The Book of Deuteronomy
Chapter 1
These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this
side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red sea,
between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
2 (There are eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of
mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.)
3 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the
eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the
children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in
commandment unto them;
4 After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which
dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth in
Edrei:
5 On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to
declare this law, saying,
6 The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have
dwelt long enough in this mount:
7 Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of
the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the
hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land
of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river
Euphrates.
8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and
possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.
9 And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able
to bear you myself alone:
10 The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye
are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.
11 (The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times
so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!)
12 How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your
burden, and your strife?
13 Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among
your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.
14 And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast
spoken is good for us to do.
15 So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and
known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains
over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and
officers among your tribes.
16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear
the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man
and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.
17 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall
hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of
man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you,
bring it unto me, and I will hear it.
18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which
ye should do.
19 And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all
that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the
mountain of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to
Kadeshbarnea.
20 And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of
the Amorites, which the LORD our God doth give unto us.
21 Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee:
go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee;
fear not, neither be discouraged.
22 And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We
will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring
us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall
come.
23 And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men
of you, one of a tribe:
24 And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came
unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out.
25 And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands,
and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a
good land which the LORD our God doth give us.
26 Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled
against the commandment of the LORD your God:
27 And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the
LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to
deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
28 Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged
our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities
are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of
the Anakims there.
29 Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of
them.
30 The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall
fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your
eyes;
31 And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that
the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way
that ye went, until ye came into this place.
32 Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your
God,
33 Who went in the way before you, to search you out a
place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye
should go, and in a cloud by day.
34 And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was
wroth, and sware, saying,
35 Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil
generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your
fathers.
36 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and
to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his
children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD.
37 Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying,
Thou also shalt not go in thither.
38 But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee,
he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to
inherit it.
39 Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a
prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good
and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they
shall possess it.
40 But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into
the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.
41 Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned
against the LORD, we will go up and fight, according to all that the LORD
our God commanded us. And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of
war, ye were ready to go up into the hill.
42 And the LORD said unto me, Say unto them. Go not up,
neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your
enemies.
43 So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but
rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up
into the hill.
44 And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came
out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir,
even unto Hormah.
45 And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD
would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you.
46 So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the
days that ye abode there.
Chapter
2
1 Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness
by the way of the Red sea, as the LORD spake unto me: and we compassed
mount Seir many days.
2 And the LORD spake unto me, saying,
3 Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you
northward.
4 And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass
through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in
Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves
therefore:
5 Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their
land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir
unto Esau for a possession.
6 Ye shall buy meat of them for money, that ye may eat;
and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink.
7 For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works
of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these
forty years the LORD thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked
nothing.
8 And when we passed by from our brethren the children of
Esau, which dwelt in Seir, through the way of the plain from Elath, and
from Eziongaber, we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of
Moab.
9 And the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites,
neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their
land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot
for a possession.
10 The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great,
and many, and tall, as the Anakims;
11 Which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims; but
the Moabites called them Emims.
12 The Horims also dwelt in Seir beforetime; but the
children of Esau succeeded them, when they had destroyed them from before
them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of his
possession, which the LORD gave unto them.
13 Now rise up, said I, and get you over the brook Zered.
And we went over the brook Zered.
14 And the space in which we came from Kadeshbarnea, until
we were come over the brook Zered, was thirty and eight years; until all
the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as
the LORD sware unto them.
15 For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to
destroy them from among the host, until they were consumed.
16 So it came to pass, when all the men of war were
consumed and dead from among the people,
17 That the LORD spake unto me, saying,
18 Thou art to pass over through Ar, the coast of Moab,
this day:
19 And when thou comest nigh over against the children of
Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee
of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given
it unto the children of Lot for a possession.
20 (That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt
therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims;
21 A people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; but
the LORD destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in
their stead:
22 As he did to the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir,
when he destroyed the Horims from before them; and they succeeded them,
and dwelt in their stead even unto this day:
23 And the Avims which dwelt in Hazerim, even unto Azzah,
the Caphtorims, which came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt
in their stead.)
24 Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river
Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of
Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in
battle.
25 This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the
fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall
hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of
thee.
26 And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth
unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,
27 Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the
high way, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left.
28 Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I may eat; and
give me water for money, that I may drink: only I will pass through on my
feet;
29 (As the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the
Moabites which dwell in Ar, did unto me;) until I shall pass over Jordan
into the land which the LORD our God giveth us.
30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him:
for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate,
that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day.
31 And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give
Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit
his land.
32 Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people,
to fight at Jahaz.
33 And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we
smote him, and his sons, and all his people.
34 And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly
destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we
left none to remain:
35 Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and
the spoil of the cities which we took.
36 From Aroer, which is by the brink of the river of
Arnon, and from the city that is by the river, even unto Gilead, there was
not one city too strong for us: the LORD our God delivered all unto
us:
37 Only unto the land of the children of Ammon thou camest
not, nor unto any place of the river Jabbok, nor unto the cities in the
mountains, nor unto whatsoever the LORD our God forbad us.
Chapter
3
1 Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og
the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle
at Edrei.
2 And the LORD said unto me, Fear him not: for I will
deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou
shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which
dwelt at Heshbon.
3 So the LORD our God delivered into our hands Og also,
the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was
left to him remaining.
4 And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a
city which we took not from them, threescore cities, all the region of
Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
5 All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and
bars; beside unwalled towns a great many.
6 And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king
of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every
city.
7 But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took
for a prey to ourselves.
8 And we took at that time out of the hand of the two
kings of the Amorites the land that was on this side Jordan, from the
river of Arnon unto mount Hermon;
9 (Which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion; and the
Amorites call it Shenir;)
10 All the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all
Bashan, unto Salchah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in
Bashan.
11 For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of
giants; behold his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath
of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four
cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.
12 And this land, which we possessed at that time, from
Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead, and the cities
thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites.
13 And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the
kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of
Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants.
14 Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob
unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi; and called them after his own
name, Bashanhavothjair, unto this day.
15 And I gave Gilead unto Machir.
16 And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave
from Gilead even unto the river Arnon half the valley, and the border even
unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of
Ammon;
17 The plain also, and Jordan, and the coast thereof, from
Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, under
Ashdothpisgah eastward.
18 And I commanded you at that time, saying, The LORD your
God hath given you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over armed
before your brethren the children of Israel, all that are meet for the
war.
19 But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle,
(for I know that ye have much cattle,) shall abide in your cities which I
have given you;
20 Until the LORD have given rest unto your brethren, as
well as unto you, and until they also possess the land which the LORD your
God hath given them beyond Jordan: and then shall ye return every man unto
his possession, which I have given you.
21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes
have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto these two kings: so
shall the LORD do unto all the kingdoms whither thou passest.
22 Ye shall not fear them: for the LORD your God he shall
fight for you.
23 And I besought the LORD at that time, saying,
24 O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy
greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in
earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy
might?
25 I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that
is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.
26 But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and
would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak
no more unto me of this matter.
27 Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine
eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it
with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan.
28 But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen
him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to
inherit the land which thou shalt see.
29 So we abode in the valley over against Bethpeor.
Chapter
4
1 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and
unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live,
and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth
you.
2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you,
neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments
of the LORD your God which I command you.
3 Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of
Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath
destroyed them from among you.
4 But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive
every one of you this day.
5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even
as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither
ye go to possess it.
6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and
your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these
statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding
people.
7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh
unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him
for?
8 And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes
and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this
day?
9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently,
lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they
depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons,
and thy sons' sons;
10 Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD
thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people
together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear
me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may
teach their children.
11 And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the
mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds,
and thick darkness.
12 And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the
fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye
heard a voice.
13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he
commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon
two tables of stone.
14 And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you
statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go
over to possess it.
15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw
no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb
out of the midst of the fire:
16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven
image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or
female,
17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the
likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground,
the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when
thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of
heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the
LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
20 But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out
of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of
inheritance, as ye are this day.
21 Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes,
and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in
unto that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an
inheritance:
22 But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan:
but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.
23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant
of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image,
or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden
thee.
24 For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a
jealous God.
25 When thou shalt beget children, and children's
children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt
yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and
shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to
anger:
26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this
day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go
over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but
shall utterly be destroyed.
27 And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and
ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall
lead you.
28 And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands,
wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God,
thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy
soul.
30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are
come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God,
and shalt be obedient unto his voice;
31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not
forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers
which he sware unto them.
32 For ask now of the days that are past, which were
before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask
from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any
such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?
33 Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of
the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?
34 Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from
the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and
by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great
terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt
before your eyes?
35 Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that
the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.
36 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he
might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and
thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.
37 And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose
their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty
power out of Egypt;
38 To drive out nations from before thee greater and
mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an
inheritance, as it is this day.
39 Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine
heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth
beneath: there is none else.
40 Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his
commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with
thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy
days upon the earth, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, for ever.
41 Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan
toward the sunrising;
42 That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill
his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing
unto one of these cities he might live:
43 Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country,
of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in
Bashan, of the Manassites.
44 And this is the law which Moses set before the children
of Israel:
45 These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the
judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came
forth out of Egypt.
46 On this side Jordan, in the valley over against
Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon,
whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth
out of Egypt:
47 And they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of
Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward
the sunrising;
48 From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon,
even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon,
49 And all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even
unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.
Chapter
5
1 And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O
Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day,
that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.
2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in
Horeb.
3 The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but
with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.
4 The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out
of the midst of the fire,
5 (I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew
you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and
went not up into the mount;) saying,
6 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the
land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any
likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:
9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve
them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of
the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them
that hate me,
10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me
and keep my commandments.
11 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in
vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in
vain.
12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy
God hath commanded thee.
13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:
14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God:
in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor
thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any
of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy
manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.
15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of
Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty
hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee
to keep the sabbath day.
16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God
hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go
well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
17 Thou shalt not kill.
18 Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
19 Neither shalt thou steal.
20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy
neighbour.
21 Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither
shalt thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his manservant, or
his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy
neighbour's.
22 These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in
the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick
darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in
two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.
23 And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the
midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came
near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;
24 And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us
his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst
of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he
liveth.
25 Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire
will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then
we shall die.
26 For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the
voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have,
and lived?
27 Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall
say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto
thee; and we will hear it, and do it.
28 And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye
spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the
words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well
said all that they have spoken.
29 O that there were such an heart in them, that they
would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well
with them, and with their children for ever!
30 Go say to them, Get you into your tents again.
31 But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will
speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments,
which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I
give them to possess it.
32 Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God
hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the
left.
33 Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God
hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you,
and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall
possess.
Chapter
6
1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the
judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might
do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:
2 That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all
his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy
son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be
prolonged.
3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it
may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God
of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and
honey.
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be
in thine heart:
7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children,
and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou
walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest
up.
8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and
they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house,
and on thy gates.
10 And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have
brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to
Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou
buildedst not,
11 And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst
not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees,
which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
12 Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought
thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and
shalt swear by his name.
14 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the
people which are round about you;
15 (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest
the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee
from off the face of the earth.
16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him
in Massah.
17 Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD
your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded
thee.
18 And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the
sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go
in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers.
19 To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the
LORD hath spoken.
20 And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying,
What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the
LORD our God hath commanded you?
21 Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's
bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty
hand:
22 And the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore,
upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our
eyes:
23 And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring
us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.
24 And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to
fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us
alive, as it is at this day.
25 And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do
all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded
us.
Chapter
7
1 When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land
whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before
thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the
Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven
nations greater and mightier than thou;
2 And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before
thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no
covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy
daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou
take unto thy son.
4 For they will turn away thy son from following me, that
they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled
against you, and destroy thee suddenly.
5 But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their
altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn
their graven images with fire.
6 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the
LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above
all people that are upon the face of the earth.
7 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you,
because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of
all people:
8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would
keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought
you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen,
from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the
faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and
keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
10 And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to
destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay
him to his face.
11 Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the
statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do
them.
12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these
judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto
thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:
13 And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply
thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land,
thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the
flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give
thee.
14 Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not
be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.
15 And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and
will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon
thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.
16 And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD
thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them:
neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto
thee.
17 If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are
more than I; how can I dispossess them?
18 Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well
remember what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all
Egypt;
19 The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the
signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm,
whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do
unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.
20 Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornet among
them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be
destroyed.
21 Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the LORD thy
God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.
22 And the LORD thy God will put out those nations before
thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the
beasts of the field increase upon thee.
23 But the LORD thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and
shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be
destroyed.
24 And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and
thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be
able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them.
25 The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with
fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take
it unto thee, lest thou be snared therin: for it is an abomination to the
LORD thy God.
26 Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine
house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest
it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.
Chapter
8
1 All the commandments which I command thee this day shall
ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess
the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.
2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy
God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to
prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep
his commandments, or no.
3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and
fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know;
that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man
live.
4 Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy
foot swell, these forty years.
5 Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man
chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.
6 Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD
thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.
7 For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a
land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of
valleys and hills;
8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees,
and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;
9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness,
thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out
of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
10 When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt
bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.
11 Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not
keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I
command thee this day:
12 Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built
goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
13 And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy
silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is
multiplied;
14 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD
thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house
of bondage;
15 Who led thee through that great and terrible
wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where
there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of
flint;
16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy
fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee,
to do thee good at thy latter end;
17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of
mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he
that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant
which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy
God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I
testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.
20 As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your
face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice
of the LORD your God.
Chapter
9
1 Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day,
to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities
great and fenced up to heaven,
2 A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims,
whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before
the children of Anak!
3 Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is
he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy
them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive
them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto
thee.
4 Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy
God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the
LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of
these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee.
5 Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of
thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of
these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and
that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
6 Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee
not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a
stiffnecked people.
7 Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the LORD
thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart
out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been
rebellious against the LORD.
8 Also in Horeb ye provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the
LORD was angry with you to have destroyed you.
9 When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables
of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you,
then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat
bread nor drink water:
10 And the LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone
written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all
the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount out of the midst of
the fire in the day of the assembly.
11 And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty
nights, that the LORD gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of
the covenant.
12 And the LORD said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly
from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have
corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I
commanded them; they have made them a molten image.
13 Furthermore the LORD spake unto me, saying, I have seen
this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
14 Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out
their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier
and greater than they.
15 So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount
burned with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two
hands.
16 And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against the
LORD your God, and had made you a molten calf: ye had turned aside quickly
out of the way which the LORD had commanded you.
17 And I took the two tables, and cast them out of my two
hands, and brake them before your eyes.
18 And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty
days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because
of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the
LORD, to provoke him to anger.
19 For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure,
wherewith the LORD was wroth against you to destroy you. But the LORD
hearkened unto me at that time also.
20 And the LORD was very angry with Aaron to have
destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.
21 And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and
burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until
it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that
descended out of the mount.
22 And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibrothhattaavah,
ye provoked the LORD to wrath.
23 Likewise when the LORD sent you from Kadeshbarnea,
saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you; then ye
rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and ye believed him
not, nor hearkened to his voice.
24 Ye have been rebellious against the LORD from the day
that I knew you.
25 Thus I fell down before the LORD forty days and forty
nights, as I fell down at the first; because the LORD had said he would
destroy you.
26 I prayed therefore unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD,
destroy not thy people and thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed
through thy greatness, which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a
mighty hand.
27 Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look
not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to
their sin:
28 Lest the land whence thou broughtest us out say,
Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which he
promised them, and because he hated them, he hath brought them out to slay
them in the wilderness.
29 Yet they are thy people and thine inheritance, which
thou broughtest out by thy mighty power and by thy stretched out
arm.
Chapter
10
1 At that time the LORD said unto me, Hew thee two tables
of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make
thee an ark of wood.
2 And I will write on the tables the words that were in
the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the
ark.
3 And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables
of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two
tables in mine hand.
4 And he wrote on the tables, according to the first
writing, the ten commandments, which the LORD spake unto you in the mount
out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the LORD gave
them unto me.
5 And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and
put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the LORD
commanded me.
6 And the children of Israel took their journey from
Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to Mosera: there Aaron died, and there
he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest's office in
his stead.
7 From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and from
Gudgodah to Jotbath, a land of rivers of waters.
8 At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi, to
bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to
minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.
9 Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his
brethren; the LORD is his inheritance, according as the LORD thy God
promised him.
10 And I stayed in the mount, according to the first time,
forty days and forty nights; and the LORD hearkened unto me at that time
also, and the LORD would not destroy thee.
11 And the LORD said unto me, Arise, take thy journey
before the people, that they may go in and possess the land, which I sware
unto their fathers to give unto them.
12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of
thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love
him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy
soul,
13 To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes,
which I command thee this day for thy good?
14 Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the
LORD's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.
15 Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love
them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it
is this day.
16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be
no more stiffnecked.
17 For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of
lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons,
nor taketh reward:
18 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and
widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.
19 Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers
in the land of Egypt.
20 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve,
and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.
21 He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for
thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.
22 Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and
ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of
heaven for multitude.
Chapter
11
1 Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his
charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments,
alway.
2 And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children
which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD
your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out
arm,
3 And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the
midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his
land;
4 And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their
horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to
overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD hath destroyed
them unto this day;
5 And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye
came into this place;
6 And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of
Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed
them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that
was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel:
7 But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD
which he did.
8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I
command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the
land, whither ye go to possess it;
9 And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the
LORD sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land
that floweth with milk and honey.
10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is
not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy
seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:
11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of
hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:
12 A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of
the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even
unto the end of the year.
13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken
diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the
LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your
soul,
14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due
season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy
corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle,
that thou mayest eat and be full.
16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not
deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship
them;
17 And then the LORD's wrath be kindled against you, and
he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not
her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the
LORD giveth you.
18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart
and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may
be as frontlets between your eyes.
19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them
when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when
thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine
house, and upon thy gates:
21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your
children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them,
as the days of heaven upon the earth.
22 For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments
which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all
his ways, and to cleave unto him;
23 Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from
before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than
yourselves.
24 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread
shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river
Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.
25 There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the
LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the
land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.
26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a
curse;
27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD
your God, which I command you this day:
28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of
the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this
day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.
29 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath
brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou
shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount
Ebal.
30 Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where
the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the
champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh?
31 For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the
land which the LORD your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and
dwell therein.
32 And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and
judgments which I set before you this day.
Chapter
12
1 These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall
observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee
to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.
2 Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the
nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains,
and upon the hills, and under every green tree:
3 And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their
pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven
images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that
place.
4 Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God.
5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose
out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation
shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:
6 And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and
your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and
your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds
and of your flocks:
7 And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye
shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households,
wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee.
8 Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here
this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.
9 For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the
inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth you.
10 But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which
the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from
all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;
11 Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God
shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all
that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your
tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows
which ye vow unto the LORD:
12 And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye, and
your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your
maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he
hath no part nor inheritance with you.
13 Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt
offerings in every place that thou seest:
14 But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of
thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou
shalt do all that I command thee.
15 Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all
thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of
the LORD thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may
eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.
16 Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon
the earth as water.
17 Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy
corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of
thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill
offerings, or heave offering of thine hand:
18 But thou must eat them before the LORD thy God in the
place which the LORD thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy
daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is
within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God in all
that thou puttest thine hands unto.
19 Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite
as long as thou livest upon the earth.
20 When the LORD thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he
hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul
longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth
after.
21 If the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to put
his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and
of thy flock, which the LORD hath given thee, as I have commanded thee,
and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.
22 Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou
shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.
23 Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood
is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.
24 Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the
earth as water.
25 Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee,
and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right
in the sight of the LORD.
26 Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows,
thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the LORD shall choose:
27 And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and
the blood, upon the altar of the LORD thy God: and the blood of thy
sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the LORD thy God, and
thou shalt eat the flesh.
28 Observe and hear all these words which I command thee,
that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever,
when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy
God.
29 When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from
before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them,
and dwellest in their land;
30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by
following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that
thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve
their gods? even so will I do likewise.
31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every
abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods;
for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to
their gods.
32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou
shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
Chapter
13
1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of
dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he
spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not
known, and let us serve them;
3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet,
or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know
whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your
soul.
4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and
keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and
cleave unto him.
5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be
put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your
God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of
the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God
commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst
of thee.
6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or
thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine
own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods,
which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
7 Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about
you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth
even unto the other end of the earth;
8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him;
neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt
thou conceal him:
9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be
first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the
people.
10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die;
because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which
brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no
more any such wickedness as this is among you.
12 If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the
LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying,
13 Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from
among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let
us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;
14 Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask
diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such
abomination is wrought among you;
15 Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city
with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is
therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword.
16 And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the
midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all
the spoil thereof every whit, for the LORD thy God: and it shall be an
heap for ever; it shall not be built again.
17 And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to
thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and
shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he
hath sworn unto thy fathers;
18 When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the LORD thy
God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do
that which is right in the eyes of the LORD thy God.
Chapter
14
1 Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not
cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the
dead.
2 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and
the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all
the nations that are upon the earth.
3 Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.
4 These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the
sheep, and the goat,
5 The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the
wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois.
6 And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the
cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall
eat.
7 Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew
the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the
hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof;
therefore they are unclean unto you.
8 And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth
not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor
touch their dead carcase.
9 These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all
that have fins and scales shall ye eat:
10 And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat;
it is unclean unto you.
11 Of all clean birds ye shall eat.
12 But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the
eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,
13 And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his
kind,
14 And every raven after his kind,
15 And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and
the hawk after his kind,
16 The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan,
17 And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the
cormorant,
18 And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the
lapwing, and the bat.
19 And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto
you: they shall not be eaten.
20 But of all clean fowls ye may eat.
21 Ye shall not eat of anything that dieth of itself: thou
shalt give it unto the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it;
or thou mayest sell it unto an alien: for thou art an holy people unto the
LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
22 Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed,
that the field bringeth forth year by year.
23 And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the
place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy
corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and
of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God
always.
24 And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art
not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD
thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath
blessed thee:
25 Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the
money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God
shall choose:
26 And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy
soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong
drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there
before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine
household,
27 And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not
forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee.
28 At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all
the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy
gates:
29 And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor
inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the
widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be
satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine
hand which thou doest.
Chapter
15
1 At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a
release.
2 And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor
that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact
it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD's
release.
3 Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that
which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release;
4 Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the LORD
shall greatly bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee
for an inheritance to possess it:
5 Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the
LORD thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee
this day.
6 For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee:
and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou
shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.
7 If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren
within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee,
thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor
brother:
8 But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt
surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.
9 Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart,
saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye
be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry
unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee.
10 Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not
be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD
thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest
thine hand unto.
11 For the poor shall never cease out of the land:
therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy
brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
12 And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman,
be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou
shalt let him go free from thee.
13 And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou
shalt not let him go away empty:
14 Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and
out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the LORD thy
God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.
15 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the
land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command
thee this thing to day.
16 And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go
away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well
with thee;
17 Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his
ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy
maidservant thou shalt do likewise.
18 It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him
away free from thee; for he hath been worth a double hired servant to
thee, in serving thee six years: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in
all that thou doest.
19 All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of
thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work
with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy
sheep.
20 Thou shalt eat it before the LORD thy God year by year
in the place which the LORD shall choose, thou and thy household.
21 And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame,
or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the
LORD thy God.
22 Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the
clean person shall eat it alike, as the roebuck, and as the hart.
23 Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt
pour it upon the ground as water.
Chapter
16
1 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto
the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee
forth out of Egypt by night.
2 Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the
LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall
choose to place his name there.
3 Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days
shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction;
for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest
remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the
days of thy life.
4 And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in
all thy coast seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh,
which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the
morning.
5 Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy
gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee:
6 But at the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to
place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the
going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of
Egypt.
7 And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the
LORD thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto
thy tents.
8 Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the
seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD thy God: thou shalt do
no work therein.
9 Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number
the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the
corn.
10 And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD
thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou
shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath
blessed thee:
11 And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou,
and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant,
and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the
fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD
thy God hath chosen to place his name there.
12 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in
Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.
13 Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days,
after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine:
14 And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son,
and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite,
the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy
gates.
15 Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the LORD
thy God in the place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD thy God
shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine
hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.
16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before
the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of
unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of
tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
17 Every man shall give as he is able, according to the
blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee.
18 Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy
gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they
shall judge the people with just judgment.
19 Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect
persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise,
and pervert the words of the righteous.
20 That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that
thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the LORD thy God giveth
thee.
21 Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near
unto the altar of the LORD thy God, which thou shalt make thee.
22 Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the
LORD thy God hateth.
Chapter
17
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.
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,
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;
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:
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.
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.
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.
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;
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:
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:
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.
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.
13 And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more
presumptuously.
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;
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.
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.
17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his
heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver
and gold.
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:
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:
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.
Chapter
18
1 The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi,
shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the
offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance.
2 Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their
brethren: the LORD is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them.
3 And this shall be the priest's due from the people, from
them that offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep; and they shall
give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw.
4 The firstfruit also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of
thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give
him.
5 For the LORD thy God hath chosen him out of all thy
tribes, to stand to minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons for
ever.
6 And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of all
Israel, where he sojourned, and come with all the desire of his mind unto
the place which the LORD shall choose;
7 Then he shall minister in the name of the LORD his God,
as all his brethren the Levites do, which stand there before the
LORD.
8 They shall have like portions to eat, beside that which
cometh of the sale of his patrimony.
9 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God
giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those
nations.
10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh
his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth
divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.
11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or
a wizard, or a necromancer.
12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto
the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive
them out from before thee.
13 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.
14 For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened
unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy
God hath not suffered thee so to do.
15 The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from
the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall
hearken;
16 According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy
God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the
voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more,
that I die not.
17 And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that
which they have spoken.
18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their
brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall
speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not
hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it
of him.
20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in
my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in
the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the
word which the LORD hath not spoken?
22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the
thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath
not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not
be afraid of him.
Chapter
19
1 When the LORD thy God hath cut off the nations, whose
land the LORD thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest
in their cities, and in their houses;
2 Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst
of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.
3 Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the coasts of
thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts,
that every slayer may flee thither.
4 And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee
thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he
hated not in time past;
5 As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to
hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the
tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his
neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and
live:
6 Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer, while
his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him;
whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time
past.
7 Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate
three cities for thee.
8 And if the LORD thy God enlarge thy coast, as he hath
sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to
give unto thy fathers;
9 If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them,
which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever
in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these
three:
10 That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the
LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon
thee.
11 But if any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for
him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and
fleeth into one of these cities:
12 Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him
thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may
die.
13 Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away
the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with
thee.
14 Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark, which
they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit
in the land that the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.
15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any
iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two
witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be
established.
16 If a false witness rise up against any man to testify
against him that which is wrong;
17 Then both the men, between whom the controversy is,
shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges, which
shall be in those days;
18 And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and,
behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely
against his brother;
19 Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have
done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among
you.
20 And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall
henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.
21 And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for
life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for
foot.
Chapter
20
1 When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and
seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of
them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the
land of Egypt.
2 And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle,
that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,
3 And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach
this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear
not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them;
4 For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to
fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
5 And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying,
What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it?
let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another
man dedicate it.
6 And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and
hath not yet eaten of it? let him also go and return unto his house, lest
he die in the battle, and another man eat of it.
7 And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and
hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in
the battle, and another man take her.
8 And the officers shall speak further unto the people,
and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted?
let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as
well as his heart.
9 And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of
speaking unto the people that they shall make captains of the armies to
lead the people.
10 When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it,
then proclaim peace unto it.
11 And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and
open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found
therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.
12 And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make
war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:
13 And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine
hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the
sword:
14 But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and
all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto
thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy
God hath given thee.
15 Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very
far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.
16 But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy
God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that
breatheth:
17 But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the
Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the
Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded
thee:
18 That they teach you not to do after all their
abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin
against the LORD your God.
19 When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making
war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by
forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt
not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them
in the siege:
20 Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not
trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build
bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be
subdued.
Chapter
21
1 If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God
giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who
hath slain him:
2 Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and
they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is
slain:
3 And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the
slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath
not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;
4 And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer
unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off
the heifer's neck there in the valley:
5 And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for
them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in
the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every
stroke be tried:
6 And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the
slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the
valley:
7 And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed
this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.
8 Be merciful, O LORD, unto thy people Israel, whom thou
hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's
charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.
9 So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from
among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the
LORD.
10 When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and
the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken
them captive,
11 And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and
hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;
12 Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house, and she
shall shave her head, and pare her nails;
13 And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off
her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother
a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her
husband, and she shall be thy wife.
14 And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then
thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all
for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast
humbled her.
15 If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another
hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated;
and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated:
16 Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit
that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn
before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn:
17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the
firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is
the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.
18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will
not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that,
when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:
19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him,
and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his
place;
20 And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This
our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a
glutton, and a drunkard.
21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with
stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all
Israel shall hear, and fear.
22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and
he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:
23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but
thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is
accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God
giveth thee for an inheritance.
Chapter
22
1 Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go
astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them
again unto thy brother.
2 And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou
know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall
be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to
him again.
3 In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt
thou do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother's, which
he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not
hide thyself.
4 Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down
by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift
them up again.
5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a
man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are
abomination unto the LORD thy God.
6 If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way in
any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the
dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam
with the young:
7 But thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the
young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong
thy days.
8 When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a
battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if
any man fall from thence.
9 Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest
the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard,
be defiled.
10 Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass
together.
11 Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of
woollen and linen together.
12 Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of
thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.
13 If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate
her,
14 And give occasions of speech against her, and bring up
an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her,
I found her not a maid:
15 Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother,
take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel's virginity unto the elders
of the city in the gate:
16 And the damsel's father shall say unto the elders, I
gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her;
17 And, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her,
saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of
my daughter's virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders
of the city.
18 And the elders of that city shall take that man and
chastise him;
19 And they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of
silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath
brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his
wife; he may not put her away all his days.
20 But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity
be not found for the damsel:
21 Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her
father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that
she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in
her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.
22 If a man be found lying with a woman married to an
husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the
woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.
23 If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an
husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;
24 Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that
city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel,
because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath
humbled his neighbour's wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among
you.
25 But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and
the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her
shall die.
26 But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in
the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his
neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter:
27 For he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel
cried, and there was none to save her.
28 If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not
betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be
found;
29 Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the
damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife;
because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.
30 A man shall not take his father's wife, nor discover
his father's skirt.
Chapter
23
1 He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy
member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD.
2 A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the
LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the
congregation of the LORD.
3 An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the
congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not
enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever:
4 Because they met you not with bread and with water in
the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against
thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse
thee.
5 Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto
Balaam; but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee,
because the LORD thy God loved thee.
6 Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all
thy days for ever.
7 Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother:
thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his
land.
8 The children that are begotten of them shall enter into
the congregation of the LORD in their third generation.
9 When the host goeth forth against thine enemies, then
keep thee from every wicked thing.
10 If there be among you any man, that is not clean by
reason of uncleanness that chanceth him by night, then shall he go abroad
out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp:
11 But it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall wash
himself with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp
again.
12 Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither
thou shalt go forth abroad:
13 And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it
shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith,
and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee:
14 For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp,
to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall
thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from
thee.
15 Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant
which is escaped from his master unto thee:
16 He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place
which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best: thou
shalt not oppress him.
17 There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor
a sodomite of the sons of Israel.
18 Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price
of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both
these are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
19 Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of
money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon
usury:
20 Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto
thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the LORD thy God may
bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou
goest to possess it.
21 When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou
shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of
thee; and it would be sin in thee.
22 But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in
thee.
23 That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and
perform; even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the
LORD thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth.
24 When thou comest into thy neighbour's vineyard, then
thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure; but thou shalt not
put any in thy vessel.
25 When thou comest into the standing corn of thy
neighbour, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; but thou shalt
not move a sickle unto thy neighbour's standing corn.
Chapter
24
1 When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it
come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found
some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and
give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
2 And when she is departed out of his house, she may go
and be another man's wife.
3 And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill
of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his
house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife;
4 Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take
her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is
abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin,
which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
5 When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to
war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free
at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken.
6 No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to
pledge: for he taketh a man's life to pledge.
7 If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the
children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then
that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you.
8 Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe
diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall
teach you: as I commanded them, so ye shall observe to do.
9 Remember what the LORD thy God did unto Miriam by the
way, after that ye were come forth out of Egypt.
10 When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt
not go into his house to fetch his pledge.
11 Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost
lend shall bring out the pledge abroad unto thee.
12 And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his
pledge:
13 In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge again
when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless
thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the LORD thy
God.
14 Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor
and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in
thy land within thy gates:
15 At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall
the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it:
lest he cry against thee unto the LORD, and it be sin unto thee.
16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children,
neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man
shall be put to death for his own sin.
17 Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger,
nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge:
18 But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in
Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee
to do this thing.
19 When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and
hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it
shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the
LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.
20 When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go
over the boug