You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your cities which Jehovah your God is giving you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.

You shall not distort justice; you shall not respect persons, nor shall you take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.

Righteousness, and only righteousness, shall you pursue, in order that you may live and possess the land which Jehovah your God is giving you.

You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of Jehovah your God, which you will make for yourself;

Nor shall you erect for yourself a pillar, something which Jehovah your God hates.

You shall not sacrifice to Jehovah your God any ox or sheep in which there is a blemish, anything seriously wrong, for that is an abomination to Jehovah your God.

If there is found in your midst, within any of your gates which Jehovah your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of Jehovah your God by transgressing His covenant,

And has gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, that is, to the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded you to do;

And it is told to you and you hear of it; then you shall investigate thoroughly. And if indeed the thing is true and certain — this abomination has been done in Israel —

Then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil thing, to your gates, that very man or woman, and you shall stone them with stones so that they die.

At the word of two witnesses or three witnesses shall he who is to die be put to death; he shall not be put to death at the word of only one witness.

The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. Thus you shall utterly remove the evil from your midst.

If a case is too complicated for you to judge between one kind of homicide and another, or between one kind of civil suit and another, or between one kind of assault and another, being disputed cases within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which Jehovah your God will choose;

And you shall come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is presiding in those days and investigate the matter; and they shall declare to you the sentence of judgment.

And you shall do according to the word of the sentence that they declare to you from that place which Jehovah will choose; and you shall be certain to do according to all that they instruct you.

You shall do according to the word of the instruction with which they instruct you and according to the judgment which they speak to you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left from the sentence that they declare to you.

And the man who acts presumptuously by not listening to the priest who stands to minister there before Jehovah your God, or to the judge, that man shall die. Thus you shall utterly remove the evil from Israel.

And all the people will hear and will fear, and they will not act presumptuously anymore.

When you enter the land which Jehovah your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it, and you say, I will set a king over me like all the nations which surround me;

You must set a king over you whom Jehovah your God will choose; from among your brothers you shall set a king over you; you may not put a foreigner, who is not your brother, over you.