he may not multiply his cavalry: the Lord indeed hath said, 17 You shall not henceforth return that way any more. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself; that his heart' may not turn aside; nor shall he greatly multiply for himself silver and gold. 18 And when he is settled in his government, he shall write for himself this repetition of the law in a book, from that which is in 19 the custody of the priests, the Levites. And he shall keep it by him, and shall read therein all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord thy God, and to keep all these com20 mandments, and execute all these judgments; that his heart may not be lifted up above his brethren-that he may not turn aside from these commandments, to the right, or to the left, to the end that he and his sons may long enjoy his government among the children of Israel. XVIII. The priests, the Levites, even the whole tribe of Levi,

shall have no portion, nor lot, with Israel. The homage offer2 ings of the Lord are their lot. Them they shall eat; and they shall not have a lot of inheritance among their brethren. The Lord himself is their lot of inheritance, as he hath said to them. 3 Now this shall be the priest's due from the people-from them who offer sacrifices, whether a young bull, or a sheep, thou shalt give to the priest the shoulder, and the cheeks, and the 4 maw. Thou shalt also give him the dedications of thy corn,

and thy wine, and thine oil, and the dedications of the fleeces 5 of thy flock. Because the Lord hath chosen him, out of all thy tribes, to stand before the Lord God, to minister and to bless, 6 in his name; therefore with regard to him and his sons, among the children of Israel, if, out of any one of all these cities of the children of Israel where he dwelleth, a Levite cometh, with 7 all the desire of his soul, to the place which the Lord hath chosen, that he may minister to the name of the Lord his God, as 8 all his brethren the Levites do, who attend there before the Lord thy God, he shall eat the allotted portion, over and above what may come from the sale of his patrimony.

9

When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abomina10 tions of those nations. Let there not be found among you any one who purifieth his son, or his daughter, with fire; or who practiseth divinations, or consulteth omens, or augury, or maketh

11 use of drugs to practise incantation, or a belly speaker, or an 12 astrologer, or a necromancer; for every one who practiseth

such things is an abomination to the Lord thy God; for, because of these abominations, the Lord will root them out from 13 before you. Thou shalt be complete in the sight of the Lord 14 thy God. For these nations which thou art about to possess

will hearken to enchanters and diviners; but the Lord thy God 15 hath not permitted thee to do so. The Lord thy God will raise up for thee, from among thy brethren, a prophet like me; to 16 him you shall hearken. According to all that thou didst request of the Lord thy God at Choreb, in the day of the solemn assembly, when you said, Let us no more hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and let us no more behold this great fire, lest 17 we die, the Lord then said to me, They have spoken right in 18 all that they have said to thee: I will raise up for them, from

among their brethren, a prophet like thee, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he will speak to them as I command 19 him: and whosoever will not hearken to what that prophet

shall speak in my name, I will execute vengeance on him. 20 But the prophet who shall wickedly presume to speak a word in my name which I have not commanded him to speak, or who shall speak in the name of other gods, that prophet shall 21 be put to death. Now if thou shalt say in thy heart, How shall 22 I know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When the

things which that prophet hath spoken in the name of the Lord shall not happen, nor come to pass, the Lord hath not spoken that word. The prophet hath spoken wickedly. You shall not spare him.

XIX.

Now when the Lord thy God hath destroyed the nations, whose land thy God giveth thee, and you have taken pos2 session of it, and dwelt in their cities, and in their houses, thou shalt set apart for thyself three cities, in the midst of 3 that thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Make straight the way for thee, and divide into three districts, the bounds of thy land which the Lord thy God parcelleth out to thee: and in each district let there be a place of refuge for the 4 slayer. And this shall be the ordinance for every slayer who may flee thither, and live. Whosoever shall smite his neigh5 bour unawares, and hated him not in times past, for instance,

whosoever shall go with his neighbour into the forest to collect wood, and the hand of him who is cutting the wood with an ax being drawn back, the iron shall slip from the helve, and accidentally fall on his neighbour, and he die; such a one shall 6 flee with speed to one of the cities, and live. Lest the avenger

of blood pursuing, because his heart is inflamed, should overtake him, if the way be too long, and slay him, though he is 7 not guilty of death, because he hated him not in time past; for this cause I give thee this charge, saying, Thou shalt set apart 8 three cities for thyself. And when the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy borders, as he hath sworn to thy fathers, and the Lord hath given thee all the land which he promised to give 9 thy fathers, if thou wilt hearken to do all the commands which I this day give thee in charge, to love the Lord thy God, to 10 walk in all his ways continually; thou shalt add three cities more for thyself, besides these three, so that guiltless blood may not be shed in the land which the Lord thy God giveth 11 thee for a possession. But there must not be among you one guilty of blood. If therefore there be among you a man who hateth his neighbour, and who shall lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him so that he die, and flee to 12 one of these cities; the senate of his city shall send and take him thence, and deliver him into the hands of the avenger of 13 blood, and he shall be put to death. Thine eye shall not spare

15

him. So shalt thou purge away guiltless blood from Israel, and 14 it shall be well with thee. Thou shalt not remove the boundaries of thy neighbour, which thy fathers have settled at the distribution of the inheritances, which were given thee to possess in the land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee by lot. One witness shall not be sufficient to testify against a man for any iniquity, or any crime, or any sin, which he may commit. By the mouth of two witnesses, or by the mouth of three 16 witnesses, every thing shall be established. And if a false witness rise up against a man, and accuse him of any crime, the 17 two men between whom is the controversy, shall stand before

the Lord, and before the priests, and before the judges, who 18 may be in those days. And when the judges have made a strict examination, if the false witness hath testified falsehoods, and 19 risen up against his brother; you shall do to him as he wicked

ly thought to do to his brother. So thou shalt remove the evil from among you; and the rest, when they hear, will be afraid, and thenceforth proceed no more to commit such evil among 20 you. Thine eye shall not pity him; life for life; eye for eye; tooth for tooth; hand for hand; foot for foot. XX. When thou shalt go out to battle against thine enemies, and see horsemen, and charioteers, and a people more numerous than thou art; be not afraid of them; for the Lord thy God is with thee-he who brought thee up out of the land of 2 Egypt. And when thou art near coming to battle, the priest 3 shall approach, and speak to the people, and say to them, Hear,

O Israel! You are now going to battle against your enemies; let not your heart be discouraged; fear not, nor be dismayed, 4 nor turn aside from before them; for the Lord your God goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, and to 5 save you. Then the scribes shall speak to the people, and say, If there be any man who hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it, let him go, and return to his house, lest he die in 6 the battle, and another man dedicate it. Or is there any man who hath planted a vineyard, and hath not been regaled with it; let him go, and return to his family, lest he die in the bat7 tle, and another man be regaled with it. Or is there any man who hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her home; let him go, and return to his family, lest he die in the battle, and 8 another man take her. And the scribes shall further speak to the people, and say, Is there any man fearful, and faint hearted; let him go, and return to his family, lest he make the heart of 9 his brother faint as his own. And when the scribes have done

speaking to the people, they shall appoint the chiefs of the ar10 my to lead on the people. And when thou art come to a city,

to fight against it, thou shalt call upon the inhabitants to come 11 out peaceably. And if they return thee a peaceful answer, and

open to thee; all the people who are found therein shall be tri12 butary to thee, and be thy subjects. But if they hearken not to 13 thee, and make war against thee, thou shalt besiege it, until 14 the Lord thy God deliver it into thy hands. And when thou hast smitten all the males therein with the slaughter of the sword, thou shalt take for thyself, besides the women and the children, all the cattle, and all spoils that are in the city, and eat all the

15 prey of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God giveth thee. In

this manner thou shalt treat all the cities which are at a great 16 distance from thee, which are not of the cities of those nations 17 whose land the Lord thy God giveth thee for a possession. Of these you shall save none alive that breatheth: but, with an Anathema, thou shalt devote to destruction the Chettite and the Amorite, and the Chananite, and the Pherezite, and the Evite, and the Jebusite, and the Gergasite, as the Lord thy 18 God hath commanded thee; that they may not teach you all

their abominations which they have performed to their gods; 19 and that you may not sin before the Lord your God: Now

when thou shalt sit down before a city, many days, to war against it till it be taken, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by striking an ax against them. That especially, the fruit of which thou mayst eat, thou shalt not cut down. Doth any man wish to have a tree in the field for the purpose of a ram20 part for thee; let it be that only which thou knowest is not a fruit bearing tree. This thou mayst destroy and cut down, to build ramparts against the city which resisteth thee, until it be delivered up.

XXI. If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy 2 God giveth thee to possess-lying in the open field; and it is not known who smote him; thy senate, and thy judges, shall come and measure the distance to the cities around the slain; 3 and the senate of the city which is next to the slain, shall take

a heifer from the herd, which hath never been worked, and 4 which hath never drawn in a yoke; and the senate of the city

shall bring the heifer down to a rugged valley, which hath never been tilled, nor sowed, and they shall hamstring the heifer 5 in the valley. Then the priests, the Levites, shall come near: because the Lord God hath chosen them to wait upon him, and to bless in his name, therefore by their mouth every cause of plaint and denial, as well as all cases of leprosy, are to be de6 cided; and the whole senate of the city which is nearest the person dead, shall wash their hands over the head of the heifer, 7 which was hamstringed in the valley, and shall answer, and say,

Our hands have not shed this blood, and our eyes have not 8 seen it. Be merciful to thy people whom thou, O Lord, hast

redeemed, that there may not be blood shed without cause