Deuteronomy 17:8

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Deuteronomy 17:6–10 · Berean Standard Bible

6 On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but he shall not be executed on the testimony of a lone witness.

7 The hands of the witnesses shall be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. So you must purge the evil from among you.

8 If a case is too difficult for you to judge, whether the controversy within your gates is regarding bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults, you must go up to the place the LORD your God will choose.

9 You are to go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who presides at that time. Inquire of them, and they will give you a verdict in the case.

10 You must abide by the verdict they give you at the place the LORD will choose. Be careful to do everything they instruct you,

Hebrew words

Data created by STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

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Cross-references

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.

Deuteronomy 1:17

Show no partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. And bring to me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.”

Exodus 18:26

And they judged the people at all times; they would bring the difficult cases to Moses, but any minor issue they would judge themselves.

1 Kings 3:16

At that time two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.

1 Kings 3:17

One woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth while she was in the house.

1 Kings 3:18

On the third day after I gave birth, this woman also had a baby. We were alone, with no one in the house but the two of us.

1 Kings 3:19

During the night this woman’s son died because she rolled over on him.

1 Kings 3:20

So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I was asleep. She laid him in her bosom and put her dead son at my bosom.

1 Kings 3:21

The next morning, when I got up to nurse my son, I discovered he was dead. But when I examined him, I realized that he was not the son I had borne.”

1 Kings 3:22

“No,” said the other woman, “the living one is my son and the dead one is your son.” But the first woman insisted, “No, the dead one is yours and the living one is mine.” So they argued before the king.

1 Kings 3:23

Then the king replied, “This woman says, ‘My son is alive and yours is dead,’ but that woman says, ‘No, your son is dead and mine is alive.’”

1 Kings 3:24

The king continued, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought him a sword,

1 Kings 3:25

and the king declared, “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”

1 Kings 3:26

Then the woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she yearned with compassion for her son. “Please, my lord,” she said, “give her the living baby. Do not kill him!” But the other woman said, “He will be neither mine nor yours. Cut him in two!”

1 Kings 3:27

Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. By no means should you kill him; she is his mother.”

1 Kings 3:28

When all Israel heard of the judgment the king had given, they stood in awe of him, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.

2 Chronicles 19:8

Moreover, Jehoshaphat appointed in Jerusalem some of the Levites, priests, and heads of the Israelite families to judge on behalf of the LORD and to settle disputes. And they lived in Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 19:9

He commanded them, saying, “You must serve faithfully and wholeheartedly in the fear of the LORD.

2 Chronicles 19:10

For every dispute that comes before you from your brothers who dwell in their cities—whether it regards bloodshed or some other violation of law, commandments, statutes, or ordinances—you are to warn them, so that they will not incur guilt before the LORD and wrath will not come upon you and your brothers. Do this, and you will not incur guilt.

Haggai 2:11

“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Ask the priests for a ruling.

Malachi 2:7

For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.

Deuteronomy 19:4

Now this is the situation regarding the manslayer who flees to one of these cities to save his life, having killed his neighbor accidentally, without intending to harm him:

Deuteronomy 19:10

Thus innocent blood will not be shed in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.

Deuteronomy 19:11

If, however, a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait, attacks him and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities,

Exodus 21:12

Whoever strikes and kills a man must surely be put to death.

Exodus 21:13

If, however, he did not lie in wait, but God allowed it to happen, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

Exodus 21:14

But if a man schemes and acts willfully against his neighbor to kill him, you must take him away from My altar to be put to death.

Exodus 21:20

If a man strikes his manservant or maidservant with a rod, and the servant dies by his hand, he shall surely be punished.

Exodus 21:22

If men who are fighting strike a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, but there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband demands and as the court allows.

Exodus 21:28

If an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox must surely be stoned, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the ox shall not be held responsible.

Exodus 22:2

If a thief is caught breaking in and is beaten to death, no one shall be guilty of bloodshed.

Numbers 35:11

designate cities to serve as your cities of refuge, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there.

Numbers 35:16

If, however, anyone strikes a person with an iron object and kills him, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death.

Numbers 35:19

The avenger of blood is to put the murderer to death; when he finds him, he is to kill him.

Numbers 35:20

Likewise, if anyone maliciously pushes another or intentionally throws an object at him and kills him,

Numbers 35:21

or if in hostility he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death; he is a murderer. When the avenger of blood finds the murderer, he is to kill him.

Numbers 35:22

But if anyone pushes a person suddenly, without hostility, or throws an object at him unintentionally,

Numbers 35:23

or without looking drops a heavy stone that kills him, but he was not an enemy and did not intend to harm him,

Numbers 35:24

then the congregation must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances.

Numbers 35:25

The assembly is to protect the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge to which he fled, and he must live there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

Numbers 35:26

But if the manslayer ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he fled

Numbers 35:27

and the avenger of blood finds him outside of his city of refuge and kills him, then the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed

Numbers 35:28

because the manslayer must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Only after the death of the high priest may he return to the land he owns.

Numbers 35:29

This will be a statutory ordinance for you for the generations to come, wherever you live.

Numbers 35:30

If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death on the testimony of the witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of a lone witness.

Numbers 35:31

You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who deserves to die; he must surely be put to death.

Numbers 35:32

Nor should you accept a ransom for the person who flees to a city of refuge and allow him to return and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.

Numbers 35:33

Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

Numbers 35:34

Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell. For I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.”

Deuteronomy 12:5

Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.

Deuteronomy 19:17

both parties to the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD, before the priests and judges who are in office at that time.

Psalms 122:4

where the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as a testimony for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD.

Psalms 122:5

For there the thrones of judgment stand, the thrones of the house of David.