18.
1 "The
priests, the Levites--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
portion.
2
"Therefore they shall have no inheritance among their brethren; the LORD
is their inheritance, as He said to them.
3 "And
this shall be the priest's due from the people, from those who offer a
sacrifice, whether it is bull or sheep: they shall give to the priest the
shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach.
4 "The
firstfruits of your grain and your new wine and your oil, and the first of the
fleece of your sheep, you shall give him.
5 "For the
LORD your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in the
name of the LORD, him and his sons forever.
6 "So if a
Levite comes from any of your gates, from where he dwells among all Israel, and
comes with all the desire of his mind to the place which the LORD chooses,
7 "then he
may serve in the name of the LORD his God as all his brethren the Levites do,
who stand there before the LORD.
8 "They
shall have equal portions to eat, besides what comes from the sale of his
inheritance.
9 "When
you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not
learn to follow the abominations of those nations.
10 "There
shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass
through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who
interprets omens, or a sorcerer,
11 "or one
who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.
12 "For
all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these
abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you.
13 "You
shall be blameless before the LORD your God.
14 "For
these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners;
but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you.
15 "The
LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from
your brethren. Him you shall hear,
16
"according to all you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of
the assembly, saying, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, nor
let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.'
17 "And
the LORD said to me: 'What they have spoken is good.
18 'I will
raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My
words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.
19 'And it
shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I
will require it of him.
20 'But the
prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him
to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.'
21 "And if
you say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word which the LORD has not
spoken?'--
22 "when a
prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to
pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken
it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
19.
1 "When
the LORD your God has cut off the nations whose land the LORD your God is
giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their
houses,
2 "you
shall separate three cities for yourself in the midst of your land which the
LORD your God is giving you to possess.
3 "You
shall prepare roads for yourself, and divide into three parts the territory of
your land which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, that any manslayer
may flee there.
4 "And
this is the case of the manslayer who flees there, that he may live: Whoever
kills his neighbor unintentionally, not having hated him in time past--
5 "as when
a man goes to the woods with his neighbor to cut timber, and his hand swings a
stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and
strikes his neighbor so that he dies--he shall flee to one of these cities and
live;
6 "lest
the avenger of blood, while his anger is hot, pursue the manslayer and overtake
him, because the way is long, and kill him, though he was not deserving of
death, since he had not hated the victim in time past.
7
"Therefore I command you, saying, 'You shall separate three cities for
yourself.'
8 "Now if
the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and
gives you the land which He promised to give to your fathers,
9 "and if
you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love
the LORD your God and to walk always in His ways, then you shall add three more
cities for yourself besides these three,
10 "lest
innocent blood be shed in the midst of your land which the LORD your God is
giving you as an inheritance, and thus guilt of bloodshed be upon you.
11 "But if
anyone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes
him mortally, so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities,
12 "then
the elders of his city shall send and bring him from there, and deliver him
over to the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.
13 "Your
eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from
Israel, that it may go well with you.
14 "You
shall not remove your neighbor's landmark, which the men of old have set, in
your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the LORD your God is
giving you to possess.
15 "One
witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he
commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be
established.
16 "If a
false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing,
17 "then
both men in the controversy shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and
the judges who serve in those days.
18 "And
the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false
witness, who has testified falsely against his brother,
19 "then
you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put
away the evil from among you.
20 "And
those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit
such evil among you.
21 "Your
eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand
for hand, foot for foot.
20.
1 "When
you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and
people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God
is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
2 "So it
shall be, when you are on the verge of battle, that the priest shall approach
and speak to the people.
3 "And he
shall say to them, 'Hear, O Israel: Today you are on the verge of battle with
your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble
or be terrified because of them;
4 'for the LORD
your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to
save you.'
5 "Then
the officers shall speak to the people, saying: 'What man is there who has
built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house,
lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it.
6 'Also what
man is there who has planted a vineyard and has not eaten of it? Let him go and
return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man eat of it.
7 'And what man
is there who is betrothed to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and
return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man marry her.'
8 "The
officers shall speak further to the people, and say, 'What man is there who is
fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest the heart of
his brethren faint like his heart.'
9 "And so
it shall be, when the officers have finished speaking to the people, that they
shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.
10 "When
you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it.
11 "And it
shall be that if they accept your offer of peace, and open to you, then all the
people who are found in it shall be placed under tribute to you, and serve you.
12 "Now if
the city will not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you
shall besiege it.
13 "And
when the LORD your God delivers it into your hands, you shall strike every male
in it with the edge of the sword.
14 "But
the women, the little ones, the livestock, and all that is in the city, all its
spoil, you shall plunder for yourself; and you shall eat the enemies' plunder
which the LORD your God gives you.
15 "Thus
you shall do to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not of
the cities of these nations.
16 "But of
the cities of these peoples which the LORD your God gives you as an
inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive,
17 "but
you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite
and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the LORD your God
has commanded you,
18 "lest
they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done
for their gods, and you sin against the LORD your God.
19 "When
you besiege a city for a long time, while making war against it to take it, you
shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them; if you can eat of
them, do not cut them down to use in the siege, for the tree of the field is
man's food.
20 "Only
the trees which you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down,
to build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it is
subdued.
21.
1 "If
anyone is found slain, lying in the field in the land which the LORD your God
is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him,
2 "then
your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance from the
slain man to the surrounding cities.
3 "And it
shall be that the elders of the city nearest to the slain man will take a
heifer which has not been worked and which has not pulled with a yoke.
4 "The
elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with flowing water,
which is neither plowed nor sown, and they shall break the heifer's neck there
in the valley.
5 "Then
the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the LORD your God has
chosen them to minister to Him and to bless in the name of the LORD; by their
word every controversy and every assault shall be settled.
6 "And all
the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over
the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley.
7 "Then
they shall answer and say, 'Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our
eyes seen it.
8 'Provide
atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not
lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel.' And atonement shall be
provided on their behalf for the blood.
9 "So you
shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you when you do what is
right in the sight of the LORD.
10 "When
you go out to war against your enemies, and the LORD your God delivers them
into your hand, and you take them captive,
11 "and
you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and desire her and would take her
for your wife,
12 "then
you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim
her nails.
13 "She
shall put off the clothes of her captivity, remain in your house, and mourn her
father and her mother a full month; after that you may go in to her and be her
husband, and she shall be your wife.
14 "And it
shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall set her free, but you
certainly shall not sell her for money; you shall not treat her brutally,
because you have humbled her.
15 "If a
man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and they have borne him
children, both the loved and the unloved, and if the firstborn son is of her
who is unloved,
16 "then
it shall be, on the day he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, that he must
not bestow firstborn status on the son of the loved wife in preference to the
son of the unloved, the true firstborn.
17 "But he
shall acknowledge the son of the unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a
double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; the
right of the firstborn is his.
18 "If a
man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father
or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not
heed them,
19 "then
his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the
elders of his city, to the gate of his city.
20 "And
they shall say to the elders of his city, 'This son of ours is stubborn and
rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.'
21 "Then
all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put
away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.
22 "If a
man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you
hang him on a tree,
23 "his
body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that
day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you
as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.