Study Desk

"The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, shall not have a portion or inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the LORD'S offerings by fire and His property.

"Now this shall be the priests' portion from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, either an ox or a sheep: they shall give the priest the shoulder, the two cheeks, and the stomach.

"And the LORD said to me, 'They have spoken well.

"And when the officers have finished speaking to the people, they shall appoint commanders of armies at the head of the people.

and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which has not been plowed or sown, and they shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley.

and they shall respond and say, 'Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see who did.

"If any person has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father or his mother, and when they discipline him, he does not listen to them,

"And they shall say to the elders of his city, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us, he is thoughtless and given to drinking.'

and behold, he has charged her with shameful behavior, saying, "I did not find your daughter to have evidence of virginity." But this is the evidence of my daughter's virginity.' And they shall spread out the garment before the elders of the city.

and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give it to the girl's father, because he publicly defamed a virgin of Israel. And she shall remain his wife; he is not allowed to divorce her all his days.

"But if this charge is true, and they did not find the girl to have evidence of virginity,

then they shall bring the girl out to the doorway of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death, because she has committed a disgraceful sin in Israel by playing the prostitute in her father's house; so you shall eliminate the evil from among you.

"If a man finds a girl who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and has sexual relations with her, and they are discovered,

because they did not meet you with food and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.

"If there is a dispute between people and they go to court, and the judges decide their case, and they declare the righteous innocent and pronounce the wicked guilty,

"When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan, and to the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.

"The LORD will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated by you; they will go out against you one way and will flee at your presence seven ways.

"So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will be afraid of you.

"The LORD will strike you with consumption, inflammation, fever, feverish heat, and with the sword, with blight, and with mildew, and they will pursue you until you perish.

"You will father sons and daughters but they will not remain yours, because they will go into captivity.