Deuteronomy 21:5

Complete Jewish Bible

Then the cohanim, who are L'vi'im, are to approach; for Adonai your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in the name of Adonai ; they will decide the outcome of every dispute and matter involving violence.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then the priests, the sons of Levi, will come forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and pronounce blessings in his name, and they are to give a ruling in every dispute and case of assault.

Hebrew Names Version
The Kohanim the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD your God has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be.

King James Version
And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the Lord ; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried:

Lexham English Bible
Then the priests, the descendants of Levi, shall come near, for Yahweh your God has chosen them to bless in the name of Yahweh, and every legal dispute and every case of assault will be subject to their ruling.

English Standard Version
Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to him and to bless in the name of the Lord , and by their word every dispute and every assault shall be settled.

New Century Version
The priests, the sons of Levi, should come forward, because they have been chosen by the Lord your God to serve him and to give blessings in the Lord 's name. They are the ones who decide cases of quarreling and attacks.

New English Translation
Then the Levitical priests will approach (for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name, and to decide every judicial verdict)

Amplified Bible
"Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall approach, for the LORD your God has chosen them to serve Him and to bless in the Name (Presence) of the LORD; and every dispute and every assault (violent crime) shall be settled by them.

New American Standard Bible
"Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, because the LORD your God has chosen them to serve Him and to bless in the name of the LORD; and every dispute and violent crime shall be settled by them.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Also the Priests the sonnes of Leui (whom the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister, & to blesse in the name of the Lorde) shal come forth, & by their word shal all strife & plague be tried.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for Yahweh your God has chosen them to minister for Him and to bless in the name of Yahweh; and every dispute and every assault shall be settled by them.

Darby Translation
and the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them Jehovah thy God hath chosen to do service unto him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah; and according to their word shall be every controversy and every stroke.

Easy-to-Read Version
The priests, the descendants of Levi, must also go there. (The Lord your God has chosen these priests to serve him and to bless people in the name of the Lord . The priests will decide who is right in every lawsuit and whenever someone is hurt.)

George Lamsa Translation
And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near, for them the LORD your God has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every lawsuit and every attack be tried;

Good News Translation
The levitical priests are to go there also, because they are to decide every legal case involving violence. The Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name.

Literal Translation
And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near (for Jehovah your God has chosen them to minister to Him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah) and by their mouth shall every controversy and every stroke be tried .

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then shal the prestes ye children of Leui come forth. ( For the LORDE thy God hath chosen them, to serue him, and to prayse his name: and at their mouth shal all plees and strypes be tryed.)

American Standard Version
And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them Jehovah thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be.

Bible in Basic English
Then the priests, the sons of Levi, are to come near; for they have been marked out by the Lord your God to be his servants and to give blessings in the name of the Lord; and by their decision every argument and every blow is to be judged:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the priestes the sonnes of Leui (whom the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister, and to blesse in the name of the Lorde) shall come foorth: and by their worde shall all strife and plague be tryed.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near--for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto Him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be.

King James Version (1611)
And the Priests the sonnes of Leui shall come neere (for them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister vnto him, and to blesse in the Name of the Lord: ) and by their worde shall euery controuersie and euery stroke bee tried.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the priests the Levites shall come, because the Lord God has chosen them to stand by him, and to bless in his name, and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be decided.

English Revised Version
and the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be:

Berean Standard Bible
And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to serve Him and pronounce blessings in His name and to give a ruling in every dispute and case of assault.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the preestis, the sones of Leuy, schulen neiye, whiche thi Lord God chees, that thei mynystre to hym, and blesse in his name, and al the cause hange at `the word of hem; and what euer thing is cleene ethir vncleene, be demed.

Young's Literal Translation
`And the priests, sons of Levi, have come nigh -- for on them hath Jehovah thy God fixed to serve Him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah, and by their mouth is every strife, and every stroke --

Update Bible Version
And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near; for Yahweh your God has chosen them to minister to him, and to bless in the name of Yahweh; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near (for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the name of the LORD) and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be [tried];

World English Bible
The priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them Yahweh your God has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the name of Yahweh; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be.

New King James Version
Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister to Him and to bless in the name of the LORD; by their word every controversy and every assault shall be settled.

New Living Translation
Then the Levitical priests must step forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister before him and to pronounce blessings in the Lord 's name. They are to decide all legal and criminal cases.

New Life Bible
Then the religious leaders, the sons of Levi, will come near for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve Him and to bring good in the name of the Lord. Every question about what is right and every fight will be decided upon by them.

New Revised Standard
Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to him and to pronounce blessings in the name of the Lord , and by their decision all cases of dispute and assault shall be settled.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then shall the priests the sons of Levi come near, for of them, hath Yahweh thy God made choice to wait upon him, and to bless in the name of Yahweh, - and at their bidding, shall be settled every controversy and every punishment;

Douay-Rheims Bible
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.

Revised Standard Version
And the priests the sons of Levi shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister to him and to bless in the name of the LORD, and by their word every dispute and every assault shall be settled.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the LORD your God has chosen them to serve Him and to bless in the name of the LORD; and every dispute and every assault shall be settled by them.

Contextual Overview

¹ "If, in the land Adonai your God is giving you to possess, a murder victim is found lying in the countryside; and the perpetrator of the murder is not known; ² then your leaders and judges are to go out and measure the distance between it and the surrounding towns. ³ After it has been determined which town is the closest, the leaders of that town are to take a young female cow that has never been put to work or yoked for use as a draft animal. ⁴ The leaders of that town are to bring the heifer down to a vadi with a stream in it that never dries up, to a place that is neither plowed nor sown; and they are to break the cow's neck there in the vadi. ⁵ Then the cohanim, who are L'vi'im, are to approach; for Adonai your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in the name of Adonai ; they will decide the outcome of every dispute and matter involving violence. ⁶ All the leaders of the town nearest the murder victim are to wash their hands over the cow whose neck was broken in the vadi. ⁷ (Maftir) Then they are to speak up and say, ‘This blood was not shed by our hands, nor have we seen who did it. ⁸ Adonai , forgive your people Isra'el, whom you redeemed; do not allow innocent blood to be shed among your people Isra'el.' And they will be forgiven this bloodshed. ⁹ Thus you will banish the shedding of innocent blood from among you, by doing what Adonai sees as right. Haftarah Shof'tim: Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah) 51:12–52:12 [Messianic adaptation: conclude the reading at 53:12] B'rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Shof'tim: Mattityahu (Matthew) 5:38–42; 18:15–20; Acts 3:13–26; 7:35–53; 1 Corinthians 5:9–13; 1 Timothy 5:17–22; Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 10:28–31 "When you go out to war against your enemies, and Adonai your God hands them over to you, and you take prisoners, and you see among the prisoners a woman who looks good to you, and you feel attracted to her and want her as your wife; you are to bring her home to your house, where she will shave her head, cut her fingernails and remove her prison clothing. She will stay there in your house, mourning her father and mother for a full month; after which you may go in to have sexual relations with her and be her husband, and she will be your wife. In the event that you lose interest in her, you are to let her go wherever she wishes; but you may not sell her for money or treat her like a slave, because you humiliated her. "If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and unloved wives have borne him children, and if the firstborn son is the child of the unloved wife; then, when it comes time for him to pass his inheritance on to his sons, he may not give the inheritance due the firstborn to the son of the loved wife in place of the son of the unloved one, who is in fact the firstborn. No, he must acknowledge as firstborn the son of the unloved wife by giving him a double portion of everything he owns, for he is the firstfruits of his manhood, and the right of the firstborn is his. "If a man has a stubborn, rebellious son who will not obey what his father or mother says, and even after they discipline him he still refuses to pay attention to them; then his father and mother are to take hold of him and bring him out to the leaders of his town, at the gate of that place, and say to the leaders of his town, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he doesn't pay attention to us, lives wildly, gets drunk.' Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death; in this way you will put an end to such wickedness among you, and all Isra'el will hear about it and be afraid. (ii) "If someone has committed a capital crime and is put to death, then hung on a tree, his body is not to remain all night on the tree, but you must bury him the same day, because a person who has been hanged has been cursed by God — so that you will not defile your land, which Adonai your God is giving you to inherit.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

for them: Deuteronomy 10:8, Deuteronomy 18:5, Numbers 6:22-27, 1 Chronicles 23:13

by their word: Deuteronomy 17:8-12, Malachi 2:7

word: Heb. mouth

Reciprocal: Leviticus 9:22 - his hand Numbers 3:16 - word Numbers 6:23 - General Deuteronomy 19:17 - General 2 Chronicles 19:8 - the judgment Ezekiel 42:13 - approach

Cross-References

Genesis 17:1
When Avram was 99 years old Adonai appeared to Avram and said to him, "I am El Shaddai [God Almighty]. Walk in my presence and be pure-hearted.

Genesis 17:17
At this Avraham fell on his face and laughed — he thought to himself, "Will a child be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah give birth at ninety?"

Romans 4:19
His trust did not waver when he considered his own body — which was as good as dead, since he was about a hundred years old — or when he considered that Sarah's womb was dead too.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near,.... Who were clearly of the tribe of Levi, as Aben Ezra notes; about whom there could be no dispute; for it seems there sometimes were persons in that office, of whom there was some doubt at least whether they were of that tribe; these seem to be such that belonged to the court of judicature at Jerusalem; see Deuteronomy 17:9, who were to be present at this solemnity, to direct in the performance of it, and to judge and determine in any matter of difficulty that might arise:

for them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister unto him; in the service of the sanctuary, by offering sacrifices, c.

and to bless in the name of the Lord the people; see Numbers 6:23

and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried; every controversy between man and man respecting civil things, and every stroke or blow which one man may give another; and whatsoever came before them was tried by them, according to the respective laws given concerning the things in question, and were not determined by them in an arbitrary way, according to their own will and pleasure; see

Deuteronomy 17:8.