For you have not come up to now to the resting place and to the inheritance that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you.

And you shall rejoice {before} Yahweh your God, you and your sons and your daughters and your slaves and your slave women and the Levite who [is] in your {towns}, because there is not for him a plot of ground and an inheritance with you.

"Take care for yourself so that you do not offer your burnt offerings at [just] any place that you happen to see,

Only the blood you must not eat, [but] on the ground you must pour it like water.

You are not allowed to eat in your {towns} the tithe of your grain and your wine and your olive oil and the firstborn of your herd and your flock and all [of] your votive gifts that you vowed and your freewill offering and {your donations}.

{Take care} so that you do not neglect the Levite all [of] your days on your land.

Only, be sure not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the meat.

You shall not eat it, [but] on the ground you shall pour it out like water.

You shall not eat it, so that {it will go well} for you [and] your children after you, because [then] you will [be] doing what is right in the eyes of Yahweh.

{take care} so that you are not ensnared {into imitating them} after their being destroyed from {before you}, and so that you not enquire concerning their gods, {saying}, 'How did these nations serve their gods, and [thus] {I myself} want to do also.'

You must not do so toward Yahweh your God, because of every detestable thing they have done for their gods Yahweh hates, for even their sons and their daughters they would burn in the fire to their gods.

All of the things that I [am] commanding you, {you must diligently observe}; you shall not add to it, and you shall not take away from it."

and the sign or the wonder comes [about] that he spoke to you, {saying}, 'Let us go after other gods (those whom you have not known), and let us serve them,'

you must not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer, for Yahweh your God {is testing you to know whether you love} Yahweh your God with all of your heart and with all [of] your inner self.

"If your brother, the son of your mother or your son or your daughter {or your wife whom you embrace} or {your intimate friend} in secrecy {says}, 'Let us go and let us serve other gods!' [gods] that you and your ancestors have not known,

you must not give in to him, and you shall not listen to him, and your eye shall not take pity on him, and you shall not have compassion, and you shall not cover [up] for him.

And all [of] Israel shall hear, and they shall fear, and {they shall not continue to act} according to this evil thing in your midst.

{worthless men} have gone out from your midst and have seduced the inhabitants of their town, {saying}, 'Let us go and serve other gods!' whom you have not known,

And [then] you shall gather all of its booty into the middle of its public square, and you shall burn the town and all [of] its war-booty totally for Yahweh your God, and it shall be {a pile of rubble forever}; it shall not be built again.

And let not something cling to your hand from the things devoted to destruction, so that Yahweh may turn back {from his burning anger}, and he may show compassion to you and he may [continue] to show compassion and [so] multiply you {just as he swore} to your ancestors,

"You [are] children of Yahweh your God; [therefore] you must not gash yourself, and {you must not make your forehead bald} for [the] dead.

You shall not eat any detestable thing.

Only these you may not eat from {those chewing the cud} and from {those having a division of the hoof}: the camel and the hare and the coney, because {they chew the cud}, but they [do] not divide the hoof; they are [therefore] unclean for you.

And [also] the pig {because it has a division of the hoof} {but does not chew the cud}; it [is] unclean for you; from their meat you shall not eat, and you shall not touch their {carcasses}.

But {anything that does not have} fins and scales, you may not eat, [for] it [is] unclean for you.

Now these [are] the ones you shall not eat {any of them}: the eagle and the vulture and the short-toed eagle,

And [also] all [of] {the winged insects}; they [are] unclean for you; you shall not eat [them].

"You shall not eat any carcass; you may give it to the alien who [is] in your {towns}, and he may eat it, or you may sell [it] to a foreigner, for you [are] a holy people for Yahweh your God; you may not boil a kid in its mother's milk.

But if {the distance is too great for you}, [so] that you are not able to transport it, because the place that Yahweh your God will choose to set his name there, it is [too] far from you, when Yahweh your God will bless you,

And [as to] the Levite who [is] in your {towns}, you shall not neglect him, because there is not a plot of ground for him and an inheritance [along] with you.

And this [is] the manner of the remission of debt: every {creditor} shall remit his claim that he holds against his neighbor, and he shall not exact payment [from] his brother because there remission of debt has been proclaimed unto Yahweh.

Nevertheless, there shall not be among you a poor [person], because Yahweh will certainly bless you in the land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you [as] an inheritance, to take possession of it.

When Yahweh your God has blessed you, [just] as he {promised} to you, then you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow [from them], and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.

If [there] is a poor [person] among you from [among] one of your brothers in one of your {towns} that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you, you shall not harden your heart, and you shall not shut your hand toward {your brother who is poor}.

But you shall certainly open your hand for him, and {you shall willingly lend} [to] him enough to meet his need, {whatever it is}.

{Take care} so that there will not be {a thought of wickedness} in your heart, {saying}, 'The seventh year, the year of the remission of debt is near,' {and you view your needy neighbor with hostility}, and [so] you [do] not give to him, and he might cry [out] against you to Yahweh, and {you would incur guilt against yourself}.

By all means you must give to him, and {you must not be discontented} at your giving to him, because on account of this [very] thing, Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work and {in all that you undertake}.

For the poor will not cease to be {among you} [in] the land; therefore I [am] commanding you, {saying}, 'You shall willingly open your hand to your brother, to your needy and to your poor [that are] in your land.'

And when you send him [out] free from you, you shall not send him [away] empty-handed.

And then [if] it will happen [that] he says to you, '{I do not want to go out} from you,' because he loves you and your family, because it is good for him [to be] with you;

It shall not be hard in your eyes {when you send him forth free}, because for six years he has served you [worth] twice the wage of a hired worker; and Yahweh your God will bless you {in whatever you will do}.

"Every firstling male that is born of your herd and of your flock you shall consecrate to Yahweh your God; you shall not do work with the firstling of your ox, and you shall not shear the firstling of your flock.

But if there is a physical defect in it, [such as] lameness or blindness, any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to Yahweh your God.

But you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it on the ground like water."

"Observe the month of Abib, and you shall keep [the] Passover to Yahweh your God, for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you out from Egypt [by] night.

You shall not eat {with it} anything leavened; seven days you shall eat {with it} unleavened bread of affliction, because in haste you went out from the land of Egypt, so that you will remember the day of your going out from the land of Egypt all the days of your life.

And leaven shall not be seen with you in any of your territory for seven days, and none of the meat that you will slaughter on the evening on the first day shall remain overnight until morning.

You are not allowed to offer the Passover sacrifice in one of your {towns} that Yahweh your God is giving to you,

Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day [there shall be] an assembly for Yahweh your God; you shall not do work.

Three times in the year all [of] your males shall appear {before } Yahweh your God at the place that he will choose, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear {before Yahweh} empty-handed.

You shall not subvert justice; you shall not {show partiality}; and you shall not take a bribe, for the bribe makes blind [the] eyes of [the] wise and misrepresents [the] words of [the] righteous.

You shall not plant for yourselves {an Asherah pole} beside the altar of Yahweh your God that you make for yourselves.

And you shall not set up for yourselves a stone pillar, [a thing] that Yahweh your God hates.

"You shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox or sheep {that has a physical defect} {of anything seriously wrong}, for that [is] a detestable thing to Yahweh your God.

{On the evidence of} two or three witnesses {the person shall be put to death}. The person shall not be put to death by the mouth of one witness.

[And so] according to {the instruction of the law} that they teach you and according to the decisions that they say to you, you shall do; you shall not turn from the word that they tell you to the right or [to the] left.

And the man who treats with contempt [so as] not to listen to the priest [who] [is] standing to minister on behalf of Yahweh your God or to the judge, that man shall die; so you shall purge the evil from Israel.

And all the people will hear and will be afraid, and they will not behave presumptuously again.

indeed, you may set a king over you whom Yahweh your God will choose, from the midst of your countrymen you must set a king over you; you are not allowed to appoint over you a man, a foreigner, who [is] not your countryman.

Except, he may {not make numerous} for himself horses, and he may not allow the people to [to go] to Egypt {in order to increase horses}, for Yahweh has said to you that {you may never return}.

And he must not {acquire many} wives for himself, so that his heart [would] turn aside; and {he must not accumulate silver and gold for himself excessively}.

[so as] not to exalt his heart above his countrymen and not to turn aside from the commandment to the right or to the left, so that {he may reign long over his kingdom}, he and his children in the midst of Israel."

"And there shall not be for the Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, a plot of ground and an inheritance with Israel, [rather] they may eat an offering made by fire [as] their inheritance, for Yahweh.

And there shall not be for them an inheritance [of land] in the midst of his brothers; [rather] Yahweh is his inheritance, [just] as he {promised} to them.

"When you come to the land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you, you must not learn to do like the detestable practices of those nations.

[There] shall not be found among you one who makes his son or his daughter go through the fire, [or] {one who practices divination}, [or] an interpreter of signs, or an augur, or sorcerer,

For these nations that you [are] about to dispossess listen to interpreters of signs and to diviners, but Yahweh your God has not allowed you to do the same.

[This is] {according to all that you asked} from Yahweh your God at Horeb, on the day of the assembly, {saying}, '{I do not want again to hear} the voice of Yahweh my God, [and] I do not want to see again this great fire, so that I may not die!'

{And then} the man that will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I will hold accountable.

However, the prophet that behaves presumptuously by speaking a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, and who speaks in the name of other gods, then that prophet shall die.'

And if you say {to yourself}, 'How can we know the word that Yahweh has not spoken to him?'

[Whenever] what the prophet spoke in the name of Yahweh, the thing does not take place and [does] not come [about], that [is] the thing that Yahweh has not spoken to him. Presumptuously the prophet spoke it; you shall not fear that prophet."

"Now this [is] the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live [there] who has killed his neighbor {unintentionally}, and he did not hate him {previously}.

[He does this] lest the avenger of blood might pursue after the killer, because {he is hot with anger} and he overtakes him, because it is a long distance [to the city of refuge], and [so] {he kills him}, but {he did not deserve a death sentence}, because he [was] not hating him {before}.

[Do this] so that innocent blood will not be shed in the midst of your land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you [as an] inheritance and [thereby] bloodguilt would be on you.

Your eye shall not take pity on him, and you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, {so that good will be directed toward you}.

"You shall not move the boundary [marker] of your neighbor that {former generations} set up on your property in the land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you to take possession of it.

{The testimony of a single witness may not be used to convict} [with respect to] any crime and for any wrongdoing in any offense that a person committed; on the {evidence} of two witnesses or on the {evidence} of three witnesses {a charge shall be sustained}.

{And the rest} shall hear and shall fear, and {they shall not continue to do such a thing again} as this evil thing in your midst.

"If you go out to war against your enemies and you see a horse and a chariot, {an army} larger that you, you shall not be afraid because of them; for Yahweh your God [is] with you, the one who brought you from the land of Egypt.

And he shall say to them, 'Hear, Israel, you are near {today} to the battle against your enemies; {do not lose heart}; you shall not be afraid, and you shall not panic, and you shall not be terrified {because of them},

And the officials shall speak to the troops, {saying}, 'Who [is] the man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to this house, so that he does not die in battle and {another man} dedicates it.

And who [is] the man that has planted a vineyard and has not enjoyed it? Let him go and let him return to his house, so that he does not die in battle and {another man} enjoys it.

And who [is] the man who got engaged to a woman and [has] not married her? Let him go and let him return to his house, so that he does not die in battle and {another man} marries her.'

And the officials shall continue to speak to the troops, and they shall say, '{What man} is afraid {and disheartened}? Let him go, and let him return to his house, and let him not cause the heart of his brothers to melt like his.'

But if they {do not accept your terms of peace} and they want to make war with you, then you shall lay siege against it.

Thus you shall do to all the far cities from you, which [are] not from the cities of these nations located {nearby}.

But from the cities of these peoples that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you as an inheritance, you shall not let anything live that breathes.

so that they may not teach you to do like all their detestable things that they do for their gods and [thereby] you sin against Yahweh your God.

"If you besiege a town [for] many days to make war against it [in order to] seize it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them, for you may eat from them, and [so] you must not cut them down. Are the trees of the field humans that they should come in siege {against you}?

Only the trees that you know {are not fruit trees} you may destroy and you may cut down, and you may build siege works against that city that is making war with you {until it falls}."

"If someone slain is found in the land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you to take possession of it [and] [is] lying in the field, [and] it is not known who {killed him},

{And then} the nearest city to the slain one, the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd that has not been worked with [in the field], that has not pulled a yoke,

and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a {wadi that flows with water all year} and [that] has not been plowed and has not been sown; [then] {there they shall break the neck of the heifer in the wadi}.

And they shall declare, and they shall say, 'Our hands did not shed this blood, and our eyes did not see [what was done].

Forgive your people, Israel, whom you redeemed, Yahweh, and [do] not {allow} the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, and let them be forgiven [with regard to] blood.'

And then if you do not take delight in her, then you shall let her go {to do whatever she wants}, but you shall not treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.

[nevertheless] {it will be the case that} on the day of bestowing his inheritance upon his sons, he will not be allowed to treat as [the] firstborn son the son of the beloved [wife] {in preference to} the son of the disliked [wife], [who is] the firstborn [son].

"{If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son} [who] {does not listen to} the voice of his father and to the voice of his mother, and they discipline him, and he does not obey them,

and they shall say to the elders of his city, 'This our son [is] stubborn and rebellious; {he does not obey us}, [and] he is a glutton and a drunkard.'