Chapter 4

15:19. Of the firstlings, that come of thy herds and thy sheep, thou shalt sanctify to the Lord thy God whatsoever is of the male sex. Thou shalt not work with the firstling of a bullock, and thou shalt not shear the firstlings of thy sheep.

15:20. In the sight of the Lord thy God shalt thou eat them every year, in the place that the Lord shall choose, thou and thy house.

15:21. But if it have a blemish, or be lame, or blind, or in any part disfigured or feeble, it shall not be sacrificed to the Lord thy God.

15:22. But thou shalt eat it within the gates of thy city: the clean and the unclean shall eat them alike, as the roe and as the hart.

15:23. Only thou shalt take heed not to eat their blood, but pour it out on the earth as water.

Deuteronomy Chapter 16

The three principal solemnities to be observed: just judges to be appointed in every city: all occasions of idolatry to be avoided.

16:1. Observe the month of new corn, which is the first of the spring, that thou mayst celebrate the phase to the Lord thy God: because in this month the Lord thy God brought thee out of Egypt by night.

16:2. And thou shalt sacrifice the phase to the Lord thy God, of sheep, and of oxen, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name may dwell there.

16:3. Thou shalt not eat with it leavened bread: seven days shalt thou eat without leaven, the bread of affliction, because thou camest out of Egypt in fear: that thou mayst remember the day of thy coming out of Egypt, all the days of thy life.

16:4. No leaven shall be seen in all thy coasts for seven days, neither shall any of the flesh of that which was sacrificed the first day in the evening remain until morning.

16:5. Thou mayst not immolate the phase in any one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God will give thee:

16:6. But in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name may dwell there: thou shalt immolate the phase in the evening, at the going down of the sun, at which time thou camest out of Egypt.

16:7. And thou shalt dress, and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, and in the morning rising up thou shalt go into thy dwellings.

16:8. Six days shalt thou eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day, because it is the assembly of the Lord thy God, thou shalt do no work.

16:9. Thou shalt number unto thee seven weeks from that day, wherein thou didst put the sickle to the corn.

16:10. And thou shalt celebrate the festival of weeks to the Lord thy God, a voluntary oblation of thy hand, which thou shalt offer according to the blessing of the Lord thy God.

16:11. And thou shalt feast 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, who abide with you: in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name may dwell there:

16:12. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in Egypt: and thou shalt keep and do the things that are commanded.

16:13. Thou shalt celebrate the solemnity also of tabernacles seven days, when thou hast gathered in thy fruit of the barnfloor and of the winepress.

16:14. And thou shalt make merry in thy festival time, thou, thy son, and thy daughter, thy manservant, and thy maidservant, the Levite also and the stranger, and the fatherless and the widow that are within thy gates.

16:15. Seven days shalt thou celebrate feasts to the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord shall choose: and the Lord thy God will belss thee in all thy fruits, and in every work of thy hands, and thou shalt be in joy.

16:16. 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, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles. No one shall appear with his hands empty before the Lord:

16:17. But every one shall offer according to what he hath, according to the blessing of the Lord his God, which he shall give him.

16:18. Thou shalt appoint judges and magistrates in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God shall give thee, in all thy tribes: that they may judge the people with just judgment,

16:19. And not go aside to either part. Thou shalt not accept person nor gifts: for gifts blind the eyes of the wise, and change the words of the just.

16:20. Thou shalt follow justly after that which is just: that thou mayst live and possess the land, which the Lord thy God shall give thee.

16:21. Thou shalt plant no grove, nor any tree near the altar of the Lord thy God:

16:22. Neither shalt thou make nor set up to thyself a statue: which things the Lord thy God hateth.

Deuteronomy Chapter 17

Victims must be without blemish. Idolaters are to be slain. Controversies are to be decided by the high priest and council, whose sentence must be obeyed under pain of death. The duty of a king, who is to receive the law of God at the priest's hands.

17:1. Thou shalt not sacrifice to the Lord thy God a sheep, or an ox, wherein there is blemish, or any fault: for that is an abomination to the Lord thy God.

17:2. When there shall be found among you within any of thy gates, which the Lord thy God shall give thee, man or woman that do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, and transgress his covenant,

17:3. So as to go and serve strange gods, and adore them, the sun and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which I have not commanded:

The host of heaven... That is, the stars.

17:4. And this is told thee, and hearing it thou hast inquired diligently, and found it to be true, and that the abomination is committed in Israel:

17:5. Thou shalt bring forth the man or the woman, who have committed that most wicked thing, to the gates of thy city, and they shall be stoned.

17:6. By the mouth of two or three witnesses shall he die that is to be slain. Let no man be put to death, when only one beareth witness against him.

17:7. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to kill him, and afterwards the hands of the rest of the people: that thou mayst take away the evil out of the midst of thee.

17:8. If thou perceive that there be among you a hard and doubtful matter in judgment between blood and blood, cause and cause, leprosy and leprosy: and thou see that the words of the judges within thy gates do vary: arise, and go up to the place, which the Lord thy God shall choose.

If thou perceive, etc... Here we see what authority God was pleased to give to the church guides of the Old Testament, in deciding, without appeal, all controversies relating to the law; promising that they should not err therein; and surely he has not done less for the church guides of the New Testament.

17:9. And thou shalt come to the priests of the Levitical race, and to the judge, that shall be at that time: and thou shalt ask of them, and they shall shew thee the truth of the judgment.

17:10. And thou shalt do whatsoever they shall say, that preside in the place, which the Lord shall choose, and what they shall teach thee,

17:11. According to his law; and thou shalt follow their sentence: neither shalt thou decline to the right hand nor to the left hand.

17:12. But he that will be proud, and refuse to obey the commandment of the priest, who ministereth at that time to the Lord thy God, and the decree of the judge, that man shall die, and thou shalt take away the evil from Israel:

17:13. And all the people hearing it shall fear, that no one afterwards swell with pride.

17:14. When thou art come into the land, which the Lord thy God will give thee, and possessest it, and shalt say: I will set a king over me, as all nations have that are round about:

17:15. Thou shalt set him whom the Lord thy God shall choose out of the number of thy brethren. Thou mayst not make a man of another nation king, that is not thy brother.

17:16. And when he is made king, he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor lead back the people into Egypt, being lifted up with the number of his horsemen, especially since the Lord hath commanded you to return no more the same way.

17:17. He shall not have many wives, that may allure his mind, nor immense sums of silver and gold.

17:18. But after he is raised to the throne of his kingdom, he shall copy out to himself the Deuteronomy of this law in a volume, taking the copy of the priests of the Levitical tribe,

17:19. And he shall have it with him, and shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, and keep his words and ceremonies, that are commanded in the law;

17:20. And that his heart be not lifted up with pride over his brethren, nor decline to the right or to the left, that he and his sons may reign a long time over Israel.

Deuteronomy Chapter 18

The Lord is the inheritance of the priests and Levites. Heathenish abominations are to be avoided. The great PROPHET CHRIST is promised. False prophets must be slain.

18:1. The priests and Levites, and all that are of the same tribe, shall have no part nor inheritance with the rest of Israel, because they shall eat the sacrifices of the Lord, and his oblations,

18:2. And they shall receive nothing else of the possession of their brethren: for the Lord himself is their inheritance, as he hath said to them.

18:3. This shall be the priest's due from the people, and from them that offer victims: whether they sacrifice an ox, or a sheep, they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the breast:

18:4. The firstfruits also of corn, of wine, and of oil, and a part of the wool from the shearing of their sheep.

18:5. For the Lord thy God hath chosen him of all thy tribes, to stand and to minister to the name of the Lord, him and his sons for ever.

18:6. If a Levite go out of any one of the cities throughout all Israel, in which he dwelleth, and have a longing mind to come to the place which the Lord shall choose,

18:7. He shall minister in the name of the Lord his God, as all his brethren the Levites do, that shall stand at that time before the Lord.

18:8. He shall receive the same portion of food that the rest do: besides that which is due to him in his own city, by succession from his fathers.

18:9. When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee, beware lest thou have a mind to imitate the abominations of those nations.

18:10. Neither let there be found among you any one that shall expiate his son or daughter, making them to pass through the fire: or that consulteth soothsayers, or observeth dreams and omens, neither let there be any wizard,

18:11. Nor charmer, nor any one that consulteth pythonic spirits, or fortune tellers, or that seeketh the truth from the dead.

18:12. For the Lord abhorreth all these things, and for these abominations he will destroy them at thy coming.

18:13. Thou shalt be perfect, and without spot before the Lord thy God.

18:14. These nations, whose land thou shalt possess, hearken to soothsayers and diviners: but thou art otherwise instructed by the Lord thy God.

18:15. The Lord thy God will raise up to thee a PROPHET of thy nation and of thy brethren like unto me: him thou shalt hear:

18:16. As thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the assembly was gathered together, and saidst: Let me not hear any more the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see any more this exceeding great fire, lest I die.

18:17. And the Lord said to me: They have spoken all things well.

18:18. I will raise them up a prophet out of the midst of their brethren like to thee: and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.

18:19. And he that will not hear his words, which he shall speak in my name, I will be the revenger.

18:20. But the prophet, who being corrupted with pride, shall speak in my name things that I did not command him to say, or in the name of strange gods, shall be slain.

18:21. And if in silent thought thou answer: How shall I know the word that the Lord hath not spoken?

18:22. Thou shalt have this sign: Whatsoever that same prophet foretelleth in the name of the Lord, and it cometh not to pass: that thing the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath forged it by the pride of his mind: and therefore thou shalt not fear him.

Deuteronomy Chapter 19

The cities of refuge. Wilful murder, and false witnesses must be punished.

19:1. When the Lord thy God hath destroyed the nations, whose land he will deliver to thee, and thou shalt possess it, and shalt dwell in the cities and houses thereof:

19:2. Thou shalt separate to thee three cities in the midst of the land, which the Lord will give thee in possession,

19:3. Paving diligently the way: and thou shalt divide the whole province of thy land equally into three parts: that he who is forced to flee for manslaughter, may have near at hand whither to escape.

19:4. This shall be the law of the slayer that fleeth, whose life is to be saved: He that killeth his neighbor ignorantly, and who is proved to have had no hatred against him yesterday and the day before:

19:5. But to have gone with him to the wood to hew wood, and in cutting down the tree the axe slipped out of his hand, and the iron slipping from the handle struck his friend, and killed him: he shall flee to one of the cities aforesaid, and live:

19:6. Lest perhaps the next kinsman of him whose blood was shed, pushed on by his grief should pursue, and apprehend him, if the way be too long, and take away the life of him who is not guilty of death, because he is proved to have had no hatred before against him that was slain.

19:7. Therefore I command thee, that thou separate three cities at equal distance one from another.

19:8. And when the Lord thy God shall have enlarged thy borders, as he swore to the fathers, and shall give thee all the land that he promised them,

19:9. (Yet so, if thou keep his commandments, and do the things which I command thee this day, that thou love the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways at all times) thou shalt add to thee other three cities, and shalt double the number of the three cities aforesaid:

19:10. That innocent blood may not be shed in the midst of the land which the Lord thy God will give thee to possess, lest thou be guilty of blood.

19:11. But if any man hating his neighbour, lie in wait for his life, and rise and strike him, and he die, and he flee to one of the cities aforesaid,

19:12. The ancients of his city shall send, and take him out of the place of refuge, and shall deliver him into the hand of the kinsman of him whose blood was shed, and he shall die.

19:13. Thou shalt not pity him, and thou shalt take away the guilt of innocent blood out of Israel, that it may be well with thee.

19:14. Thou shalt not take nor remove thy neighbour's landmark, which thy predecessors have set in thy possession, which the Lord thy God will give thee in the land that thou shalt receive to possess.

19:15. One witness shall not rise up against any man, whatsoever the sin or wickedness be: but in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall stand.

19:16. If a lying witness stand against a man, accusing him of transgression,

19:17. Both of them, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord in the sight of the priests and the judges that shall be in those days.

19:18. And when after most diligent inquisition, they shall find that the false witness hath told a lie against his brother:

19:19. They shall render to him as he meant to do to his brother, and thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee:

19:20. That others hearing may fear, and may not dare to do such things.

19:21. Thou shalt not pity him, but shalt require life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Deuteronomy Chapter 20

Laws relating to war.

20:1. If thou go out to war against thy enemies, and see horsemen and chariots, and the numbers of the enemy's army greater than thine, thou shalt not fear them: because the Lord thy God is with thee, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt.

20:2. And when the battle is now at hand, the priest shall stand before the army, and shall speak to the people in this manner:

20:3. Hear, O Israel, you join battle this day against your enemies, let not your heart be dismayed, be not afraid, do not give back, fear ye them not:

20:4. Because the Lord your God is in the midst of you, and will fight for you against your enemies, to deliver you from danger.

20:5. And the captains shall proclaim through every band in the hearing of the army: 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.

20:6. What man is there, that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not as yet made it to be common, whereof all men may eat? let him go, and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man execute his office.

20:7. What man is there, that hath espoused a wife, and not taken her? let him go, and return to his house, lest he die in the war, and another man take her.

20:8. After these things are declared they shall add the rest, and shall speak to the people: What man is there that is fearful, and faint hearted? let him go, and return to his house, lest he make the hearts of his brethren to fear, as he himself is possessed with fear.

20:9. And when the captains of the army shall hold their peace, and have made an end of speaking, every man shall prepare their bands to fight.

20:10. If at any time thou come to fight against a city, thou shalt first offer it peace.

20:11. If they receive it, and open the gates to thee, all the people that are therein, shall be saved, and shall serve thee paying tribute.

20:12. But if they will not make peace, and shall begin war against thee, thou shalt besiege it.

20:13. And when the Lord thy God shall deliver it into thy hands, thou shalt slay all that are therein of the male sex, with the edge of the sword,

20:14. Excepting women and children, cattle and other things, that are in the city. And thou shalt divide all the prey to the army, and thou shalt eat the spoils of thy enemies, which the Lord thy God shall give thee.

20:15. So shalt thou do to all cities that are at a great distance from thee, and are not of these cities which thou shalt receive in possession.

20:16. But of those cities that shall be given thee, thou shalt suffer none at all to live:

20:17. But shalt kill them with the edge of the sword, to wit, the Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Chanaanite, the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee:

20:18. Lest they teach you to do all the abominations which they have done to their gods: and you should sin against the Lord your God.

20:19. When thou hast besieged a city a long time, and hath compassed it with bulwarks, to take it, thou shalt not cut down the trees that may be eaten of, neither shalt thou spoil the country round about with axes: for it is a tree, and not a man, neither can it increase the number of them that fight against thee.

20:20. But if there be any trees that are not fruitful, but wild, and fit for other uses, cut them down, and make engines, until thou take the city, which fighteth against thee.

Deuteronomy Chapter 21

The expiation of a secret murder. The marrying a captive. The eldest son must not be deprived of his birthright for hatred of his mother. A stubborn son is to be stoned to death. When one is hanged on a gibbet, he must be taken down the same day and buried.

21:1. When there shall be found in the land, which the Lord thy God will give thee, the corpse of a man slain, and it is not known who is guilty of the murder,

21:2. Thy ancients and judges shall go out, and shall measure from the place where the body lieth the distance of every city round about:

21:3. And the ancients of that city which they shall perceive to be nearer than the rest, shall take a heifer of the herd, that hath not drawn in the yoke, nor ploughed the ground,

21:4. And they shall bring her into a rough and stony valley, that never was ploughed, nor sown: and there they shall strike off the head of the heifer:

21:5. And the priests the sons of Levi shall come, whom the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister to him, and to bless in his name, and that by their word every matter should be decided, and whatsoever is clean or unclean should be judged.

21:6. And the ancients of that city shall come to the person slain, and shall wash their hands over the heifer that was killed in the valley,

21:7. And shall say: Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.

21:8. Be merciful to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, O Lord, and lay not innocent blood to their charge, in the midst of thy people Israel. And the guilt of blood shall be taken from them:

21:9. And thou shalt be free from the innocent's blood, that was shed, when thou shalt have done what the Lord hath commanded thee.

21:10. If thou go out to fight against thy enemies, and the Lord thy God deliver them into thy hand, and thou lead them away captives,

21:11. And seest in the number of the captives a beautiful woman, and lovest her, and wilt have her to wife,

21:12. Thou shalt bring her into thy house: and she shall shave her hair, and pare her nails,

21:13. And shall put off the raiment, wherein she was taken: and shall remain in thy house, and mourn for her father and mother one month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and shalt sleep with her, and she shall be thy wife.

21:14. But if afterwards she please thee not, thou shalt let her go free, but thou mayst not sell her for money nor oppress her by might because thou hast humbled her.

21:15. If a man have two wives, one beloved, and the other hated, and they have had children by him, and the son of the hated be the firstborn,

21:16. And he meaneth to divide his substance among his sons: he may not make the son of the beloved the firstborn, and prefer him before the son of the hated.

21:17. But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, and shall give him a double portion of all he hath: for this is the first of his children, and to him are due the first birthrights.

21:18. If a man have a stubborn and unruly son, who will not hear the commandments of his father or mother, and being corrected, slighteth obedience:

21:19. They shall take him and bring him to the ancients of the city, and to the gate of judgment,

21:20. And shall say to them: This our son is rebellious and stubborn, he slighteth hearing our admonitions, he giveth himself to revelling, and to debauchery and banquetings:

21:21. The people of the city shall stone him: and he shall die, that you may take away the evil out of the midst of you, and all Israel hearing it may be afraid.

21:22. When a man hath committed a crime for which he is to be punished with death, and being condemned to die is hanged on a gibbet:

21:23. His body shall not remain upon the tree, but shall be buried the same day: for he is accursed of God that hangeth on a tree: and thou shalt not defile thy land, which the Lord thy God shall give thee in possession.

Deuteronomy Chapter 22

Humanity towards neighbours. Neither sex may use the apparel of the other. Cruelty to be avoided even to birds. Battlements about the roof of a house. Things of divers kinds not to be mixed. The punishment of him that slandereth his wife, as also of adultery and rape.

22:1. Thou shalt not pass by if thou seest thy brother's ox, or his sheep go astray: but thou shalt bring them back to thy brother.

22:2. And if thy brother be not nigh, or thou know him not: thou shalt bring them to thy house, and they shall be with thee until thy brother seek them, and receive them.