| Holman Christian Standard Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1You must not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or sheep with a defect or any serious flaw, for that is detestable to the LORD your God." | 1You are not to sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep that has a defect or any flaw in it, because that is detestable to the LORD your God." |
| 2If a man or woman among you in one of your towns that the LORD your God will give you is discovered doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God and violating His covenant | 2"You may discover that a man or woman living in one of your cities that the LORD your God is about to give you has done evil in the eyes of the LORD your God by transgressing his covenant. |
| 3and has gone to worship other gods by bowing down to the sun, moon, or all the stars in the sky--which I have forbidden-- | 3He may be following and serving other gods by bowing down to them—that is, to the sun, the moon, or to any of the heavenly host (something I did not command). |
| 4and 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, | 4When it is reported to you or you hear of it, then investigate it thoroughly. When the truth has been established that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, |
| 5you must bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing and stone them to death. | 5summon the man or the woman who did this evil thing to your city gates. Then stone the man or the woman to death. |
| 6The 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. | 6Based on the testimony of two or three witnesses, they must surely die. But they are not to die based on the testimony of one person. |
| 7The 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." | 7Let the witnesses be the first to begin executing them, then the rest of the people shall follow. By doing this you will purge evil from among you." |
| 8If a case is too difficult for you--concerning bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults--cases disputed at your gates, you must go up to the place the LORD your God chooses. | 8"If a case is too difficult for you to decide with respect to bloodshed, civil claims, assault and battery, or other matters of dispute within your courts, bring it to the place that the LORD your God will choose. |
| 9You 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. | 9Present the case to the Levitical priest or the judge at that time. When you have inquired and they have announced the verdict, |
| 10You must abide by the verdict they give you at the place the LORD chooses. Be careful to do exactly as they instruct you. | 10carry out the verdict that was declared to you at the place that the LORD will choose. Carefully observe all of their instructions to you |
| 11You 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. | 11in accordance with what the Law says, and in accordance with the verdict that will be handed to you. You must not deviate from the verdict that they declare to you either to the right or to the left. |
| 12The person who acts arrogantly, refusing to listen either to the priest who stands there serving the LORD your God or to the judge, must die. You must purge the evil from Israel. | 12If a man presumptuously disregards the priest who is serving the LORD your God there or the judge, that person must die so you will purge evil from Israel. |
| 13Then all the people will hear about it, be afraid, and no longer behave arrogantly." | 13Then all the people who hear will be afraid and will not act presumptuously again." |
| 14When you enter the land the LORD your 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,' | 14"When you have come to the land that the LORD your God is about to give you, and you have taken possession of it, and have settled in it, then you will say, 'I will appoint a king over me like all the nations around me.' |
| 15you are to appoint over you the king the LORD your 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. | 15You will certainly set a king over you, whom the LORD your God will choose from among your relatives, but you must not place a foreign king over you who is not from your relatives. |
| 16However, he must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses, for the LORD has told you, 'You are never to go back that way again.' | 16Only he must not amass horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt to obtain more horses. For the LORD said you must never return that way again. |
| 17He 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. | 17Also, he must not accumulate wives for himself (otherwise, his affection will become diverted), nor accumulate for himself excessive quantities of silver and gold. |
| 18When 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. | 18When he occupies his royal throne, he must make a copy of this Law for himself from a scroll used 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, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these statutes. | 19It is to remain with him the rest of his life so he may learn to fear the LORD his God and observe all the words of this Law and these statutes, in order to fulfill them. |
| 20Then 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 years over Israel." | 20He is not to exalt himself over his relatives, nor turn aside from the commandment—neither to the right nor to the left—so that he and his sons may reign long in Israel." |
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