Detestable Sacrifices 1 Brenton Thou shalt not sacrifice to the Lord thy God a calf or a sheep, in which there is a blemish, or any evil thing; for it is an abomination to the Lord thy God. BSB BSB: You 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.
Purge the Idolater 2 Brenton And if there should be found in any one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God gives thee, a man or a woman who shall do that which is evil before the Lord thy God, so as to transgress his covenant, BSB BSB: If 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
3 Brenton and they should go and serve other gods, and worship them, the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which he commanded thee not to do, BSB BSB: and 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—
4 Brenton and it be told thee, and thou shalt have enquired diligently, and, behold, the thing really took place, this abomination has been done in Israel; BSB BSB: and 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,
5 Brenton then shalt thou bring out that man, or that woman, and ye shall stone them with stones, and they shall die. BSB BSB: you must bring out to your gates the man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you must stone that person to death.
6 Brenton He shall die on the testimony of two or three witnesses; a man who is put to death shall not be put to death for one witness. BSB BSB: On 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.
7 Brenton And the hand of the witnesses shall be upon him among the first to put him to death, and the hand of the people at the last; so shalt thou remove the evil one from among yourselves. BSB BSB: The 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.
Courts of Law 8 Brenton And if a matter shall be too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, and between cause and cause, and between stroke and stroke, and between contradiction and contradiction, matters of judgment in your cities; BSB BSB: If 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.
9 Brenton then thou shalt arise and go up to the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, and thou shalt come to the priests the Levites, and to the judge who shall be in those days, and they shall search out the matter and report the judgment to thee. BSB BSB: You 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.
10 Brenton And thou shalt act according to the thing which they shall report to thee out of the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, and thou shalt observe to do all whatsoever shall have been by law appointed to thee. BSB BSB: You must abide by the verdict they give you at the place the LORD will choose. Be careful to do everything they instruct you,
11 Brenton Thou shalt do according to the law and to the judgment which they shall declare to thee: thou shalt not swerve to the right hand or to the left from any sentence which they shall report to thee. BSB BSB: according 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.
12 Brenton And the man whosoever shall act in haughtiness, so as not to hearken to the priest who stands to minister in the name of the Lord thy God, or the judge who shall preside in those days, that man shall die, and thou shalt remove the evil one out of Israel. BSB BSB: But 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.
13 Brenton And all the people shall hear and fear, and shall no more commit impiety. BSB BSB: Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and will no longer behave arrogantly.
Guidelines for a King (1 Samuel 8:1–9)
14 Brenton And when thou shalt enter into the land which the Lord thy God gives thee, and shalt inherit it and dwell in it, and shalt say, I will set a ruler over me, as also the other nations round about me; BSB BSB: When 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,”
16 Brenton For he shall not multiply to himself horses, and he shall by no means turn the people back to Egypt, lest he should multiply to himself horses; for the Lord said, Ye shall not any more turn back by that way. BSB BSB: But 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.’
17 Brenton And he shall not multiply to himself wives, lest his heart turn away; and he shall not greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. BSB BSB: He must not take many wives for himself, lest his heart go astray. He must not accumulate for himself large amounts of silver and gold.
18 Brenton And when he shall be established in his government, then shall he write for himself this repetition of the law into a book by the hands of the priests the Levites; BSB BSB: When 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.
19 Brenton and it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord thy God, and to keep all these commandments, and to observe these ordinances: BSB BSB: It 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.
20 Brenton that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, that he depart not from the commandments on the right hand or on the left; that he and his sons may reign long in his dominion among the children of Israel. BSB BSB: Then 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.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.