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