| NET Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1You must not sacrifice to him a bull or sheep that has a blemish or any other defect, because that is considered offensive to the LORD your God. | 1You must not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or sheep with a defect or any serious flaw, for that is detestable to the LORD your God." |
| 2Suppose a man or woman is discovered among you--in one of your villages that the LORD your God is giving you--who sins before the Lord your God and breaks his covenant | 2If a man or woman among you in one of your towns that the LORD your God will give you is discovered doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God and violating His covenant |
| 3by serving other gods and worshiping them--the sun, moon, or any other heavenly bodies which I have not permitted you to worship. | 3and has gone to worship other gods by bowing down to the sun, moon, or all the stars in the sky--which I have forbidden-- |
| 4When it is reported to you and you hear about it, you must investigate carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing is being done in Israel, | 4and if you are told or hear about it, you must investigate it thoroughly. If the report turns out to be true that this detestable thing has happened in Israel, |
| 5you must bring to your city gates that man or woman who has done this wicked thing--that very man or woman--and you must stone that person to death. | 5you must bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing and stone them to death. |
| 6At the testimony of two or three witnesses they must be executed. They cannot be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. | 6The one condemned to die is to be executed on the testimony of two or three witnesses. No one is to be executed on the testimony of a single witness. |
| 7The witnesses must be first to begin the execution, and then all the people are to join in afterward. In this way you will purge evil from among you. | 7The witnesses' hands are to be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from you." |
| 8If a matter is too difficult for you to judge--bloodshed, legal claim, or assault--matters of controversy in your villages--you must leave there and go up to the place the LORD your God chooses. | 8If a case is too difficult for you--concerning bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults--cases disputed at your gates, you must go up to the place the LORD your God chooses. |
| 9You will go to the Levitical priests and the judge in office in those days and seek a solution; they will render a verdict. | 9You are to go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who presides at that time. Ask, and they will give you a verdict in the case. |
| 10You must then do as they have determined at that place the LORD chooses. Be careful to do just as you are taught. | 10You must abide by the verdict they give you at the place the LORD chooses. Be careful to do exactly as they instruct you. |
| 11You must do what you are instructed, and the verdict they pronounce to you, without fail. Do not deviate right or left from what they tell you. | 11You must abide by the instruction they give you and the verdict they announce to you. Do not turn to the right or the left from the decision they declare to you. |
| 12The person who pays no attention to the priest currently serving the LORD your God there, or to the verdict--that person must die, so that you may purge evil from Israel. | 12The person who acts arrogantly, refusing to listen either to the priest who stands there serving the LORD your God or to the judge, must die. You must purge the evil from Israel. |
| 13Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and not be so presumptuous again. | 13Then all the people will hear about it, be afraid, and no longer behave arrogantly." |
| 14When you come to the land the LORD your God is giving you and take it over and live in it and then say, "I will select a king like all the nations surrounding me," | 14When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, take possession of it, live in it, and say, 'I will set a king over me like all the nations around me,' |
| 15you must select without fail a king whom the LORD your God chooses. From among your fellow citizens you must appoint a king--you may not designate a foreigner who is not one of your fellow Israelites. | 15you are to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses. Appoint a king from your brothers. You are not to set a foreigner over you, or one who is not of your people. |
| 16Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself or allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, for the LORD has said you must never again return that way. | 16However, he must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses, for the LORD has told you, 'You are never to go back that way again.' |
| 17Furthermore, he must not marry many wives lest his affections turn aside, and he must not accumulate much silver and gold. | 17He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won't go astray. He must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself. |
| 18When he sits on his royal throne he must make a copy of this law on a scroll given to him by the Levitical priests. | 18When he is seated on his royal throne, he is to write a copy of this instruction for himself on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. |
| 19It must be with him constantly and he must read it as long as he lives, so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and observe all the words of this law and these statutes and carry them out. | 19It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these statutes. |
| 20Then he will not exalt himself above his fellow citizens or turn from the commandments to the right or left, and he and his descendants will enjoy many years ruling over his kingdom in Israel. | 20Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, he will not turn from this command to the right or the left, and he and his sons will continue ruling many years over Israel." |
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