Category: Deuteronomy

Remember and Obey

1 “Therefore, love theLordyour God and always keep His mandate and His statutes, ordinances, and commands.

2 You must understand today that it is not your children who experienced or saw the discipline of theLordyour God:

His greatness, strong hand, and outstretched arm;

3 His signs and the works He did in Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land;

4 what He did to Egypt’s army, its horses and chariots, when He made the waters of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued you, and He destroyed themcompletely;

5 what He did to you in the wilderness until you reached this place;

6 and what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when in the middle of the whole Israelite camp the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing with them.

7 Your own eyes have seenevery great work theLordhas done.

8 “Keep every command I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to cross into and possess the land you are to inherit,

9 and so that you may live longin the land theLordswore to your fathers to give them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.

10 For the land you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated by handas in a vegetable garden.

11 But the land you are entering to possess is a land of mountains and valleys, watered by rain from the sky.

12 It is a land theLordyour God cares for. He is always watching over itfrom the beginning to the end of the year.

13 “If you carefully obey my commands I am giving you today, to love theLordyour God and worship Him with all your heart and all your soul,

14 Iwill provide rain for your land in the proper time, the autumn and spring rains,and you will harvest your grain, new wine, and oil.

15 Iwill provide grass in your fields for your livestock. You will eat and be satisfied.

16 Be carefulthat you are not enticed to turn aside, worship, and bow down to other gods.

17 Then theLord’s anger will burn against you.He will close the sky, and there will be no rain;the land will not yield its produce, and you will perish quickly from the good landtheLordis giving you.

18 “Imprint these words of mine on your hearts and minds, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbolon your foreheads.

19 Teach them to your children,talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

20 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,

21 so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your children may be many in the land theLordswore to give your fathers.

22 For if you carefully observe every one of these commands I am giving you to follow — to love theLordyour God, walk in all His ways, and remain faithfulto Him —

23 theLordwill drive out all these nations before you, and you will drive out nations greater and stronger than you are.

24 Every place the sole of your foot treads will be yours.Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon and from the Euphrates Riverto the Mediterranean Sea.

25 No one will be able to stand against you; theLordyour God will put fear and dread of you in all the land where you set foot, as He has promised you.

A Blessing and a Curse

26 “Look, today I set before you a blessing and a curse:

27 there will be a blessing, if you obey the commands of theLordyour God I am giving you today,

28 and a curse, if you do not obey the commands of theLordyour God and you turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods you have not known.

29 When theLordyour God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal.

30 Aren’t these mountains across the Jordan, beyond the western road in the land of the Canaanites, who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, near the oaksof Moreh?

31 For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land theLordyour God is giving you. When you possess it and settle in it,

32 be careful to follow all the statutes and ordinances I set before you today.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/DEU/11-e5374bbdf9924c4379016e07bc064641.mp3?version_id=72—

The Chosen Place of Worship

1 “Be careful to follow these statutes and ordinances in the land that Yahweh, the God of your fathers,has given you to possess all the days you live on the earth.

2 Destroy completely all the places where the nations that you are driving out worship their gods— on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.

3 Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the carved images of their gods, and wipe out their names from everyplace.

4 Don’t worship theLordyour God this way.

5 Instead, you must turn to the place Yahweh your God choosesfrom all your tribes to put His name for His dwelling and go there.

6 You are to bring there your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tenths and personal contributions,your vow offerings and freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.

7 You will eat there in the presence of theLordyour God and rejoice with your household in everything you do,because theLordyour God has blessed you.

8 “You are not to do as we are doing here today; everyone is doing whatever seems right in his own eyes.

9 Indeed, you have not yet come into the resting placeand the inheritancetheLordyour God is giving you.

10 When you cross the Jordan and live in the land theLordyour God is giving you to inherit,and He gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you live in security,

11 then Yahweh your God will choose the place to have His name dwell.Bring there everything I command you: your burnt offerings, sacrifices, offerings of the tenth, personal contributions,and all your choice offerings you vow to theLord.

12 You will rejoicebefore theLordyour God — you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.

13 Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in all the sacred places you see.

14 You must offer your burnt offerings only in the place theLordchooses in one of your tribes, and there you must do everything I command you.

Slaughtering Animals to Eat

15 “But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates,according to the blessing theLordyour God has given you. Those who are clean or unclean may eat it, as they would a gazelle or deer,

16 but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.

17 Within your gates you may not eat: the tenth of your grain, new wine, or oil; the firstborn of your herd or flock; any of your vow offerings that you pledge; your freewill offerings; or your personal contributions.

18 You must eat them in the presence of theLordyour God at the place theLordyour God chooses — you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and the Levite who is within your gates. Rejoice before theLordyour God in everything you do,

19 and be careful not to neglect the Levite, as long as you live in your land.

20 “When theLordyour God enlarges your territory as He has promised you,and you say, ‘I want to eat meat’ because you have a strong desire to eat meat, you may eat it whenever you want.

21 If the place where Yahweh your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, you may slaughter any of your herd or flock He has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat it within your gates whenever you want.

22 Indeed, you may eat it as the gazelle and deer are eaten; both the clean and the unclean may eat it.

23 But don’t eat the blood, since the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.

24 Do not eat blood; pour it on the ground like water.

25 Do not eat it, so that you and your children after you will prosper, because you will be doing what is right in theLord’s sight.

26 “But you are to take the holy offerings you have and your vow offerings and go to the place theLordchooses.

27 Present the meat and blood of your burnt offerings on the altar of theLordyour God. The blood of your other sacrifices is to be poured out beside the altar of theLordyour God, but you may eat the meat.

28 Be careful to obey all these things I command you, so that you and your children after you may prosper forever, because you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of theLordyour God.

29 “When theLordyour God annihilates the nations before you,which you are entering to take possession of,and you drive them out and live in their land,

30 be careful not to be ensnared by their waysafter they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, ‘How did these nations worship their gods? I’ll also do the same.’

31 You must not do the same to theLordyour God, because they practice every detestable thing, which theLordhates, for their gods. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.

32 You must be careful to do everything I command you; do not add anything to it or take anything away from it.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/DEU/12-20677c0cae8b3cce7cbb2e156b11bda9.mp3?version_id=72—

The False Prophet

1 “If a prophet or someone who has dreamsarises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,

2 and that sign or wonder he has promised you comes about, but he says, ‘Let us follow other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us worship them,’

3 do not listen to that prophet’s words or to that dreamer. For theLordyour God is testing you to know whether you love theLordyour God with all your heart and all your soul.

4 You must follow theLordyour God and fear Him. You must keep His commands and listen to His voice; you must worship Him and remain faithfulto Him.

5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death,because he has urged rebellion against theLordyour God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the place of slavery,to turn you from the way theLordyour God has commanded you to walk. You must purge the evil from you.

Don’t Tolerate Idolatry

6 “If your brother, the son of your mother,or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and worship other gods’ — which neither you nor your fathers have known,

7 any of the gods of the peoples around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other —

8 you must not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity,and do not spare him or shield him.

9 Instead, you must kill him. Your hand is to be the first against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people.

10 Stone him to death for trying to turn you away from theLordyour God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.

11 All Israel will hear and be afraid, and they will no longer do anything evil like this among you.

12 “If you hear it said about one of your cities theLordyour God is giving you to live in,

13 that wicked men have sprung up among you, led the inhabitants of their city astray, and said, ‘Let us go and worship other gods,’ which you have not known,

14 you are to inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. If the report turns out to be true that this detestable thing has happened among you,

15 you must strike down the inhabitants of that city with the sword. Completely destroy everyone in it as well as its livestock with the sword.

16 You are to gather all its spoil in the middle of the city square and completely burn up the city and all its spoil for theLordyour God. The city must remain a mound of ruins forever;it is not to be rebuilt.

17 Nothing set apart for destruction is to remain in your hand, so that theLordwill turn from His burning anger and grant you mercy, show you compassion, and multiply you as He swore to your fathers.

18 This will occur if you obey theLordyour God, keeping all His commands I am giving you today, doing what is right in the sight of theLordyour God.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/DEU/13-6eb4bc3c3f8e92e10f588c2fb15aed17.mp3?version_id=72—

Forbidden Practices

1 “You are sons of theLordyour God;do not cut yourselves or make a bald spot on your headon behalf of the dead,

2 for you are a holy people belonging to theLordyour God. TheLordhas chosen you to be His own possessionout of all the peoples on the face of the earth.

Clean and Unclean Foods

3 “You must not eat any detestable thing.

4 These are the animals you may eat:

the ox, the sheep, the goat,

5 the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer,

the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope,

and the mountain sheep.

6 You may eat any animal that has hooves divided in two and chews the cud.

7 But among the ones that chew the cud or have divided hooves, you are not to eat these:

the camel, the hare, and the hyrax,

though they chew the cud, they do not have hooves —

they are unclean for you;

8 and the pig, though it has hooves, it does not chew the cud —

it is unclean for you.

You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses.

9 “You may eat everything from the water that has fins and scales,

10 but you may not eat anything that does not have fins and scales — it is unclean for you.

11 “You may eat every clean bird,

12 but these are the ones you may not eat:

the eagle, the bearded vulture,

the black vulture,

13 the kite,

any kind of falcon,

14 every kind of raven,

15 the ostrich,

the short-eared owl, the gull,

any kind of hawk,

16 the little owl, the long-eared owl,

the white owl,

17 the desert owl,

the osprey, the cormorant,

18 the stork,

any kind of heron,

the hoopoe, and the bat.

19 All winged insects are unclean for you; they may not be eaten.

20 But you may eat every clean flying creature.

21 “You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to a temporary resident living within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to theLordyour God. You must not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

A Tenth for the Lord

22 “Each year you are to set aside a tenth of all the produce grown in your fields.

23 You are to eat a tenth of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, in the presence of Yahweh your God at the place where He chooses to have His name dwell,so that you will always learn to feartheLordyour God.

24 But if the distance is too great for you to carry it, since the place where Yahweh your God chooses to put His name is too far away from you and since theLordyour God has blessed you,

25 then exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place theLordyour God chooses.

26 You may spend the money on anything you want: cattle, sheep, wine, beer, or anything you desire. You are to feast there in the presence of theLordyour God and rejoice with your family.

27 Do not neglect the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.

28 “At the end of every three years, bring a tenth of all your produce for that year and store it within your gates.

29 Then the Levite, who has no portion or inheritance among you, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come, eat, and be satisfied.And theLordyour God will bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/DEU/14-debc0fe83abbe16d934dad1209c181f2.mp3?version_id=72—

Debts Canceled

1 “At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.

2 This is how to cancel debt: Every creditoris to cancel what he has lent his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because theLord’s release of debts has been proclaimed.

3 You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you.

4 “There will be no poor among you, however, because theLordis certain to bless you in the land theLordyour God is giving you to possess as an inheritance—

5 if only you obey theLordyour God and are careful to follow every one of these commands I am giving you today.

6 When theLordyour God blesses you as He has promised you, you will lend to many nations but not borrow; you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.

Lending to the Poor

7 “If there is a poor person among you, one of your brothers within any of your gates in the land theLordyour God is giving you, you must not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother.

8 Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him enough for whatever need he has.

9 Be careful that there isn’t this wicked thought in your heart, ‘The seventh year, the year of canceling debts, is near,’ and you are stingy toward your poor brother and give him nothing. He will cry out to theLordagainst you, and you will be guilty.

10 Give to him, and don’t have a stingy heartwhen you give, and because of this theLordyour God will bless you in all your work and in everything you do.

11 For there will never cease to be poor people in the land;that is why I am commanding you, ‘You must willingly open your hand to your afflicted and poor brother in your land.’

Release of Slaves

12 “If your fellow Hebrew, a man or woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, you must set him free in the seventh year.

13 When you set him free, do not send him away empty-handed.

14 Give generously to him from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You are to give him whatever theLordyour God has blessed you with.

15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and theLordyour God redeemedyou; that is why I am giving you this command today.

16 But if your slave says to you, ‘I don’t want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your family, and is well off with you,

17 take an awl and pierce through his ear into the door, and he will become your slave for life. Also treat your female slave the same way.

18 Do not regard it as a hardshipwhen you set him free, because he worked for you six years — worth twice the wages of a hired hand. Then theLordyour God will bless you in everything you do.

Consecration of Firstborn Animals

19 “You must consecrate to theLordyour God every firstborn male produced by your herd and flock.You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work or shear the firstborn of your flock.

20 Each year you and your family are to eat it before theLordyour God in the place theLordchooses.

21 But if there is a defect in the animal, if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect, you must not sacrifice it to theLordyour God.

22 Eat it within your gates; both the unclean person and the clean may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or deer.

23 But you must not eat its blood; pour it on the ground like water.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/DEU/15-b4ce51991028ba5209f174197a59e6c8.mp3?version_id=72—

The Festival of Passover

1 “Observe the month of Abiband celebrate the Passover to theLordyour God, because theLordyour God brought you out of Egypt by night in the month of Abib.

2 Sacrifice to Yahweh your God a Passover animal from the herd or flock in the place where theLordchooses to have His name dwell.

3 You must not eat leavened bread with it.For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of hardship — because you left the land of Egypt in a hurry— so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt.

4 No yeast is to be found anywhere in your territory for seven days,and none of the meat you sacrifice in the evening of the first day is to remain until morning.

5 You are not to sacrifice the Passover animal in any of the towns theLordyour God is giving you.

6 You must only sacrifice the Passover animal at the place where Yahweh your God chooses to have His name dwell. Do this in the evening as the sun sets at the same time of day you departed from Egypt.

7 You are to cook and eat it in the place theLordyour God chooses, and you are to return to your tents in the morning.

8 You must eat unleavened bread for six days. On the seventh day there is to be a solemn assembly to theLordyour God, and you must not do any work.

The Festival of Weeks

9 “You are to count seven weeks, counting the weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain.

10 You are to celebrate the Festival of Weeksto theLordyour God with a freewill offeringthat you give in proportion to how theLordyour God has blessed you.

11 Rejoicebefore Yahweh your God in the place where He chooses to have His name dwell — you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow among you.

12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt; carefully follow these statutes.

The Festival of Booths

13 “You are to celebrate the Festival of Boothsfor seven days when you have gathered in everything from your threshing floor and winepress.

14 Rejoice during your festival — you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, as well as the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates.

15 You are to hold a seven-day festival for theLordyour God in the place He chooses, because theLordyour God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands,and you will have abundant joy.

16 “All your males are to appear three times a yearbefore theLordyour God in the place He chooses: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths. No one is to appear before theLordempty-handed.

17 Everyone must appear with a gift suited to his means, according to the blessing theLordyour God has given you.

Appointing Judges and Officials

18 “Appoint judges and officials for your tribes in all your towns theLordyour God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.

19 Do not deny justice or show partiality to anyone. Do not accept a bribe, for it blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

20 Pursue justice and justice alone, so that you will live and possess the land theLordyour God is giving you.

Forbidden Worship

21 “Do not set up an Asherah of any kind of wood next to the altar you will build for theLordyour God,

22 and do not set up a sacred pillar; theLordyour God hates them.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/DEU/16-cb6d7cc067725e44e90e79bacfba368e.mp3?version_id=72—

1 “You must not sacrifice to theLordyour God an ox or sheep with a defect or any serious flaw, for that is detestable to theLordyour God.

The Judicial Procedure for Idolatry

2 “If a man or woman among you in one of your towns that theLordyour God will give you is discovered doing evil in the sight of theLordyour God and violating His covenant

3 and has gone to worship other godsby bowing down to the sun, moon, or all the stars in the sky— which I have forbidden—

4 and if you are told or hear about it, you must investigate it thoroughly. If the report turns out to be true that this detestable thing has happened in Israel,

5 you must bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing and stone them to death.

6 The one condemned to die is to be executed on the testimony of two or three witnesses.No one is to be executed on the testimony of a single witness.

7 The witnesses’ hands are to be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people.You must purge the evil from you.

Difficult Cases

8 “If a case is too difficult for you — concerning bloodshed,lawsuits,or assaults— cases disputed at your gates,you must go up to the place theLordyour God chooses.

9 You are to go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who presides at that time. Ask, and they will give you a verdict in the case.

10 You must abide by the verdict they give you at the place theLordchooses. Be careful to do exactly as they instruct you.

11 You must abide by the instruction they give you and the verdict they announce to you. Do not turn to the right or the left from the decision they declare to you.

12 The person who acts arrogantly, refusing to listen either to the priest who stands there serving theLordyour God or to the judge, must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.

13 Then all the people will hear about it, be afraid, and no longer behave arrogantly.

Appointing a King

14 “When you enter the land theLordyour God is giving you,take possession of it, live in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations around me,’

15 you are to appoint over you the king theLordyour God chooses.Appoint a king from your brothers. You are not to set a foreigner over you, or one who is not of your people.

16 However, he must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses, for theLordhas told you, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’

17 He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won’t go astray.He must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself.

18 When he is seated on his royal throne, he is to write a copy of this instruction for himself on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.

19 It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to feartheLordhis God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these statutes.

20 Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, he will not turn from this command to the right or the left, and he and his sons will continue ruling many yearsover Israel.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/DEU/17-946fc345d4db75b0ebbdaedffd7538ce.mp3?version_id=72—

Provisions for the Levites

1 “The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, will have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They will eat theLord’s fire offerings; that is theirinheritance.

2 Although Levi has no inheritance among his brothers, theLordis his inheritance, as He promised him.

3 This is the priests’ share from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether it is an ox, a sheep, or a goat; the priests are to be given the shoulder, jaws, and stomach.

4 You are to give him the firstfruits of your grain, new wine, and oil,and the first sheared wool of your flock.

5 For Yahweh your God has chosen him and his sons from all your tribes to stand and minister in His name from now on.

6 When a Levite leaves one of your towns where he lives in Israel and wants to go to the place theLordchooses,

7 he may serve in the name of Yahweh his God like all his fellow Levites who minister there in the presence of theLord.

8 They will eat equal portions besides what he has received from the sale of the family estate.

Occult Practices versus Prophetic Revelation

9 “When you enter the land theLordyour God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable customs of those nations.

10 No one among you is to make his son or daughter pass through the fire,practice divination, tell fortunes, interpret omens, practice sorcery,

11 cast spells, consult a medium or a familiar spirit, or inquire of the dead.

12 Everyone who does these things is detestable to theLord, and theLordyour God is driving out the nations before you because of these detestable things.

13 You must be blameless before theLordyour God.

14 Though these nations you are about to drive out listen to fortune-tellers and diviners, theLordyour God has not permitted you to do this.

15 “TheLordyour God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers.You must listen to him.

16 This is what you requested from theLordyour God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let us not continue to hear the voice of theLordour God or see this great fire any longer, so that we will not die! ’

17 Then theLordsaid to me, ‘They have spoken well.

18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.

19 I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to My words that he speaks in My name.

20 But the prophet who dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods — that prophet must die.’

21 You may say to yourself, ‘How can we recognize a message theLordhas not spoken? ’

22 When a prophet speaks in theLord’s name, and the message does not come true or is not fulfilled, that is a message theLordhas not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/DEU/18-0e958106dcd7f373d1a1f224694d6322.mp3?version_id=72—

Cities of Refuge

1 “When theLordyour God annihilates the nations whose land He is giving you,so that you drive them out and live in their cities and houses,

2 you are to set apart three cities for yourselves within the land theLordyour God is giving you to possess.

3 You are to determine the distancesand divide the land theLordyour God is granting you as an inheritance into three regions, so that anyone who commits manslaughter can flee to these cities.

4 “Here is the law concerning a case of someone who kills a person and flees there to save his life, having killed his neighbor accidentally without previously hating him:

5 If he goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut timber, and his hand swings the ax to chop down a tree, but the blade flies off the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies, that person may flee to one of these cities and live.

6 Otherwise, the avenger of blood in the heat of his angermight pursue the one who committed manslaughter, overtake him because the distance is great, and strike him dead. Yet he did not deserve to die,since he did not previously hate his neighbor.

7 This is why I am commanding you to set apart three cities for yourselves.

8 If theLordyour God enlarges your territory as He swore to your fathers, and gives you all the land He promised to give them —

9 provided you keep every one of these commands I am giving you today and follow them, loving theLordyour God and walking in His ways at all times — you are to add three more cities to these three.

10 In this way, innocent blood will not be shed, and you will not become guilty of bloodshed in the land theLordyour God is giving you as an inheritance.

11 But if someone hates his neighbor, lies in ambush for him, attacks him, and strikes him fatally, and flees to one of these cities,

12 the elders of his city must send for him, take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood and he will die.

13 You must not look on him with pity but purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, and you will prosper.

Boundary Markers

14 “You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker,established at the start in the inheritance you will receive in the land theLordyour God is giving you to possess.

Witnesses in Court

15 “One witness cannot establish any wrongdoing or sin against a person, whatever that person has done.A fact must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

16 “If a malicious witnesstestifies against someone accusing him of a crime,

17 the two people in the dispute must stand in the presence of theLordbefore the priests and judges in authority at that time.

18 The judges are to make a careful investigation, and if the witness turns out to be a liar who has falsely accused his brother,

19 you must do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from you.

20 Then everyone else will hear and be afraid, and they will never again do anything evil like this among you.

21 You must not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/DEU/19-bc1e36de75e908a8ee3f6693aaf94d13.mp3?version_id=72—

Rules for War

1 “When you go out to war against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and an army larger than yours,do not be afraid of them, for theLordyour God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt,is with you.

2 When you are about to engage in battle, the priest is to come forward and address the army.

3 He is to say to them: ‘Listen, Israel: Today you are about to engage in battle with your enemies. Do not be cowardly. Do not be afraid, alarmed, or terrified because of them.

4 For theLordyour God is the One who goes with you to fight for youagainst your enemies to give you victory.’

5 “The officers are to address the army, ‘Has any man built a new house and not dedicated it? Let him leave and return home. Otherwise, he may die in battle and another man dedicate it.

6 Has any man planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy its fruit?Let him leave and return home. Otherwise he may die in battle and another man enjoy its fruit.

7 Has any man become engaged to a woman and not married her? Let him leave and return home. Otherwise he may die in battle and another man marry her.’

8 The officers will continue to address the army and say, ‘Is there any man who is afraid or cowardly? Let him leave and return home, so that his brothers’ hearts won’t melt like his own.’

9 When the officers have finished addressing the army, they will appoint military commanders to lead it.

10 “When you approach a city to fight against it, you must make an offer of peace.

11 If it accepts your offer of peace and opens its gates to you, all the people found in it will become forced laborers for you and serve you.

12 However, if it does not make peace with you but wages war against you, lay siege to it.

13 When theLordyour God hands it over to you, you must strike down all its males with the sword.

14 But you may take the women, children, animals, and whatever else is in the city — all its spoil — as plunder. You may enjoy the spoil of your enemies that theLordyour God has given you.

15 This is how you are to treat all the cities that are far away from you and are not among the cities of these nations.

16 However, you must not let any living thing survive among the cities of these people theLordyour God is giving you as an inheritance.

17 You must completely destroy them — the Hittite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite — as theLordyour God has commanded you,

18 so that they won’t teach you to do all the detestable things they do for their gods, and you sin against theLordyour God.

19 “When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it in order to capture it, you must not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can get food from them. You must not cut them down. Are trees of the field human, to come under siege by you?

20 But you may destroy the trees that you know do not produce food. You may cut them down to build siege works against the city that is waging war against you, until it falls.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/DEU/20-7074def7d5bcec518722bf4a7a1f5dd5.mp3?version_id=72—