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Deuteronomy

Moses gives speeches about laws and the importance of following God before the Israelites enter the Promised Land.

Chapter 17

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1 Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the LORD thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish, or any evilfavouredness: for that is an abomination unto the LORD thy God.

*Do not offer any flawed or deformed animals to the Lord God. It is a disgusting thing to Him.

2 If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant,

*If in your town, someone, whether a man or a woman, does something wrong that goes against the LORD God's rules and breaks their promise to Him,

3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;

*And has served other gods and worshiped them, like the sun, moon, or stars, that I haven't told you to.

4 And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel:

*And you are told about it, and you have heard, and searched carefully, and look, it is true, and the matter certain, that such a terrible act has taken place in Israel.

5 Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.

*Then you must bring the person, whether a man or a woman, who did something very bad, to your town's entrance. You should throw stones at them until they pass away.

6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.

*If two or three people say someone should be punished with death, then they should be punished. But if only one person says it, they shouldn't be punished with death.

7 The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.

*The witnesses will first judge and then the crowd will follow, removing the wicked from your midst.

8 If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which the LORD thy God shall choose;

*If a difficult issue arises that you cannot decide, involving bloodshed, disputes, or conflicts in your town, you must go to the place the Lord has chosen.

9 And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment:

*You should go to the Levite priests and the judge during that time. Ask them, and they will tell you the decision for the judgment.

10 And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the LORD shall choose shall shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee:

*And you should follow the instructions given by the people from the place the LORD chooses. You must carefully listen and follow everything they tell you.

11 According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left.

*Follow the laws and judgments that they teach you; don't deviate to the right or left from what they show you.

12 And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.

*If a person acts arrogantly and doesn't listen to the priest or judge serving in front of the LORD, that person will die, and you should remove the wickedness from Israel.

13 And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.

*And everyone will listen, be afraid, and not act so boldly.

14 When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;

*When you arrive at the land your God gives you, and take control of it, and live there, and decide to have a king, just like the other countries around you.

15 Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.

*You must make the person you accept as your ruler the one chosen by God from your family members; you cannot choose someone who is not part of your family to be your leader.

16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.

*He shouldn't collect too many horses or make people go back to Egypt for them; because the Lord says not to go that way again.

17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

*He shouldn't have too many wives or too much money, so he doesn't lose focus on what's important.

18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:

*When he sits on his royal throne, he will have a copy of this law written in a book from what the priest Levites have.

19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:

*He will always have it, and he will read it every day of his life. This way, he can learn to respect and obey the LORD, follow all the rules in the law, and do them.

20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

*So that his pride doesn't grow more important than others and he doesn't disobey rules by going left or right, this will help him stay in power longer, for himself and his kids, all within the nation of Israel.

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* work in progress, there will be mistakes

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