Study Desk

The king must not have many wives, or his heart will be led away from God. He must not have too much silver and gold.

He should keep it with him all the time and read from it every day of his life. Then he will learn to respect the Lord his God, and he will obey all the teachings and commands.

The Lord your God has chosen the priests and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and serve the Lord always.

he may serve the Lord his God. He will be like his fellow Levites who serve there before the Lord .

When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, don't learn to do the hateful things the other nations do.

The Lord hates anyone who does these things. Because the other nations do these things, the Lord your God will force them out of the land ahead of you.

But you must be innocent in the presence of the Lord your God.

The nations you will force out listen to people who use magic and witchcraft, but the Lord your God will not let you do those things.

The Lord your God will give you a prophet like me, who is one of your own people. Listen to him.

This is what you asked the Lord your God to do when you were gathered at Mount Sinai. You said, "Don't make us listen to the voice of the Lord our God again, and don't make us look at this terrible fire anymore, or we will die."

When the Lord your God gives you land that belongs to the other nations, nations that he will destroy, you will force them out and live in their cities and houses.

Then choose three cities in the middle of the land the Lord your God is giving you as your own.

Carefully obey all these laws I'm giving you today. Love the Lord your God, and always do what he wants you to do. Then the Lord your God will enlarge your land as he promised your ancestors, giving you the whole land he promised to them. After that, choose three more cities of safety

so that innocent people will not be killed in your land, the land that the Lord your God is giving you as your own. By doing this you will not be guilty of allowing the death of innocent people.

Do not move the stone that marks the border of your neighbor's land, which people long ago set in place. It marks what you inherit in the land the Lord your God is giving you as your own.

When you go to war against your enemies and you see horses and chariots and an army that is bigger than yours, don't be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, will be with you.

because the Lord your God goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies and to save you."

The officers should say to the army, "Has anyone built a new house but not given it to God? He may go home, because he might die in battle and someone else would get to give his house to God.

The Lord your God will give it to you. Then kill all the men with your swords,

and you may take everything else in the city for yourselves. Take the women, children, and animals, and you may use these things the Lord your God gives you from your enemies.