Deuteronomy 17

Forbidden Forms of Worship

1 "You a shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God a bull or sheep which has any 1 blemish or defect, for that is an 2 abomination to the LORD your God.

2 b "If there is found among you, within any of your 3 gates which the LORD your God gives you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the LORD your God, c in transgressing His covenant, 3 "who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either d the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, e which I have not commanded, 4 f "and it is told you, and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an 4 abomination has been committed in Israel, 5 "then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed that wicked thing, and g shall stone h to death that man or woman with stones. 6 "Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three i witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 7 "The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among j you.

Legal Decisions by Priests and Judges

8 k "If a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge, between degrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the l place which the LORD your God chooses. 9 "And m you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and n to the judge there in those days, and inquire of them; o they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment. 10 "You shall do according to the sentence which they pronounce upon you in that place which the LORD chooses. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they order you. 11 "According to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you, according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce upon you. 12 "Now p the man who acts presumptuously and will not heed the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall put away the evil from Israel. 13 q "And all the people shall hear and fear, and no longer act presumptuously.

Laws Concerning Israel's Kings

14 "When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, r 'I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,' 15 "you shall surely set a king over you s whom the LORD your God chooses; one t from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 "But he shall not multiply u horses for himself, nor cause the people v to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for w the LORD has said to you, x 'You shall not return that way again.' 17 "Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and y gold for himself.

18 "Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one z before the priests, the Levites. 19 "And a it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 "that his heart may not 5 be lifted above his brethren, that he b may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may 6 prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.

  1. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 15:21
    But if there is a defect in it, if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.
    Malachi 1:8
    And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, Is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, Is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?" Says the LORD of hosts.
    Malachi 1:13
    You also say, 'Oh, what a weariness!' And you sneer at it," Says the LORD of hosts. "And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; Thus you bring an offering! Should I accept this from your hand?" Says the LORD.
  2. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 13:6
    If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods,' which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers.
  3. Cross References
    Joshua 7:11
    Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff.
  4. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 4:19
    And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the LORD your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.
  5. Cross References
    Jeremiah 7:22
    For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices.
  6. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 13:12
    If you hear someone in one of your cities, which the LORD your God gives you to dwell in, saying.
    Deuteronomy 13:14
    Then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination was committed among you.
  7. Cross References
    Leviticus 24:14 - 16
    Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
    Joshua 7:25
    And Joshua said, "Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day." So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
  8. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 13:6 - 18
    If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods,' which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers.
  9. Cross References
    Numbers 35:30
    Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be p...
    Deuteronomy 19:15
    One witness shall not rise against a man concer...
    Matthew 18:16
    "But if he will not hear, take with you one or ...
    John 8:17
    It is also written in your law that the testimo...
    2 Corinthians 13:1
    This will be the third time I am coming to you....
    1 Timothy 5:19
    Do not receive an accusation against an elder e...
    Hebrews 10:28
    Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without...
  10. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 13:5
    But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.
    Deuteronomy 19:19
    Then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you.
    1 Corinthians 5:13
    But those who are outside God judges. Therefore "put away from yourselves the evil person.
  11. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 1:17
    'You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man's presence, for the judgment is God's. The case that is too hard for you, bring to me, and I will hear it.'
    2 Chronicles 19:10
    Whatever case comes to you from your brethren who dwell in their cities, whether of bloodshed or offenses against law or commandment, against statutes or ordinances, you shall warn them, lest they trespass against the LORD and wrath come upon you and your brethren. Do this, and you will not be guilty.
  12. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 12:5
    But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go.
    Deuteronomy 16:2
    Therefore you shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God, from the flock and the herd, in the place where the LORD chooses to put His name.
  13. Cross References
    Jeremiah 18:18
    Then they said, "Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us attack him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
  14. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 19:17 - 19
    Then both men in the controversy shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days.
  15. Cross References
    Ezekiel 44:24
    In controversy they shall stand as judges, and judge it according to My judgments. They shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed meetings, and they shall hallow My Sabbaths.
  16. Cross References
    Numbers 15:30
    But the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the LORD, and he shall be cut off from among his people.
    Deuteronomy 1:43
    So I spoke to you; yet you would not listen, but rebelled against the command of the LORD, and presumptuously went up into the mountain.
  17. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 13:11
    So all Israel shall hear and fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you.
  18. Cross References
    1 Samuel 8:5
    And said to him, "Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
    1 Samuel 8:19
    Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, "No, but we will have a king over us.
    1 Samuel 8:20
    "that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles."
    1 Samuel 10:19
    "But you have today rejected your God, who Himself saved you from all your adversities and your tribulations; and you have said to Him, 'No, set a king over us!' Now therefore, present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your clans."
  19. Cross References
    1 Samuel 9:15
    Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear the day...
    1 Samuel 9:16
    "Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man...
    1 Samuel 10:24
    And Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see ...
    1 Samuel 16:12
    So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy...
    1 Samuel 16:13
    Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed h...
    1 Chronicles 22:8 - 10
    But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'Y...
    Hosea 8:4
    They set up kings, but not by Me; They made pri...
  20. Cross References
    Jeremiah 30:21
    Their nobles shall be from among them, And their governor shall come from their midst; Then I will cause him to draw near, And he shall approach Me; For who is this who pledged his heart to approach Me?' says the LORD.
  21. Cross References
    1 Kings 4:26
    Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.
    1 Kings 10:26 - 29
    And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem.
    Psalms 20:7
    Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
  22. Cross References
    Isaiah 31:1
    Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, And rely on horses, Who trust in chariots because they are many, And in horsemen because they are very strong, But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, Nor seek the LORD!
    Ezekiel 17:15
    But he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Will he prosper? Will he who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and still be delivered?
  23. Cross References
    Exodus 13:17
    Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, "Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.
    Exodus 13:18
    So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.
    Hosea 11:5
    He shall not return to the land of Egypt; But the Assyrian shall be his king, Because they refused to repent.
  24. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 28:68
    "And the LORD will take you back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said to you, 'You shall never see it again.' And there you shall be offered for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you."
  25. Cross References
    1 Kings 10:14
    The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold.
  26. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 31:24 - 26
    So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished.
  27. Cross References
    Psalms 119:97
    Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.
    Psalms 119:98
    You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me.
  28. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 5:32
    Therefore you shall be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
    1 Kings 15:5
    Because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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