Study Desk

However, he is not to acquire many horses for himself or have the people return to Egypt to obtain more horses, inasmuch as Adonai told you never to go back that way again.

Likewise, he is not to acquire many wives for himself, so that his heart will not turn away; and he is not to acquire excessive quantities of silver and gold.

"When he has come to occupy the throne of his kingdom, he is to write a copy of this Torah for himself in a scroll, from the one the cohanim and L'vi'im use.

For Adonai your God has chosen him from all your tribes to stand and serve in the name of Adonai , him and his sons forever.

For whoever does these things is detestable to Adonai , and because of these abominations Adonai your God is driving them out ahead of you.

(v) For these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to soothsayers and diviners; but you, Adonai your God does not allow you to do this.

" Adonai will raise up for you a prophet like me from among yourselves, from your own kinsmen. You are to pay attention to him,

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kinsmen. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I order him.

Whoever doesn't listen to my words, which he will speak in my name, will have to account for himself to me.

you are to set aside three cities for yourselves in your land that Adonai your God is giving you to possess.

This is why I am ordering you to set aside for yourselves three cities.

provided you keep and observe all these mitzvot I am giving you today, loving Adonai your God and always following his ways — then you are to add three more cities for yourselves, besides these three;

"However, if someone hates his fellow member of the community, lies in wait for him, attacks him, strikes him a death blow, and then flees into one of these cities;

Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

(vii) "When you advance on a town to attack it, first offer it terms for peace.

If it accepts the terms for peace and opens its gates to you, then all the people there are to be put to forced labor and work for you.

However, you are to take as booty for yourself the women, the little ones, the livestock, and everything in the city — all its spoil. Yes, you will feed on your enemies' spoil, which Adonai your God has given you.

"As for the towns of these peoples, which Adonai your God is giving you as your inheritance, you are not to allow anything that breathes to live.

so that they won't teach you to follow their abominable practices, which they do for their gods, thus causing you to sin against Adonai your God.

"When, in making war against a town in order to capture it, you lay siege to it for a long time, you are not to destroy its trees, cutting them down with an axe. You can eat their fruit, so don't cut them down. After all, are the trees in the field human beings, so that you have to besiege them too?