The Holy Bible

Part 11 out of 74

Deuteronomy Chapter 10

God giveth the second tables of the law: a further exhortation to fear
and serve the Lord.

10:1. At that time the Lord said to me: Hew thee two tables of stone
like the former, and come up to me into the mount: and thou shalt make
an ark of wood,

10:2. And I will write on the tables the words that were in them, which
thou brokest before, and thou shalt put them in the ark.

10:3. And I made an ark of setim wood. And when I had hewn two tables
of stone like the former, I went up into the mount, having them in my
hands.

10:4. And he wrote in the tables, according as he had written before,
the ten words, which the Lord spoke to you in the mount from the midst
of the fire, when the people were assembled: and he gave them to me.

10:5. And returning from the mount, I came down, and put the tables
into the ark, that I had made, and they are there till this present, as
the Lord commanded me.

10:6. And the children of Israel removed their camp from Beroth, of the
children of Jacan into Mosera, where Aaron died and was buried, and
Eleazar his son succeeded him in the priestly office.

Mosera. . .By mount Hor, for there Aaron died, Num. 20. This and the
following verses seem to be inserted by way of parenthesis.

10:7. From thence they came to Gadgad, from which place they departed,
and camped in Jetebatha, in a land of waters and torrents.

10:8. At that time he separated the tribe of Levi, to carry the ark of
the covenant of the Lord, and to stand before him in the ministry, and
to bless in his name until this present day.

10:9. Wherefore Levi hath no part nor possession with his brethren:
because the Lord himself is his possession, as the Lord thy God
promised him.

10:10. And I stood in the mount, as before, forty days and nights: and
the Lord heard me this time also, and would not destroy thee.

10:11. And he said to me: Go, and walk before the people, that they may
enter, and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers that I
would give them.

10:12. And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but
that thou fear the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways, and love him,
and serve the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul:

10:13. And keep the commandments of the Lord, and his ceremonies, which
I command thee this day, that it may be well with thee?

10:14. Behold heaven is the Lord's thy God, and the heaven of heaven,
the earth and all things that are therein.

10:15. And yet the Lord hath been closely joined to thy fathers, and
loved them and chose their seed after them, that is to say, you, out of
all nations, as this day it is proved.

10:16. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and stiffen
your neck no more.

10:17. Because the Lord your God he is the God of gods, and the Lord of
lords, a great God and mighty and terrible, who accepteth no person nor
taketh bribes.

10:18. He doth judgment to the fatherless and the widow, loveth the
stranger, and giveth him food and raiment.

10:19. And do you therefore love strangers, because you also were
strangers in the land of Egypt.

10:20. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him only: to him
thou shalt adhere, and shalt swear by his name.

10:21. He is thy praise, and thy God, that hath done for thee these
great and terrible things, which thy eyes have seen.

10:22. In seventy souls thy fathers went down into Egypt: and behold
now the Lord thy God hath multiplied thee as the stars of heaven.

Deuteronomy Chapter 11

The love and service of God are still inculcated, with a blessing to
them that serve him, and threats of punishment if they forsake his law.

11:1. Therefore love the Lord thy God and observe his precepts and
ceremonies, his judgments and commandments at all times.

11:2. Know this day the things that your children know not, who saw not
the chastisements of the Lord your God, his great doings and strong
hand, and stretched out arm,

11:3. The signs and works which he did in the midst of Egypt to king
Pharao, and to all his land,

11:4. And to all the host of the Egyptians, and to their horses and
chariots: how the waters of the Red Sea covered them, when they pursued
you, and how the Lord destroyed them until this present day:

11:5. And what he hath done to you in the wilderness, til you came to
this place:

11:6. And to Dathan and Abiron the sons of Eliab, who was the son of
Ruben: whom the earth, opening her mouth swallowed up with their
households and tents, and all their substance, which they had in the
midst of Israel.

11:7. Your eyes have seen all the great works of the Lord, that he hath
done,

11:8. That you may keep all his commandments, which I command you this
day, and may go in, and possess the land, to which you are entering,

11:9. And may live in it a long time: which the Lord promised by oath
to your fathers, and to their seed, a land which floweth with milk and
honey.

11:10. For the land, which thou goest to possess, is not like the land
of Egypt, from whence thou camest out, where, when the seed is sown,
waters are brought in to water it after the manner of gardens.

11:11. But it is a land of hills and plains, expecting rain from
heaven.

11:12. And the Lord thy God doth always visit it, and his eyes are on
it from the beginning of the year unto the end thereof.

11:13. If then you obey my commandments, which I command you this day,
that you love the Lord your God, and serve him with all your heart, and
with all your soul:

11:14. He will give to your land the early rain and the latter rain,
that you may gather in your corn, and your wine, and your oil,

11:15. And your hay out of the fields to feed your cattle, and that you
may eat and be filled.

11:16. Beware lest perhaps your heart be deceived, and you depart from
the Lord, and serve strange gods, and adore them:

11:17. And the Lord being angry shut up heaven, that the rain come not
down, nor the earth yield her fruit, and you perish quickly from the
excellent land, which the Lord will give you.

11:18. Lay up these words in your hearts and minds, and hang them for a
sign on your hands, and place them between your eyes.

11:19. Teach your children that they meditate on them, when thou
sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest on the way, and when thou
liest down and risest up.

11:20. Thou shalt write them upon the posts and the doors of thy house:

11:21. That thy days may be multiplied, and the days of thy children in
the land which the Lord swore to thy fathers, that he would give them
as long as the heaven hangeth over the earth.

11:22. For if you keep the commandments which I command you, and do
them, to love the Lord your God, and walk in all his ways, cleaving
unto him,

11:23. The Lord will destroy all these nations before your face, and
you shall possess them, which are greater and stronger than you.

11:24. Every place, that your foot shall tread upon, shall be yours.
From the desert, and from Libanus, from the great river Euphrates unto
the western sea shall be your borders.

11:25. None shall stand against you: the Lord your God shall lay the
dread and fear of you upon all the land that you shall tread upon, as
he hath spoken to you.

11:26. Behold I set forth in your sight this day a blessing and a
curse:

11:27. A blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God,
which I command you this day:

11:28. A curse, if you obey not the commandments of the Lord your God,
but revolt from the way which now I shew you, and walk after strange
gods which you know not.

11:29. And when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land,
whither thou goest to dwell, thou shalt put the blessing upon mount
Garizim, the curse upon mount Hebal:

Put the blessing, et. . .See Deut. 27.12, etc. and Josue 8.33, etc.

11:30. Which are beyond the Jordan, behind the way that goeth to the
setting of the sun, in the land of the Chanaanite who dwelleth in the
plain country over against Galgala, which is near the valley that
reacheth and entereth far.

11:31. For you shall pass over the Jordan, to possess the land, which
the Lord your God will give you, that you may have it and possess it.

11:32. See therefore that you fulfil the ceremonies and judgments,
which I shall set this day before you.

Deuteronomy Chapter 12

All idolatry must be extirpated: sacrifices, tithes, and firstfruits
must be offered in one only place: all eating of blood is prohibited.

12:1. These are the precepts and judgments, that you must do in the
land, which the Lord the God of thy fathers will give thee, to possess
it all the days that thou shalt walk upon the earth.

12:2. Destroy all the places in which the nations, that you shall
possess, worshipped their gods upon high mountains, and hills, and
under every shady tree:

12:3. Overthrow their altars, and break down their statues, burn their
groves with fire, and break their idols in pieces: destroy their names
out of those places.

12:4. You shall not do so to the Lord your God:

12:5. But you shall come to the place, which the Lord your God shall
choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, and to dwell in
it:

12:6. And you shall offer in that place your holocausts and victims,
the tithes and firstfruits of your hands and your vows and gifts, the
firstborn of your herds and your sheep.

12:7. And you shall eat there in the sight of the Lord your God: and
you shall rejoice in all things, whereunto you shall put your hand, you
and your houses wherein the Lord your God hath blessed you.

12:8. You shall not do there the things we do here this day, every man
that which seemeth good to himself.

12:9. For until this present time you are not come to rest, and to the
possession, which the Lord your God will give you.

12:10. You shall pass over the Jordan, and shall dwell in the land
which the Lord your God will give you, that you may have rest from all
enemies round about: and may dwell without any fear,

12:11. In the place, which the Lord your God shall choose, that his
name may be therein. Thither shall you bring all the things that I
command you, holocausts, and victims, and tithes, and the firstfruits
of your hands: and whatsoever is the choicest in the gifts which you
shall vow to the Lord.

12:12. There shall you feast before the Lord your God, you and your
sons and your daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the
Levite that dwelleth in your cities. For he hath no other part and
possession among you.

12:13. Beware lest thou offer thy holocausts in every place that thou
shalt see:

12:14. But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy
tribes shalt thou offer sacrifices, and shalt do all that I command
thee.

12:15. But if thou desirest to eat, and the eating of flesh delight
thee, kill, and eat according to the blessing of the Lord thy God,
which he hath given thee, in thy cities: whether it be unclean, that is
to say, having blemish or defect: or clean, that is to say, sound and
without blemish, such as may be offered, as the roe, and the hart,
shalt thou eat it:

12:16. Only the blood thou shalt not eat, but thou shalt pour it out
upon the earth as water.

12:17. Thou mayst not eat in thy towns the tithes of thy corn, and thy
wine, and thy oil, the firstborn of thy herds and thy cattle, nor any
thing that thou vowest, and that thou wilt offer voluntarily, and the
firstfruits of thy hands:

12:18. But thou shalt eat them before the Lord thy God in the place
which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou and thy son and thy daughter,
and thy manservant, and maidservant, and the Levite that dwelleth in
thy cities: and thou shalt rejoice and be refreshed before the Lord thy
God in all things, whereunto thou shalt put thy hand.

12:19. Take heed thou forsake not the Levite all the time that thou
livest in the land.

12:20. When the Lord thy God shall have enlarged thy borders, as he hath
spoken to thee, and thou wilt eat the flesh that thy soul desireth:

12:21. And if the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his
name should be there, be far off, thou shalt kill of thy herds and of
thy flocks, as I have commanded thee, and shalt eat in thy towns, as it
pleaseth thee.

12:22. Even as the roe and the hart is eaten, so shalt thou eat them:
both the clean and unclean shall eat of them alike.

12:23. Only beware of this, that thou eat not the blood, for the blood
is for the soul: and therefore thou must not eat the soul with the
flesh:

12:24. But thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water,

12:25. That it may be well with thee and thy children after thee, when
thou shalt do that which is pleasing in the sight of the Lord.

12:26. But the things which thou hast sanctified and vowed to the Lord,
thou shalt take, and shalt come to the place which the Lord shall
choose:

12:27. And shalt offer thy oblations, the flesh and the blood upon the
altar of the Lord thy God: the blood of thy victims thou shalt pour on
the altar: and the flesh thou thyself shalt eat.

12:28. Observe and hear all the things that I command thee, that it may
be well with thee and thy children after thee for ever, when thou shalt
do what is good and pleasing in the sight of the Lord thy God.

12:29. When the Lord thy God shall have destroyed before thy face the
nations, which thou shalt go in to possess, and when thou shalt possess
them, and dwell in their land:

12:30. Beware lest thou imitate them, after they are destroyed at thy
coming in, and lest thou seek after their ceremonies, saying: As these
nations have worshipped their gods, so will I also worship.

12:31. Thou shalt not do in like manner to the Lord thy God. For they
have done to their gods all the abominations which the Lord abhorreth,
offering their sons and daughters, and burning them with fire.

12:32. What I command thee, that only do thou to the Lord: neither add
any thing, nor diminish.

That only do thou, etc. . .They are forbid here to follow the ceremonies
of the heathens; or to make any alterations in the divine ordinances.

Deuteronomy Chapter 13

False prophets must be slain, and idolatrous cities destroyed.

13:1. If there rise in the midst of thee a prophet or one that saith he
hath dreamed a dream, and he foretell a sign and a wonder,

13:2. And that come to pass which he spoke, and he say to thee: Let us
go and follow strange gods, which thou knowest not, and let us serve
them:

13:3. Thou shalt not hear the words of that prophet or dreamer: for the
Lord your God trieth you, that it may appear whether you love him with
all your heart, and with all your soul, or not.

13:4. Follow the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his
commandments, and hear his voice: him you shall serve, and to him you
shall cleave.

13:5. And that prophet or forger of dreams shall be slain: because he
spoke to draw you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of
the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of bondage: to make
thee go out of the way, which the Lord thy God commanded thee: and thou
shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee.

13:6. If thy brother the son of thy mother, or thy son, or daughter, or
thy wife that is in thy bosom, or thy friend, whom thou lovest as thy
own soul, would persuade thee secretly, saying: Let us go, and serve
strange gods, which thou knowest not, nor thy fathers,

13:7. Of all the nations round about, that are near or afar off, from
one end of the earth to the other,

13:8. Consent not to him, hear him not, neither let thy eye spare him
to pity and conceal him,

13:9. But thou shalt presently put him to death. Let thy hand be first
upon him, and afterwards the hands of all the people.

Presently put him to death. . .Not by killing him by private authority,
but by informing the magistrate, and proceeding by order of justice.

13:10. With stones shall he be stoned to death: because he would have
withdrawn thee from the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land
of Egypt, from the house of bondage:

13:11. That all Israel hearing may fear, and may do no more any thing
like this.

13:12. If in one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God shall give thee
to dwell in, thou hear some say:

13:13. Children of Belial are gone out of the midst of thee, and have
withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, and have said: Let us go, and
serve strange gods which you know not:

Belial. . .That is, without yoke. Hence the wicked, who refuse to be
subject to the divine law, are called in scripture the children of
Belial.

13:14. Inquire carefully and diligently, the truth of the thing by
looking well into it, and if thou find that which is said to be
certain, and that this abomination hath been really committed,

13:15. Thou shalt forthwith kill the inhabitants of that city with the
edge of the sword, and shalt destroy it and all things that are in it,
even the cattle.

13:16. And all the household goods that are there, thou shalt gather
together in the midst of the streets thereof, and shall burn them with
the city itself, so as to comsume all for the Lord thy God, and that it
be a heap for ever: it shall be built no more.

13:17. And there shall nothing of that anathema stick to thy hand: that
the Lord may turn from the wrath of his fury, and may have mercy on
thee, and multiply thee as he swore to thy fathers,

13:18. When thou shalt hear the voice of the Lord thy God, keeping all
his precepts, which I command thee this day, that thou mayst do what is
pleasing in the sight of the Lord thy God.

Deuteronomy Chapter 14

In mourning for the dead they are not to follow the ways of the
Gentiles: the distinction of clean and unclean meats: ordinances
concerning tithes, and firstfruits.

14:1. Be ye children of the Lord your God: you shall not cut
yourselves, nor make any baldness for the dead;

14:2. Because thou art a holy people to the Lord thy God: and he chose
thee to be his peculiar people of all nations that are upon the earth.

14:3. Eat not the things that are unclean.

Unclean. . .See the annotations on Lev. 11.

14:4. These are the beasts that you shall eat, the ox, and the sheep,
and the goat,

14:5. The hart and the roe, the buffle, the chamois, the pygarg, the
wild goat, the camelopardalus.

14:6. Every beast that divideth the hoof in two parts, and cheweth the
cud, you shall eat.

14:7. But of them that chew the cud, but divide not the hoof, you shall
not eat, such as the camel, the hare, and the cherogril: because they
chew the cud, but divide not the hoof, they shall be unclean to you.

14:8. The swine also, because it divideth the hoof, but cheweth not the
cud, shall be unclean, their flesh you shall not eat, and their
carcasses you shall not touch.

14:9. These shall you eat of all that abide in the waters: All that
have fins and scales, you shall eat.

14:10. Such as are without fins and scales, you shall not eat, because
they are unclean.

14:11. All birds that are clean you shall eat.

14:12. The unclean eat not: to wit, the eagle, and the grype, and the
osprey,

14:13. The ringtail, and the vulture, and the kite according to their
kind:

14:14. And all of the raven's kind:

14:15. And the ostrich, and the owl, and the larus, and the hawk
according to its kind:

14:16. The heron, and the swan, and the stork,

14:17. And the cormorant, the porphirion, and the night crow,

14:18. The bittern, and the charadrion, every one in their kind: the
houp also and the bat.

14:19. Every thing that creepeth, and hath little wings, shall be
unclean, and shall not be eaten.

14:20. All that is clean, you shall eat.

14:21. But whatsoever is dead of itself, eat not thereof. Give it to
the stranger, that is within thy gates, to eat, or sell it to him:
because thou art the holy people of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not
boil a kid in the milk of his dam.

14:22. Every year thou shalt set aside the tithes of all thy fruits
that the earth bringeth forth,

14:23. And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God in the place which he
shall choose, that his name may be called upon therein, the tithe of
thy corn, and thy wine, and thy oil, and the firstborn of thy herds and
thy sheep: that thou mayst learn to fear the Lord thy God at all times.

14:24. But when the way and the place which the Lord thy God shall
choose, are far off, and he hath blessed thee, and thou canst not carry
all these things thither,

14:25. Thou shalt sell them all, and turn them into money, and shalt
carry it in thy hand, and shalt go to the place which the Lord shall
choose:

14:26. And thou shalt buy with the same money whatsoever pleaseth thee,
either of the herds or of sheep, wine also and strong drink, and all
that thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, and
shalt feast, thou and thy house:

14:27. And the Levite that is within thy gates, beware thou forsake him
not, because he hath no other part in thy possession.

14:28. The third year thou shalt separate another tithe of all things
that grow to thee at that time, and shalt lay it up within thy gates.

14:29. And the Levite that hath no other part nor possession with thee,
and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, that are within thy
gates, shall come and shall eat and be filled: that the Lord thy God
may bless thee in all the works of thy hands that thou shalt do.

Deuteronomy Chapter 15

The law of the seventh year of remission. The firstlings of cattle are
to be sanctified to the Lord.

15:1. In the seventh year thou shalt make a remission,

15:2. Which shall be celebrated in this order. He to whom any thing is
owing from his friend or neighbour or brother, cannot demand it again,
because it is the year of remission of the Lord.

15:3. Of the foreigner or stranger thou mayst exact it: of thy
countryman and neighbour thou shalt not have power to demand it again.

15:4. And there shall be no poor nor beggar among you: that the Lord
thy God may bless thee in the land which he will give thee in
possession.

There shall be no poor, etc. . .It is not to be understood as a promise,
that there should be no poor in Israel, as appears from ver. 11, where
we learn that God's people would never be at a loss to find objects for
their charity: but it is an ordinance that all should do their best
endeavours to prevent any of their brethren from suffering the
hardships of poverty and want.

15:5. Yet so if thou hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and keep all
things that he hath ordained, and which I command thee this day, he
will bless thee, as he hath promised.

15:6. Thou shalt lend to many nations, and thou shalt borrow of no man.
Thou shalt have dominion over very many nations, and no one shall have
dominion over thee.

15:7. If one of thy brethren that dwelleth within thy gates of thy city
in the land which the Lord thy God will give thee, come to poverty:
thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor close thy hand,

15:8. But shalt open it to the poor man, thou shalt lend him, that
which thou perceivest he hath need of.

15:9. Beware lest perhaps a wicked thought steal in upon thee, and thou
say in thy heart: The seventh year of remission draweth nigh; and thou
turn away thy eyes from thy poor brother, denying to lend him that
which he asketh: lest he cry against thee to the Lord, and it become a
sin unto thee.

15:10. But thou shalt give to him: neither shalt thou do any thing
craftily in relieving his necessities: that the Lord thy God may bless
thee at all times, and in all things to which thou shalt put thy hand.

15:11. There will not be wanting poor in the land of thy habitation:
therefore I command thee to open thy hand to thy needy and poor
brother, that liveth in the land.

15:12. When thy brother a Hebrew man, or Hebrew woman is sold to thee,
and hath served thee six years, in the seventh year thou shalt let him
go free:

15:13. And when thou sendest him out free, thou shalt not let him go
away empty:

15:14. But shall give him for his way out of thy flocks, and out of thy
barnfloor, and thy winepress, wherewith the Lord thy God shall bless
thee.

15:15. Remember that thou also wast a bondservant in the land of Egypt,
and the Lord thy God made thee free, and therefore I now command thee
this.

15:16. But if he say: I will not depart: because he loveth thee, and
thy house, and findeth that he is well with thee:

15:17. Thou shalt take an awl, and bore through his ear in the door of
thy house, and he shall serve thee for ever: thou shalt do in like
manner to thy womanservant also.

15:18. Turn not away thy eyes from them when thou makest them free:
because he hath served thee six years according to the wages of a
hireling: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the works that
thou dost.

15:19. Of the firstlings, that come of thy herds and thy sheep, thou
shalt sanctify to the Lord thy God whatsoever is of the male sex. Thou
shalt not work with the firstling of a bullock, and thou shalt not
shear the firstlings of thy sheep.

15:20. In the sight of the Lord thy God shalt thou eat them every year,
in the place that the Lord shall choose, thou and thy house.

15:21. But if it have a blemish, or be lame, or blind, or in any part
disfigured or feeble, it shall not be sacrificed to the Lord thy God.

15:22. But thou shalt eat it within the gates of thy city: the clean
and the unclean shall eat them alike, as the roe and as the hart.

15:23. Only thou shalt take heed not to eat their blood, but pour it
out on the earth as water.

Deuteronomy Chapter 16

The three principal solemnities to be observed: just judges to be
appointed in every city: all occasions of idolatry to be avoided.

16:1. Observe the month of new corn, which is the first of the spring,
that thou mayst celebrate the phase to the Lord thy God: because in
this month the Lord thy God brought thee out of Egypt by night.

16:2. And thou shalt sacrifice the phase to the Lord thy God, of sheep,
and of oxen, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his
name may dwell there.

16:3. Thou shalt not eat with it leavened bread: seven days shalt thou
eat without leaven, the bread of affliction, because thou camest out of
Egypt in fear: that thou mayst remember the day of thy coming out of
Egypt, all the days of thy life.

16:4. No leaven shall be seen in all thy coasts for seven days, neither
shall any of the flesh of that which was sacrificed the first day in
the evening remain until morning.

16:5. Thou mayst not immolate the phase in any one of thy cities, which
the Lord thy God will give thee:

16:6. But in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his
name may dwell there: thou shalt immolate the phase in the evening, at
the going down of the sun, at which time thou camest out of Egypt.

16:7. And thou shalt dress, and eat it in the place which the Lord thy
God shall choose, and in the morning rising up thou shalt go into thy
dwellings.

16:8. Six days shalt thou eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day,
because it is the assembly of the Lord thy God, thou shalt do no work.

16:9. Thou shalt number unto thee seven weeks from that day, wherein
thou didst put the sickle to the corn.

16:10. And thou shalt celebrate the festival of weeks to the Lord thy
God, a voluntary oblation of thy hand, which thou shalt offer according
to the blessing of the Lord thy God.

16:11. And thou shalt feast before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son,
and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the
Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger and the fatherless,
and the widow, who abide with you: in the place which the Lord thy God
shall choose, that his name may dwell there:

16:12. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in Egypt: and
thou shalt keep and do the things that are commanded.

16:13. Thou shalt celebrate the solemnity also of tabernacles seven
days, when thou hast gathered in thy fruit of the barnfloor and of the
winepress.

16:14. And thou shalt make merry in thy festival time, thou, thy son,
and thy daughter, thy manservant, and thy maidservant, the Levite also
and the stranger, and the fatherless and the widow that are within thy
gates.

16:15. Seven days shalt thou celebrate feasts to the Lord thy God in
the place which the Lord shall choose: and the Lord thy God will bless
thee in all thy fruits, and in every work of thy hands, and thou shalt
be in joy.

16:16. Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord
thy God in the place which he shall choose: in the feast of unleavened
bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles. No one
shall appear with his hands empty before the Lord:

16:17. But every one shall offer according to what he hath, according
to the blessing of the Lord his God, which he shall give him.

16:18. Thou shalt appoint judges and magistrates in all thy gates,
which the Lord thy God shall give thee, in all thy tribes: that they
may judge the people with just judgment,

16:19. And not go aside to either part. Thou shalt not accept person
nor gifts: for gifts blind the eyes of the wise, and change the words
of the just.

16:20. Thou shalt follow justly after that which is just: that thou
mayst live and possess the land, which the Lord thy God shall give
thee.

16:21. Thou shalt plant no grove, nor any tree near the altar of the
Lord thy God:

16:22. Neither shalt thou make nor set up to thyself a statue: which
things the Lord thy God hateth.

Deuteronomy Chapter 17

Victims must be without blemish. Idolaters are to be slain.
Controversies are to be decided by the high priest and council, whose
sentence must be obeyed under pain of death. The duty of a king, who is
to receive the law of God at the priest's hands.

17:1. Thou shalt not sacrifice to the Lord thy God a sheep, or an ox,
wherein there is blemish, or any fault: for that is an abomination to
the Lord thy God.

17:2. When there shall be found among you within any of thy gates,
which the Lord thy God shall give thee, man or woman that do evil in
the sight of the Lord thy God, and transgress his covenant,

17:3. So as to go and serve strange gods, and adore them, the sun and
the moon, and all the host of heaven, which I have not commanded:

The host of heaven. . .That is, the stars.

17:4. And this is told thee, and hearing it thou hast inquired
diligently, and found it to be true, and that the abomination is
committed in Israel:

17:5. Thou shalt bring forth the man or the woman, who have committed
that most wicked thing, to the gates of thy city, and they shall be
stoned.

17:6. By the mouth of two or three witnesses shall he die that is to be
slain. Let no man be put to death, when only one beareth witness
against him.

17:7. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to kill him,
and afterwards the hands of the rest of the people: that thou mayst
take away the evil out of the midst of thee.

17:8. If thou perceive that there be among you a hard and doubtful
matter in judgment between blood and blood, cause and cause, leprosy
and leprosy: and thou see that the words of the judges within thy gates
do vary: arise, and go up to the place, which the Lord thy God shall
choose.

If thou perceive, etc. . .Here we see what authority God was pleased to
give to the church guides of the Old Testament, in deciding, without
appeal, all controversies relating to the law; promising that they
should not err therein; and surely he has not done less for the church
guides of the New Testament.

17:9. And thou shalt come to the priests of the Levitical race, and to
the judge, that shall be at that time: and thou shalt ask of them, and
they shall shew thee the truth of the judgment.

17:10. And thou shalt do whatsoever they shall say, that preside in the
place, which the Lord shall choose, and what they shall teach thee,

17:11. According to his law; and thou shalt follow their sentence:
neither shalt thou decline to the right hand nor to the left hand.

17:12. But he that will be proud, and refuse to obey the commandment of
the priest, who ministereth at that time to the Lord thy God, and the
decree of the judge, that man shall die, and thou shalt take away the
evil from Israel:

17:13. And all the people hearing it shall fear, that no one afterwards
swell with pride.

17:14. When thou art come into the land, which the Lord thy God will
give thee, and possessest it, and shalt say: I will set a king over me,
as all nations have that are round about:

17:15. Thou shalt set him whom the Lord thy God shall choose out of the
number of thy brethren. Thou mayst not make a man of another nation
king, that is not thy brother.

17:16. And when he is made king, he shall not multiply horses to
himself, nor lead back the people into Egypt, being lifted up with the
number of his horsemen, especially since the Lord hath commanded you to
return no more the same way.

17:17. He shall not have many wives, that may allure his mind, nor
immense sums of silver and gold.

17:18. But after he is raised to the throne of his kingdom, he shall
copy out to himself the Deuteronomy of this law in a volume, taking the
copy of the priests of the Levitical tribe,

17:19. And he shall have it with him, and shall read it all the days of
his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, and keep his
words and ceremonies, that are commanded in the law;

17:20. And that his heart be not lifted up with pride over his
brethren, nor decline to the right or to the left, that he and his sons
may reign a long time over Israel.

Deuteronomy Chapter 18

The Lord is the inheritance of the priests and Levites. Heathenish
abominations are to be avoided. The great PROPHET CHRIST is promised.
False prophets must be slain.

18:1. The priests and Levites, and all that are of the same tribe,
shall have no part nor inheritance with the rest of Israel, because
they shall eat the sacrifices of the Lord, and his oblations,

18:2. And they shall receive nothing else of the possession of their
brethren: for the Lord himself is their inheritance, as he hath said to
them.

18:3. This shall be the priest's due from the people, and from them
that offer victims: whether they sacrifice an ox, or a sheep, they
shall give to the priest the shoulder and the breast:

18:4. The firstfruits also of corn, of wine, and of oil, and a part of
the wool from the shearing of their sheep.

18:5. For the Lord thy God hath chosen him of all thy tribes, to stand
and to minister to the name of the Lord, him and his sons for ever.

18:6. If a Levite go out of any one of the cities throughout all
Israel, in which he dwelleth, and have a longing mind to come to the
place which the Lord shall choose,

18:7. He shall minister in the name of the Lord his God, as all his
brethren the Levites do, that shall stand at that time before the Lord.

18:8. He shall receive the same portion of food that the rest do:
besides that which is due to him in his own city, by succession from
his fathers.

18:9. When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God shall
give thee, beware lest thou have a mind to imitate the abominations of
those nations.

18:10. Neither let there be found among you any one that shall expiate
his son or daughter, making them to pass through the fire: or that
consulteth soothsayers, or observeth dreams and omens, neither let
there be any wizard,

18:11. Nor charmer, nor any one that consulteth pythonic spirits, or
fortune tellers, or that seeketh the truth from the dead.

18:12. For the Lord abhorreth all these things, and for these
abominations he will destroy them at thy coming.

18:13. Thou shalt be perfect, and without spot before the Lord thy God.

18:14. These nations, whose land thou shalt possess, hearken to
soothsayers and diviners: but thou art otherwise instructed by the Lord
thy God.

18:15. The Lord thy God will raise up to thee a PROPHET of thy nation
and of thy brethren like unto me: him thou shalt hear:

18:16. As thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the
assembly was gathered together, and saidst: Let me not hear any more
the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see any more this
exceeding great fire, lest I die.

18:17. And the Lord said to me: They have spoken all things well.

18:18. I will raise them up a prophet out of the midst of their
brethren like to thee: and I will put my words in his mouth, and he
shall speak to them all that I shall command him.

18:19. And he that will not hear his words, which he shall speak in my
name, I will be the revenger.

18:20. But the prophet, who being corrupted with pride, shall speak in
my name things that I did not command him to say, or in the name of
strange gods, shall be slain.

18:21. And if in silent thought thou answer: How shall I know the word
that the Lord hath not spoken?

18:22. Thou shalt have this sign: Whatsoever that same prophet
foretelleth in the name of the Lord, and it cometh not to pass: that
thing the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath forged it by the
pride of his mind: and therefore thou shalt not fear him.

Deuteronomy Chapter 19

The cities of refuge. Wilful murder, and false witnesses must be
punished.

19:1. When the Lord thy God hath destroyed the nations, whose land he
will deliver to thee, and thou shalt possess it, and shalt dwell in the
cities and houses thereof:

19:2. Thou shalt separate to thee three cities in the midst of the
land, which the Lord will give thee in possession,

19:3. Paving diligently the way: and thou shalt divide the whole
province of thy land equally into three parts: that he who is forced to
flee for manslaughter, may have near at hand whither to escape.

19:4. This shall be the law of the slayer that fleeth, whose life is to
be saved: He that killeth his neighbor ignorantly, and who is proved to
have had no hatred against him yesterday and the day before:

19:5. But to have gone with him to the wood to hew wood, and in cutting
down the tree the axe slipped out of his hand, and the iron slipping
from the handle struck his friend, and killed him: he shall flee to one
of the cities aforesaid, and live:

19:6. Lest perhaps the next kinsman of him whose blood was shed, pushed
on by his grief should pursue, and apprehend him, if the way be too
long, and take away the life of him who is not guilty of death, because
he is proved to have had no hatred before against him that was slain.

19:7. Therefore I command thee, that thou separate three cities at
equal distance one from another.

19:8. And when the Lord thy God shall have enlarged thy borders, as he
swore to the fathers, and shall give thee all the land that he promised
them,

19:9. (Yet so, if thou keep his commandments, and do the things which I
command thee this day, that thou love the Lord thy God, and walk in his
ways at all times) thou shalt add to thee other three cities, and shalt
double the number of the three cities aforesaid:

19:10. That innocent blood may not be shed in the midst of the land
which the Lord thy God will give thee to possess, lest thou be guilty
of blood.

19:11. But if any man hating his neighbour, lie in wait for his life,
and rise and strike him, and he die, and he flee to one of the cities
aforesaid,

19:12. The ancients of his city shall send, and take him out of the
place of refuge, and shall deliver him into the hand of the kinsman of
him whose blood was shed, and he shall die.

19:13. Thou shalt not pity him, and thou shalt take away the guilt of
innocent blood out of Israel, that it may be well with thee.

19:14. Thou shalt not take nor remove thy neighbour's landmark, which
thy predecessors have set in thy possession, which the Lord thy God
will give thee in the land that thou shalt receive to possess.

19:15. One witness shall not rise up against any man, whatsoever the
sin or wickedness be: but in the mouth of two or three witnesses every
word shall stand.

19:16. If a lying witness stand against a man, accusing him of
transgression,

19:17. Both of them, between whom the controversy is, shall stand
before the Lord in the sight of the priests and the judges that shall
be in those days.

19:18. And when after most diligent inquisition, they shall find that
the false witness hath told a lie against his brother:

19:19. They shall render to him as he meant to do to his brother, and
thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee:

19:20. That others hearing may fear, and may not dare to do such
things.

19:21. Thou shalt not pity him, but shalt require life for life, eye
for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Deuteronomy Chapter 20

Laws relating to war.

20:1. If thou go out to war against thy enemies, and see horsemen and
chariots, and the numbers of the enemy's army greater than thine, thou
shalt not fear them: because the Lord thy God is with thee, who brought
thee out of the land of Egypt.

20:2. And when the battle is now at hand, the priest shall stand before
the army, and shall speak to the people in this manner:

20:3. Hear, O Israel, you join battle this day against your enemies,
let not your heart be dismayed, be not afraid, do not give back, fear
ye them not:

20:4. Because the Lord your God is in the midst of you, and will fight
for you against your enemies, to deliver you from danger.

20:5. And the captains shall proclaim through every band in the hearing
of the army: What man is there, that hath built a new house, and hath
not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in
the battle, and another man dedicate it.

20:6. What man is there, that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not as
yet made it to be common, whereof all men may eat? let him go, and
return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man execute
his office.

20:7. What man is there, that hath espoused a wife, and not taken her?
let him go, and return to his house, lest he die in the war, and
another man take her.

20:8. After these things are declared they shall add the rest, and
shall speak to the people: What man is there that is fearful, and faint
hearted? let him go, and return to his house, lest he make the hearts
of his brethren to fear, as he himself is possessed with fear.

20:9. And when the captains of the army shall hold their peace, and
have made an end of speaking, every man shall prepare their bands to
fight.

20:10. If at any time thou come to fight against a city, thou shalt
first offer it peace.

20:11. If they receive it, and open the gates to thee, all the people
that are therein, shall be saved, and shall serve thee paying tribute.

20:12. But if they will not make peace, and shall begin war against
thee, thou shalt besiege it.

20:13. And when the Lord thy God shall deliver it into thy hands, thou
shalt slay all that are therein of the male sex, with the edge of the
sword,

20:14. Excepting women and children, cattle and other things, that are
in the city. And thou shalt divide all the prey to the army, and thou
shalt eat the spoils of thy enemies, which the Lord thy God shall give
thee.

20:15. So shalt thou do to all cities that are at a great distance from
thee, and are not of these cities which thou shalt receive in
possession.

20:16. But of those cities that shall be given thee, thou shalt suffer
none at all to live:

20:17. But shalt kill them with the edge of the sword, to wit, the
Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Chanaanite, the Pherezite, and the
Hevite, and the Jebusite, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee:

20:18. Lest they teach you to do all the abominations which they have
done to their gods: and you should sin against the Lord your God.

20:19. When thou hast besieged a city a long time, and hath compassed
it with bulwarks, to take it, thou shalt not cut down the trees that
may be eaten of, neither shalt thou spoil the country round about with
axes: for it is a tree, and not a man, neither can it increase the
number of them that fight against thee.

20:20. But if there be any trees that are not fruitful, but wild, and
fit for other uses, cut them down, and make engines, until thou take
the city, which fighteth against thee.

Deuteronomy Chapter 21

The expiation of a secret murder. The marrying a captive. The eldest
son must not be deprived of his birthright for hatred of his mother. A
stubborn son is to be stoned to death. When one is hanged on a gibbet,
he must be taken down the same day and buried.

21:1. When there shall be found in the land, which the Lord thy God
will give thee, the corpse of a man slain, and it is not known who is
guilty of the murder,

21:2. Thy ancients and judges shall go out, and shall measure from the
place where the body lieth the distance of every city round about:

21:3. And the ancients of that city which they shall perceive to be
nearer than the rest, shall take a heifer of the herd, that hath not
drawn in the yoke, nor ploughed the ground,

21:4. And they shall bring her into a rough and stony valley, that
never was ploughed, nor sown: and there they shall strike off the head
of the heifer:

21:5. And the priests the sons of Levi shall come, whom the Lord thy
God hath chosen to minister to him, and to bless in his name, and that
by their word every matter should be decided, and whatsoever is clean
or unclean should be judged.

21:6. And the ancients of that city shall come to the person slain, and
shall wash their hands over the heifer that was killed in the valley,

21:7. And shall say: Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our
eyes see it.

21:8. Be merciful to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, O
Lord, and lay not innocent blood to their charge, in the midst of thy
people Israel. And the guilt of blood shall be taken from them:

21:9. And thou shalt be free from the innocent's blood, that was shed,
when thou shalt have done what the Lord hath commanded thee.

21:10. If thou go out to fight against thy enemies, and the Lord thy
God deliver them into thy hand, and thou lead them away captives,

21:11. And seest in the number of the captives a beautiful woman, and
lovest her, and wilt have her to wife,

21:12. Thou shalt bring her into thy house: and she shall shave her
hair, and pare her nails,

21:13. And shall put off the raiment, wherein she was taken: and shall
remain in thy house, and mourn for her father and mother one month: and
after that thou shalt go in unto her, and shalt sleep with her, and she
shall be thy wife.

21:14. But if afterwards she please thee not, thou shalt let her go
free, but thou mayst not sell her for money nor oppress her by might
because thou hast humbled her.

21:15. If a man have two wives, one beloved, and the other hated, and
they have had children by him, and the son of the hated be the
firstborn,

21:16. And he meaneth to divide his substance among his sons: he may
not make the son of the beloved the firstborn, and prefer him before
the son of the hated.

21:17. But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn,
and shall give him a double portion of all he hath: for this is the
first of his children, and to him are due the first birthrights.

21:18. If a man have a stubborn and unruly son, who will not hear the
commandments of his father or mother, and being corrected, slighteth
obedience:

21:19. They shall take him and bring him to the ancients of the city,
and to the gate of judgment,

21:20. And shall say to them: This our son is rebellious and stubborn,
he slighteth hearing our admonitions, he giveth himself to revelling,
and to debauchery and banquetings:

21:21. The people of the city shall stone him: and he shall die, that
you may take away the evil out of the midst of you, and all Israel
hearing it may be afraid.

21:22. When a man hath committed a crime for which he is to be punished
with death, and being condemned to die is hanged on a gibbet:

21:23. His body shall not remain upon the tree, but shall be buried the
same day: for he is accursed of God that hangeth on a tree: and thou
shalt not defile thy land, which the Lord thy God shall give thee in
possession.

Deuteronomy Chapter 22

Humanity towards neighbours. Neither sex may use the apparel of the
other. Cruelty to be avoided even to birds. Battlements about the roof
of a house. Things of divers kinds not to be mixed. The punishment of
him that slandereth his wife, as also of adultery and rape.

22:1. Thou shalt not pass by if thou seest thy brother's ox, or his
sheep go astray: but thou shalt bring them back to thy brother.

22:2. And if thy brother be not nigh, or thou know him not: thou shalt
bring them to thy house, and they shall be with thee until thy brother
seek them, and receive them.

22:3. Thou shalt do in like manner with his ass, and with his raiment,
and with every thing that is thy brother's, which is lost: if thou find
it, neglect it not as pertaining to another.

22:4. If thou see thy brother's ass or his ox to be fallen down in the
way, thou shalt not slight it, but shalt lift it up with him.

22:5. A woman shall not be clothed with man's apparel, neither shall a
man use woman's apparel: for he that doth these things is abominable
before God.

22:6. If thou find as thou walkest by the way, a bird's nest in a tree,
or on the ground, and the dam sitting upon the young or upon the eggs:
thou shalt not take her with her young:

Thou shalt not take, etc. This was to shew them to exercise a certain
mercy even to irrational creatures; and by that means to train them up
to a horror of cruelty; and to the exercise of humanity and mutual
charity one to another.

22:7. But shalt let her go, keeping the young which thou hast caught:
that it may be well with thee, and thou mayst live a long time.

22:8. When thou buildest a new house, thou shalt make a battlement to
the roof round about: lest blood be shed in thy house, and thou be
guilty, if any one slip, and fall down headlong.

Battlement. . .This precaution was necessary, because all their houses
had flat tops, and it was usual to walk and to converse together upon
them.

22:9. Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest both the
seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of the vineyard, be sanctified
together.

22:10. Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass together.

22:11. Thou shalt not wear a garment that is woven of woollen and linen
together.

22:12. Thou shalt make strings in the hem at the four corners of thy
cloak, wherewith thou shalt be covered.

22:13. If a man marry a wife, and afterwards hate her,

22:14. And seek occasions to put her away, laying to her charge a very
ill name, and say: I took this woman to wife, and going in to her, I
found her not a virgin:

22:15. Her father and mother shall take her, and shall bring with them
the tokens of her virginity to the ancients of the city that are in the
gate:

22:16. And the father shall say: I gave my daughter unto this man to
wife: and because he hateth her,

22:17. He layeth to her charge a very ill name, so as to say: I found
not thy daughter a virgin: and behold these are the tokens of my
daughter's virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the
ancients of the city:

22:18. And the ancients of that city shall take that man, and beat him,

22:19. Condemning him besides in a hundred sicles of silver, which he
shall give to the damsel's father, because he hath defamed by a very
ill name a virgin of Israel: and he shall have her to wife, and may not
put her away all the days of his life.

22:20. But if what he charged her with be true, and virginity be not
found in the damsel:

22:21. They shall cast her out of the doors of her father's house, and
the men of the city shall stone her to death, and she shall die:
because she hath done a wicked thing in Israel, to play the whore in
her father's house: and thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst
of thee.

22:22. If a man lie with another man's wife, they shall both die, that
is to say, the adulterer and the adulteress: and thou shalt take away
the evil out of Israel.

22:23. If a man have espoused a damsel that is a virgin, and some one
find her in the city, and lie with her,

22:24. Thou shalt bring them both out to the gate of that city, and
they shall be stoned: the damsel, because she cried not out, being in
the city: the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife. And
thou shalt take away the evil from the midst of thee.

22:25. But if a man find a damsel that is betrothed, in the field, and
taking hold of her, lie with her, he alone shall die:

22:26. The damsel shall suffer nothing, neither is she guilty of death:
for as a robber riseth against his brother, and taketh away his life,
so also did the damsel suffer:

22:27. She was alone in the field: she cried, and there was no man to
help her.

22:28. If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, who is not espoused,
and taking her, lie with her, and the matter come to judgment:

22:29. He that lay with her shall give to the father of the maid fifty
sicles of silver, and shall have her to wife, because he hath humbled
her: he may not put her away all the days of his life.

22:30. No man shall take his father's wife, nor remove his covering.

Deuteronomy Chapter 23

Who may and who may not enter into the church: uncleanness to be
avoided: other precepts concerning fugitives, fornication, usury, vows,
and eating other men's grapes and corn.

23:1. An eunuch, whose testicles are broken or cut away, or yard cut
off, shall not enter into the church of the Lord.

Eunuch. . .By these are meant, in the spiritual sense, such as are
barren in good works. Ibid. Into the church. . .That is, into the
assembly or congregation of Israel, so as to have the privilege of an
Israelite, or to be capable of any place or office among the people of
God.

23:2. A mamzer, that is to say, one born of a prostitute, shall not
enter into the church of the Lord, until the tenth generation.

23:3. The Ammonite and the Moabite, even after the tenth generation
shall not enter into the church of the Lord for ever:

23:4. Because they would not meet you with bread and water in the way,
when you came out of Egypt: and because they hired against thee Balaam,
the son of Beor, from Mesopotamia in Syria, to curse thee.

23:5. And the Lord thy God would not hear Balaam, and he turned his
cursing into thy blessing, because he loved thee.

23:6. Thou shalt not make peace with them, neither shalt thou seek
their prosperity all the days of thy life for ever.

23:7. Thou shalt not abhor the Edomite, because he is thy brother: nor
the Egyptian, because thou wast a stranger in his land.

23:8. They that are born of them, in the third generation shall enter
into the church of the Lord.

23:9. When thou goest out to war against thy enemies, thou shalt keep
thyself from every evil thing.

23:10. If there be among you any man, that is defiled in a dream by
night, he shall go forth out of the camp,

23:11. And shall not return, before he be washed with water in the
evening: and after sunset he shall return into the camp.

23:12. Thou shalt have a place without the camp, to which thou mayst go
for the necessities of nature,

23:13. Carrying a paddle at thy girdle. And when thou sittest down,
thou shalt dig round about, and with the earth that is dug up thou
shalt cover

23:14. That which thou art eased of: (for the Lord thy God walketh in
the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thy enemies to
thee:) and let thy camp be holy, and let no uncleanness appear therein,
lest he go away from thee.

No uncleanness. . .This caution against suffering any filth in the camp,
was to teach them to fly the filth of sin, which driveth God away from
the soul.

23:15. Thou shalt not deliver to his master the servant that is fled to
thee.

23:16. He shall dwell with thee in the place that shall please him, and
shall rest in one of thy cities: give him no trouble.

23:17. There shall be no whore among the daughters of Israel, nor
whoremonger among the sons of Israel.

23:18. Thou shalt not offer the hire of a strumpet, nor the price of a
dog, in the house of the Lord thy God, whatsoever it be that thou hast
vowed: because both these are an abomination to the Lord thy God.

23:19. Thou shalt not lend to thy brother money to usury, nor corn, nor
any other thing:

23:20. But to the stranger. To thy brother thou shalt lend that which
he wanteth, without usury: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all
thy works in the land, which thou shalt go in to possess.

To the stranger. . .This was a dispensation granted by God to his
people, who being the Lord of all things, can give a right and title to
one upon the goods of another. Otherwise the scripture everywhere
condemns usury, as contrary to the law of God, and a crying sin. See
Ex. 22.25; Lev. 25.36, 37; 2 Esd. 5.7; Ps. 14.5; Ezech. 18.8, 13, etc.

23:21. When thou hast made a vow to the Lord thy God, thou shalt not
delay to pay it: because the Lord thy God will require it. And if thou
delay, it shall be imputed to thee for a sin.

23:22. If thou wilt not promise, that shalt be without sin.

23:23. But that which is once gone out of thy lips, thou shalt observe,
and shalt do as thou hast promised to the Lord thy God, and hast spoken
with thy own will and with thy own mouth.

23:24. Going into thy neighbour's vineyard, thou mayst eat as many
grapes as thou pleasest: but must carry none out with thee:

23:25. If thou go into thy friend's corn, thou mayst break the ears,
and rub them in thy hand: but not reap them with a sickle.

Deuteronomy Chapter 24

Divorce permitted to avoid greater evil: the newly married must not go
to war: of men stealers, of leprosy, of pledges, of labourers' hire, of
justice, and of charity to the poor.

24:1. If a man take a wife, and have her, and she find not favour in
his eyes, for some uncleanness: he shall write a bill of divorce, and
shall give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.

24:2. And when she is departed, and marrieth another husband,

24:3. And he also hateth her, and hath given her a bill of divorce, and
hath sent her out of his house or is dead:

24:4. The former husband cannot take her again to wife: because she is
defiled, and is become abominable before the Lord: lest thou cause thy
land to sin, which the Lord thy God shall give thee to possess.

24:5. When a man hath lately taken a wife, he shall not go out to war,
neither shall any public business be enjoined him, but he shall be free
at home without fault, that for one year he may rejoice with his wife.

24:6. Thou shalt not take the nether, nor the upper millstone to
pledge: for he hath pledged his life to thee.

24:7. If any man be found soliciting his brother of the children of
Israel, and selling him shall take a price, he shall be put to death,
and thou shalt take away the evil from the midst of thee.

24:8. Observe diligently that thou incur not the stroke of the leprosy,
but thou shalt do whatsoever the priests of the Levitical race shall
teach thee, according to what I have commanded them, and fulfil thou it
carefully.

24:9. Remember what the Lord your God did to Mary, in the way when you
came out of Egypt.

24:10. When thou shalt demand of thy neighbour any thing that he oweth
thee, thou shalt not go into his house to take away a pledge:

24:11. But thou shalt stand without, and he shall bring out to thee
what he hath.

24:12. But if he be poor, the pledge shall not lodge with thee that
night,

24:13. But thou shalt restore it to him presently before the going down
of the sun: that he may sleep in his own raiment and bless thee, and
thou mayst have justice before the Lord thy God.

24:14. Thou shalt not refuse the hire of the needy, and the poor,
whether he be thy brother, or a stranger that dwelleth with thee in the
land, and is within thy gates:

24:15. But thou shalt pay him the price of his labour the same day,
before the going down of the sun, because he is poor, and with it
maintaineth his life: lest he cry against thee to the Lord, and it be
reputed to thee for a sin.

24:16. The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the
children for the fathers, but every one shall die for his own sin,

24:17. Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger nor of the
fatherless, neither shalt thou take away the widow's raiment for a
pledge.

24:18. Remember that thou wast a slave in Egypt, and the Lord thy God
delivered thee from thence. Therefore I command thee to do this thing.

24:19. When thou hast reaped the corn in thy field, and hast forgot and
left a sheaf, thou shalt not return to take it away: but thou shalt
suffer the stranger, and the fatherless and the widow to take it away:
that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the works of thy hands.

24:20. If thou have gathered the fruit of thy olive trees, thou shalt
not return to gather whatsoever remaineth on the trees: but shalt leave
it for the stranger, for the fatherless, and the widow.

24:21. If thou make the vintage of thy vineyard, thou shalt not gather
the clusters that remain, but they shall be for the stranger, the
fatherless, and the widow.

24:22. Remember that thou also wast a bondman in Egypt, and therefore I
command thee to do this thing.

Deuteronomy Chapter 25

Stripes must not exceed forty. The ox is not to be muzzled. Of raising
seed to the brother. Of the immodest woman. Of unjust weight. Of
destroying the Amalecites.

25:1. If there be a controversy between men, and they call upon the
judges: they shall give the prize of justice to him whom they perceive
to be just: and him whom they find to be wicked, they shall condemn of
wickedness.

25:2. And if they see that the offender be worthy of stripes: they
shall lay him down, and shall cause him to be beaten before them.
According to the measure of the sin shall the measure also of the
stripes be:

25:3. Yet so, that they exceed not the number of forty: lest thy
brother depart shamefully torn before thy eyes.

25:4. Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out thy corn on the
floor.

Not muzzle, etc. . .St. Paul understands this of the spiritual labourer
in the church of God, who is not to be denied his maintenance. 1 Cor.
9.8, 9, 10.

25:5. When brethren dwell together, and one of them dieth without
children, the wife of the deceased shall not marry to another: but his
brother shall take her, and raise up seed for his brother:

25:6. And the first son he shall have of her he shall call by his name,
that his name be not abolished out of Israel.

25:7. But if he will not take his brother's wife, who by law belongeth
to him, the woman shall go to the gate of the city, and call upon the
ancients, and say: My husband's brother refuseth to raise up his
brother's name in Israel: and will not take me to wife.

25:8. And they shall cause him to be sent for forthwith, and shall ask
him. If he answer: I will not take her to wife:

25:9. The woman shall come to him before the ancients, and shall take
off his shoe from his foot, and spit in his face, and say: So shall it
be done to the man that will not build up his brother's house:

25:10. And his name shall be called in Israel, the house of the unshod.

25:11. If two men have words together, and one begin to fight against
the other, and the other's wife willing to deliver her husband out of
the hand of the stronger, shall put forth her hand, and take him by the
secrets,

25:12. Thou shalt cut off her hand, neither shalt thou be moved with
any pity in her regard.

25:13. Thou shalt not have divers weights in thy bag, a greater and a
less:

25:14. Neither shall there be in thy house a greater bushel and a less.

25:15. Thou shalt have a just and a true weight, and thy bushel shall
be equal and true: that thou mayest live a long time upon the land
which the Lord thy God shall give thee.

25:16. For the Lord thy God abhorreth him that doth these things, and
he hateth all injustice.

25:17. Remember what Amalec did to thee in the way when thou camest out
of Egypt:

Amalec. . .This order for destroying the Amalecites, in the mystical
sense, sheweth how hateful they are to God, and what punishments they
are to look for from his justice, who attack and discourage his
servants when they are but just come out, as it were, of the Egypt of
this wicked world and being yet weak and fainthearted, are but
beginning their journey to the land of promise.

25:18. How he met thee: and slew the hindmost of the army, who sat
down, being weary, when thou wast spent with hunger and labour, and he
feared not God.

25:19. Therefore when the Lord thy God shall give thee rest, and shall
have subdued all the nations round about in the land which he hath
promised thee: thou shalt blot out his name from under heaven. See thou
forget it not.

Deuteronomy Chapter 26

The form of words with which the firstfruits and tithes are to be
offered. God's covenant.

26:1. And when thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God will
give thee to possess, and hast conquered it, and dwellest in it:

26:2. Thou shalt take the first of all thy fruits, and put them in a
basket, and shalt go to the place which the Lord thy God shall choose,
that his name may be invocated there:

26:3. And thou shalt go to the priest that shall be in those days, and
say to him: I profess this day before the Lord thy God, that I am come
into the land, for which he swore to our fathers, that he would give it
us.

26:4. And the priest taking the basket at thy hand, shall set it before
the altar of the Lord thy God:

26:5. And thou shalt speak thus in the sight of the Lord thy God: The
Syrian pursued my father, who went down into Egypt, and sojourned there
in a very small number, and grew into a nation great and strong and of
an infinite multitude.

The Syrian. . .Laban. See Gen. 27.

26:6. And the Egyptians afflicted us, and persecuted us, laying on us
most grievous burdens:

26:7. And we cried to the Lord God of our fathers: who heard us, and
looked down upon our affliction, and labour, and distress:

26:8. And brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand, and a stretched
out arm, with great terror, with signs and wonders:

26:9. And brought us into this place, and gave us this land flowing
with milk and honey.

26:10. And therefore now I offer the firstfruits of the land which the
Lord hath given me. And thou shalt leave them in the sight of the Lord
thy God, adoring the Lord thy God.

26:11. And thou shalt feast in all the good things which the Lord thy
God hath given thee, and thy house, thou and the Levite, and the
stranger that is with thee.

26:12. When thou hast made an end of tithing all thy fruits, in the
third year of tithes thou shalt give it to the Levite, and to the
stranger, and to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat
within thy gates, and be filled:

26:13. And thou shalt speak thus in the sight of the Lord thy God: I
have taken that which was sanctified out of my house, and I have given
it to the Levite, and to the stranger, and to the fatherless, and to
the widow, as thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy
commandments nor forgotten thy precepts.

26:14. I have not eaten of them in my mourning, nor separated them for
any uncleanness, nor spent any thing of them in funerals. I have obeyed
the voice of the Lord my God, and have done all things as thou hast
commanded me.

26:15. Look from thy sanctuary, and thy high habitation of heaven, and
bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou
didst swear to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.

26:16. This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these
commandments and judgments: and to keep and fulfil them with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul.

26:17. Thou hast chosen the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in
his ways and keep his ceremonies, and precepts, and judgments, and obey
his command.

26:18. And the Lord hath chosen thee this day, to be his peculiar
people, as he hath spoken to thee, and to keep all his commandments:

26:19. And to make thee higher than all nations which he hath created,
to his own praise, and name, and glory: that thou mayst be a holy
people of the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken.

Deuteronomy Chapter 27

The commandments must be written on stones: and an altar erected, and
sacrifices offered. The observers of the commandments are to be
blessed, and the transgressors cursed.

27:1. And Moses with the ancients of Israel commanded the people,
saying: Keep every commandment that I command you this day.

27:2. And when you are passed over the Jordan into the land which the
Lord thy God will give thee, thou shalt set up great stones, and shalt
plaster them over with plaster,

27:3. That thou mayst write on them all the words of this law, when
thou art passed over the Jordan: that thou mayst enter into the land
which the Lord thy God will give thee, a land flowing with milk and
honey, as he swore to thy fathers.

27:4. Therefore when you are passed over the Jordan, set up the stones
which I command you this day, in mount Hebal, and thou shalt plaster
them with plaster:

27:5. And thou shalt build there an altar to the Lord thy God, of
stones which iron hath not touched,

27:6. And of stones not fashioned nor polished: and thou shalt offer
upon it holocausts to the Lord thy God:

27:7. And shalt immolate peace victims, and eat there, and feast before
the Lord thy God.

27:8. And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law
plainly and clearly.

27:9. And Moses and the priests of the race of Levi said to all Israel:
Attend, and hear, O Israel: This day thou art made the people of the
Lord thy God:

27:10. Thou shalt hear his voice, and do the commandments and justices
which I command thee.

27:11. And Moses commanded the people in that day, saying:

27:12. These shall stand upon mount Garizim to bless the people, when
you are passed the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Juda, Issachar, Joseph, and
Benjamin.

27:13. And over against them shall stand on mount Hebal to curse:
Ruben, Gad, and Aser, and Zabulon, Dan, and Nephtali.

27:14. And the Levites shall pronounce, and say to all the men of
Israel with a loud voice:

27:15. Cursed be the man that maketh a graven and molten thing, the
abomination of the Lord, the work of the hands of artificers, and shall
put it in a secret place: and all the people shall answer and say:
Amen.

27:16. Cursed be he that honoureth not his father and mother: and all
the people shall say: Amen.

27:17. Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmarks: and all
the people shall say: Amen.

27:18. Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of his way: and
all the people shall say: Amen.

27:19. Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, of
the fatherless and the widow: and all the people shall say: Amen.

27:20. Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife, and uncovereth
his bed: and all the people shall say: Amen.

27:21. Cursed be he that lieth with any beast: and all the people shall
say: Amen.

27:22. Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his
father, or of his mother: and all the people shall say: Amen.

27:23. Cursed be he that lieth with his mother-in-law: and all the
people shall say: Amen.

27:24. Cursed be he that secretly killeth his neighbour: and all the
people shall say: Amen.

27:25. Cursed be he that taketh gifts, to slay an innocent person: and
all the people shall say: Amen.

27:26. Cursed be he that abideth not in the words of this law, and
fulfilleth them not in work: and all the people shall say: Amen.

Deuteronomy Chapter 28

Many blessings are promised to observers of God's commandments: and
curses threatened to transgressors.

28:1. Now if thou wilt hear the voice of all his commandments, which I
command thee this day, the Lord thy God will make thee higher than all
the nations that are on the earth.

28:2. And all these blessings shall come upon thee and overtake thee:
yet so if thou hear his precepts.

All these blessings, etc. . .In the Old Testament, God promised temporal
blessings to the keepers of his law, heaven not being opened as yet;
and that gross and sensual people being more moved with present and
sensible things. But in the New Testament the goods that are promised
us are spiritual and eternal; and temporal evils are turned into
blessings.

28:3. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed in the field.

28:4. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy
ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the droves of thy herds, and the
folds of thy sheep.

28:5. Blessed shall be thy barns and blessed thy stores.

28:6. Blessed shalt thou be coming in and going out.

28:7. The Lord shall cause thy enemies, that rise up against thee, to
fall down before thy face: one way shall they come out against thee,
and seven ways shall they flee before thee.

28:8. The Lord will send forth a blessing upon thy storehouses, and
upon all the works of thy hands: and will bless thee in the land that
thou shalt receive.

28:9. The Lord will raise thee up to be a holy people to himself, as he
swore to thee: if thou keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and
walk in his ways.

28:10. And all the people of the earth shall see that the name of the
Lord is invocated upon thee, and they shall fear thee.

28:11. The Lord will make thee abound with all goods, with the fruit of
thy womb, and the fruit of thy cattle, with the fruit of thy land,
which the Lord swore to thy fathers that he would give thee.

28:12. The Lord will open his excellent treasure, the heaven, that it
may give rain in due season: and he will bless all the works of thy
hands. And thou shalt lend to many nations, and shalt not borrow of any
one.

28:13. And the Lord shall make thee the head and not the tail: and thou
shalt be always above, and not beneath: yet so if thou wilt hear the
commandments of the Lord thy God which I command thee this day, and
keep and do them,

28:14. And turn not away from them neither to the right hand, nor to
the left, nor follow strange gods, nor worship them.

28:15. But if thou wilt not hear the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep
and to do all his commandments and ceremonies, which I command thee
this day, all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.

All these curses, etc. . .Thus God dealt with the transgressors of his
law in the Old Testament: but now he often suffers sinners to prosper
in this world, rewarding them for some little good they have done, and
reserving their punishment for the other world.

28:16. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, cursed in the field.

28:17. Cursed shall be thy barn, and cursed thy stores.

28:18. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy
ground, the herds of thy oxen, and the flocks of thy sheep.

28:19. Cursed shalt thou be coming in, and cursed going out.

28:20. The Lord shall send upon thee famine and hunger, and a rebuke
upon all the works which thou shalt do: until he consume and destroy
thee quickly, for thy most wicked inventions, by which thou hast
forsaken me.

28:21. May the Lord set the pestilence upon thee, until he consume thee
out of the land, which thou shalt go in to possess.

28:22. May the Lord afflict thee with miserable want, with the fever
and with cold, with burning and with heat, and with corrupted air and
with blasting, and pursue thee till thou perish.

28:23. Be the heaven, that is over thee, of brass: and the ground thou
treadest on, of iron.

28:24. The Lord give thee dust for rain upon thy land, and let ashes
come down from heaven upon thee, till thou be consumed.

28:25. The Lord make thee to fall down before thy enemies, one way
mayst thou go out against them, and flee seven ways, and be scattered
throughout all the kingdoms of the earth.

28:26. And be thy carcass meat for all the fowls of the air, and the
beasts of the earth, and be there none to drive them away.

28:27. The Lord strike thee with the ulcer of Egypt, and the part of
thy body, by which the dung is cast out, with the scab and with the
itch: so that thou canst not be healed.

28:28. The Lord strike thee with madness and blindness and fury of
mind.

28:29. And mayst thou grope at midday as the blind is wont to grope in
the dark, and not make straight thy ways. And mayst thou at all times
suffer wrong, and be oppressed with violence, and mayst thou have no
one to deliver thee.

28:30. Mayst thou take a wife, and another sleep with her. Mayst thou
build a house, and not dwell therein. Mayest thou plant a vineyard and
not gather the vintage thereof.

28:31. May thy ox be slain before thee, and thou not eat thereof. May
thy ass be taken away in thy sight, and not restored to thee. May thy
sheep be given to thy enemies, and may there be none to help thee.

28:32. May thy sons and thy daughters be given to another people, thy
eyes looking on, and languishing at the sight of them all the day, and
may there be no strength in thy hand.

28:33. May a people which thou knowest not, eat the fruits of thy land,
and all thy labours: and mayst thou always suffer oppression, and be
crushed at all times.

28:34. And be astonished at the terror of those things which thy eyes
shall see:

28:35. May the Lord strike thee with a very sore ulcer in the knees and
in the legs, and be thou incurable from the sole of the foot to the top
of the head.

28:36. The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king, whom thou shalt have
appointed over thee, into a nation which thou and thy fathers know not:
and there thou shalt serve strange gods, wood and stone.

28:37. And thou shalt be lost, as a proverb and a byword to all people,
among whom the Lord shall bring thee in.

28:38. Thou shalt cast much seed into the ground, and gather little:
because the locusts shall consume all.

28:39. Thou shalt plant a vineyard, and dig it, and shalt not drink the
wine, nor gather any thing thereof: because it shall be wasted with
worms.

28:40. Thou shalt have olive trees in all thy borders, and shalt not be
anointed with the oil: for the olives shall fall off and perish.

28:41. Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, and shalt not enjoy them:
because they shall be led into captivity.

28:42. The blast shall consume all the trees and the fruits of thy
ground.

28:43. The stranger that liveth with thee in the land, shall rise up
over thee, and shall be higher: and thou shalt go down, and be lower.

28:44. He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him. He shall
be as the head, and thou shalt be the tail.

28:45. And all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue and
overtake thee, till thou perish: because thou heardst not the voice of
the Lord thy God, and didst not keep his commandments and ceremonies
which he commanded thee.

28:46. And they shall be as signs and wonders on thee, and on thy seed
for ever.

28:47. Because thou didst not serve the Lord thy God with joy and
gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things:

28:48. Thou shalt serve thy enemy, whom the Lord will send upon thee,
in hunger, and thirst, and nakedness, and in want of all things: and he
shall put an iron yoke upon thy neck, till he consume thee.

28:49. The Lord will bring upon thee a nation from afar, and from the
uttermost ends of the earth, like an eagle that flyeth swiftly, whose
tongue thou canst not understand,

28:50. A most insolent nation, that will shew no regard to the
ancients, nor have pity on the infant,

28:51. And will devour the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruits of thy
land: until thou be destroyed, and will leave thee no wheat, nor wine,
nor oil, nor herds of oxen, nor flocks of sheep: until he destroy thee.

28:52. And consume thee in all thy cities, and thy strong and high wall
be brought down, wherein thou trustedst in all thy land. Thou shalt be
besieged within thy gates in all thy land which the Lord thy God will
give thee:

28:53. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thy womb, and the flesh of thy
sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God shall give thee, in
the distress and extremity wherewith thy enemy shall oppress thee.

28:54. The man that is nice among you, and very delicate, shall envy
his own brother, and his wife, that lieth in his bosom,

28:55. So that he will not give them of the flesh of his children,
which he shall eat: because he hath nothing else in the siege and the
want, wherewith thy enemies shall distress thee within all thy gates.

28:56. The tender and delicate woman, that could not go upon the
ground, nor set down her foot for over much niceness and tenderness,
will envy her husband who lieth in her bosom, the flesh of her son, and
of her daughter,

28:57. And the filth of the afterbirths, that come forth from between
her thighs, and the children that are born the same hour. For they
shall eat them secretly for the want of all things, in the siege and
distress, wherewith thy enemy shall oppress thee within thy gates.

28:58. If thou wilt not keep, and fulfil all the words of this law,
that are written in this volume, and fear his glorious and terrible

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