way again.”

velo yarbeh-llo nashim velo yasur levavo vekhesef vezahav lo yarbeh-llo me'od

And he shall not have many wives, lest his heart go astray; nor shall he amass silver and gold to excess.

vehayah kheshivto al kisse mamlakhto vekhatav lo et-mishneh hattorah hazzot al-sefer millifne hakkohanim haleviyyim

When he is seated on his royal throne, he shall have a copy of this Teaching written for him on a scroll by the levitical priests.

vehayetah immo veqara vo kol-yeme khayyayw lema'an yilmad leyirah et-Adonai elohayw lishmor et-kol-divre hattorah hazzot ve'et-hakhuqqim ha'elleh la'asotam

Let it remain with him and let him read in it all his life, so that he may learn to revere the ETERNAL his God, to observe faithfully every word of this Teaching as well as these laws.

levilti rum-levavo me'ekhayw ulevilti sur min-hammitsvah yamin usemovl lema'an ya'arikh yamim al-mamlakhto hu uvanayw beqerev yisra'el

Thus he will not act haughtily toward his fellows or deviate from the Instruction to the right or to the left, to the end that he and his descendants may reign long in the midst of Israel.