Select wise and practical men, those known among your tribes, whom I may appoint as your leaders."

What is going to happen to us? Our brothers have drained away our courage by describing people who are more numerous and taller than we are, and great cities whose defenses appear to be as high as heaven itself! Moreover, they said they saw Anakites there."

the one who was constantly going before you to find places for you to set up camp. He appeared by fire at night and cloud by day, to show you the way you ought to go.

Also, your infants, who you thought would die on the way, and your children, who as yet do not know good from bad, will go there; I will give them the land and they will possess it.

Instruct these people as follows: 'You are about to cross the border of your relatives the descendants of Esau, who inhabit Seir. They will be afraid of you, so watch yourselves carefully.

This is exactly what he did for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir when he destroyed the Horites before them so that they could dispossess them and settle in their area to this very day.

As for the Avvites who lived in settlements as far west as Gaza, Caphtorites who came from Crete destroyed them and settled down in their place.)

just as the descendants of Esau who live at Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land the Lord our God is giving us."

The Lord, however, said to me, "Don't be afraid of him because I have already given him, his whole army, and his land to you. You will do to him exactly what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon."

You have witnessed what the Lord did at Baal Peor, how he eradicated from your midst everyone who followed Baal Peor.

But you who remained faithful to the Lord your God are still alive to this very day, every one of you.

So be sure to do them, because this will testify of your wise understanding to the people who will learn of all these statutes and say, "Indeed, this great nation is a very wise people."

Moreover, because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants who followed them and personally brought you out of Egypt with his great power

Anyone who accidentally killed someone without hating him at the time of the accident could flee to one of those cities and be safe.

in the Transjordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. (It is he whom Moses and the Israelites attacked after they came out of Egypt.

They possessed his land and that of King Og of Bashan -- both of whom were Amorite kings in the Transjordan, to the east.

He did not make this covenant with our ancestors but with us, we who are here today, all of us living now.

"I am the Lord your God, he who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the place of slavery.

You must not worship or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. I punish the sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons for the sin of the fathers who reject me,

but I show covenant faithfulness to the thousands who choose me and keep my commandments.

You must not make use of the name of the Lord your God for worthless purposes, for the Lord will not exonerate anyone who abuses his name that way.

but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. On that day you must not do any work, you, your son, your daughter, your male slave, your female slave, your ox, your donkey, any other animal, or the foreigner who lives with you, so that your male and female slaves, like yourself, may have rest.

Who is there from the entire human race who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the middle of the fire as we have, and has lived?

be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, that place of slavery.

for the Lord your God, who is present among you, is a jealous God and his anger will erupt against you and remove you from the land.

So realize that the Lord your God is the true God, the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

but who pays back those who hate him as they deserve and destroys them. He will not ignore those who hate him but will repay them as they deserve!

The Lord will protect you from all sickness, and you will not experience any of the terrible diseases that you knew in Egypt; instead he will inflict them on all those who hate you.

You must destroy all the people whom the Lord your God is about to deliver over to you; you must not pity them or worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

Furthermore, the Lord your God will release hornets among them until the very last ones who hide from you perish.

You must not tremble in their presence, for the Lord your God, who is present among you, is a great and awesome God.

He, the God who leads you, will expel the nations little by little. You will not be allowed to destroy them all at once lest the wild animals overrun you.

be sure you do not feel self-important and forget the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery,

and who brought you through the great, fearful desert of venomous serpents and scorpions, an arid place with no water. He made water flow from a flint rock and

You must remember the Lord your God, for he is the one who gives ability to get wealth; if you do this he will confirm his covenant that he made by oath to your ancestors, even as he has to this day.

Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan so you can dispossess the nations there, people greater and stronger than you who live in large cities with extremely high fortifications.

They include the Anakites, a numerous and tall people whom you know about and of whom it is said, "Who is able to resist the Anakites?"

Understand today that the Lord your God who goes before you is a devouring fire; he will defeat and subdue them before you. You will dispossess and destroy them quickly just as he has told you.

And he said to me, "Get up, go down at once from here because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have sinned! They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them and have made for themselves a cast metal image."

I prayed to him: O, Lord God, do not destroy your people, your valued property that you have powerfully redeemed, whom you brought out of Egypt by your strength.

They are your people, your valued property, whom you brought out with great strength and power.

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe,

who justly treats the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing.

He is the one you should praise; he is your God, the one who has done these great and awesome things for you that you have seen.

Bear in mind today that I am not speaking to your children who have not personally experienced the judgments of the Lord your God, which revealed his greatness, strength, and power.

I am speaking to you because you are the ones who saw all the great deeds of the Lord!

Are they not across the Jordan River, toward the west, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah opposite Gilgal near the oak of Moreh?

When you do go across the Jordan River and settle in the land he is granting you as an inheritance and you find relief from all the enemies who surround you, you will live in safety.

Suppose a prophet or one who foretells by dreams should appear among you and show you a sign or wonder,

and the sign or wonder should come to pass concerning what he said to you, namely, "Let us follow other gods" -- gods whom you have not previously known -- "and let us serve them."

As for that prophet or dreamer, he must be executed because he encouraged rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, redeeming you from that place of slavery, and because he has tried to entice you from the way the Lord your God has commanded you to go. In this way you must purge out evil from within.

You must stone him to death because he tried to entice you away from the Lord your God, who delivered you from the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.

some evil people have departed from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities, saying, "Let's go and serve other gods" (whom you have not known before).

You may not eat any corpse, though you may give it to the resident foreigner who is living in your villages and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. You are a people holy to the Lord your God. Do not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

There will never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I am commanding you to make sure you open your hand to your fellow Israelites who are needy and poor in your land.

You are to rejoice in your festival, you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows who are in your villages.

Suppose 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

you 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.

The 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.

you 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.

This shall be the priests' fair allotment from the people who offer sacrifices, whether bull or sheep -- they must give to the priest the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach.

and serves in the name of the Lord his God like his fellow Levites who stand there before the Lord.

There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, anyone who practices divination, an omen reader, a soothsayer, a sorcerer,

one who casts spells, one who conjures up spirits, a practitioner of the occult, or a necromancer.

I will personally hold responsible anyone who then pays no attention to the words that prophet speaks in my name.

You shall build a roadway and divide into thirds the whole extent of your land that the Lord your God is providing as your inheritance; anyone who kills another person should flee to the closest of these cities.

Now this is the law pertaining to one who flees there in order to live, if he has accidentally killed another without hating him at the time of the accident.

then both parties to the controversy must stand before the Lord, that is, before the priests and judges who will be in office in those days.

When you go to war against your enemies and see chariotry and troops who outnumber you, do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, is with you.

Moreover, the officers are to say to the troops, "Who among you has built a new house and not dedicated it? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else dedicate it.

Or who among you has planted a vineyard and not benefited from it? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else benefit from it.

Or who among you has become engaged to a woman but has not married her? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else marry her."

In addition, the officers are to say to the troops, "Who among you is afraid and fainthearted? He may go home so that he will not make his fellow soldier's heart as fearful as his own."

If a homicide victim should be found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you, and no one knows who killed him,

Do not blame your people Israel whom you redeemed, O Lord, and do not hold them accountable for the bloodshed of an innocent person." Then atonement will be made for the bloodshed.

if you should see among them an attractive woman whom you wish to take as a wife,

Suppose a man has two wives, one whom he loves more than the other, and they both bear him sons, with the firstborn being the child of the less loved wife.

In the day he divides his inheritance he must not appoint as firstborn the son of the favorite wife in place of the other wife's son who is actually the firstborn.

If a person has a stubborn, rebellious son who pays no attention to his father or mother, and they discipline him to no avail,

his body must not remain all night on the tree; instead you must make certain you bury him that same day, for the one who is left exposed on a tree is cursed by God. You must not defile your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

If the owner does not live near you or you do not know who the owner is, then you must corral the animal at your house and let it stay with you until the owner looks for it; then you must return it to him.

A woman must not wear men's clothing, nor should a man dress up in women's clothing, for anyone who does this is offensive to the Lord your God.

They will fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them to the young woman's father, for the man who made the accusation ruined the reputation of an Israelite virgin. She will then become his wife and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.

If a man is caught having sexual relations with a married woman both the man who had relations with the woman and the woman herself must die; in this way you will purge evil from Israel.

Suppose a man comes across a virgin who is not engaged and overpowers and rapes her and they are discovered.

The man who has raped her must pay her father fifty shekels of silver and she must become his wife because he has violated her; he may never divorce her as long as he lives.

If there is someone among you who is impure because of some nocturnal emission, he must leave the camp; he may not reenter it immediately.

If the second husband rejects her and then divorces her, gives her the papers, and evicts her from his house, or if the second husband who married her dies,

her first husband who divorced her is not permitted to remarry her after she has become ritually impure, for that is offensive to the Lord. You must not bring guilt on the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

You must stand outside and the person to whom you are making the loan will bring out to you what he is offering as security.

You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages.

then his sister-in-law must approach him in view of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. She will then respond, "Thus may it be done to any man who does not maintain his brother's family line!"

For anyone who acts dishonestly in these ways is abhorrent to the Lord your God.

So when the Lord your God gives you relief from all the enemies who surround you in the land he is giving you as an inheritance, you must wipe out the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven -- do not forget!

Cursed is the one who makes a carved or metal image -- something abhorrent to the Lord, the work of the craftsman -- and sets it up in a secret place.' Then all the people will say, 'Amen!'

Cursed is the one who disrespects his father and mother.' Then all the people will say, 'Amen!'

Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor's boundary marker.' Then all the people will say, 'Amen!'

Cursed is the one who misleads a blind person on the road.' Then all the people will say, 'Amen!'

Cursed is the one who perverts justice for the resident foreigner, the orphan, and the widow.' Then all the people will say, 'Amen!'

Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his father's former wife, for he dishonors his father.' Then all the people will say, 'Amen!'