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The BibleTruth.cc Torah Study Series Parashat Shoftim "Judges" Devarim [Deuteronomy] 16:18-21:9 ~yjiäp.vo Judges Theme The theme of Parashat Shoftim Sedarim The Authority of the Priests and Judges Sorcery and Divination Prohibited Prophetic Pictures in this Week's Torah Portion Prophetic End Time Shadows in the Torah Parashah
Appointing
Judges
18 19 Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. 20 Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land Yahuwah your Elohim is giving you. Forbidden
Worship
21 22 and do not erect a set apart stone, for these Yahuwah your Elohim hates. 17:1 Do not sacrifice to Yahuwah your Elohim an ox or a sheep that has any defect or flaw in it, for that would be detestable to him. 2 If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns Yahuwah gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of Yahuwah your Elohim in violation of his covenant, 3 and contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or the moon or the stars of the sky, 4 and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Yisrael, 5 take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death. 6 On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 7 The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from among you.
The Authority of the
Priests and Judges
8 If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for
you to judge-- whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults-- take them to
the place Yahuwah your Elohim will choose. 9 Go to the priests,
who are Levites, and to the judge who is in office at that time. Inquire
of them and they will give you the verdict. 10 You must act
according to the decisions they give you at the place Yahuwah will
choose. Be careful to do everything they direct you to do. 11 Act according to
the law they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn
aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left. 12 The man who shows
contempt for the judge or for the priest who stands ministering there to
Yahuwah your Elohim must be put to death. You must purge the evil from
Yisrael. 13 All the people
will hear and be afraid, and will not be contemptuous again. Rules for
the King
14 When you enter the land Yahuwah your Elohim is giving you
and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, "Let us
set a king over us like all the nations around us," 15 be sure to
appoint over you the king Yahuwah your Elohim chooses. He must be from
among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is
not a brother Yisraelite. 16 The king,
moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make
the people return to Mitzrayim to get more of them, for Yahuwah has told
you, "You are not to go back that way again." 17 He must not take
many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate
large amounts of silver and gold. 18 When he takes the
throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of
this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. 19 It is to be with
him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn
to revere Yahuwah his Elohim and follow carefully all the words of this
law and these decrees 20 and not consider
himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or
to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his
kingdom in Yisrael.
Rules for Priests and Lewites
18:1 The priests, who are Levites-- indeed the whole tribe of Levi--
are to have no allotment or inheritance with Yisrael. They shall live on
the offerings made to Yahuwah by fire, for that is their inheritance. 2 They shall have no
inheritance among their brothers; Yahuwah is their inheritance, as he
promised them. 3 This is the share
due the priests from the people who sacrifice a bull or a sheep: the
shoulder, the jowls and the inner parts. 4 You are to give
them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine and oil, and the first wool
from the shearing of your sheep, 5 for Yahuwah your
Elohim has chosen them and their descendants out of all your tribes to
stand and minister in Yahuwah's name always. 6 If a Levite moves
from one of your towns anywhere in Yisrael where he is living, and comes
in all earnestness to the place Yahuwah will choose, 7 he may minister in
the name of Yahuwah his Elohim like all his fellow Levites who serve
there in the presence of Yahuwah. 8 He is to share
equally in their benefits, even though he has received money from the
sale of family possessions.
Sorcery and Divination
Prohibited
9 When you enter the land Yahuwah your Elohim is giving you,
do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be
found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who
practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in
witchcraft, 11 or casts spells,
or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does
these things is detestable to Yahuwah, and because of these detestable
practices Yahuwah your Elohim will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be
blameless before Yahuwah your Elohim. 14 The nations you
will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But
as for you, Yahuwah your Elohim has not permitted you to do so. True
and False Prophets
15 16 For this is what you asked of Yahuwah your Elohim at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, "Let us not hear the voice of Yahuwah our Elohim nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die." 17 Yahuwah said to me: "What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. 19 If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account. 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death." 21 You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by Yahuwah?" 22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of Yahuwah does not take place or come true, that is a message Yahuwah has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him. Cities of
Refuge
19:1 When Yahuwah your Elohim has destroyed the nations whose land
he is giving you, and when you have driven them out and settled in their
towns and houses, 2 then set aside for
yourselves three cities centrally located in the land Yahuwah your
Elohim is giving you to possess. 3 Build roads to
them and divide into three parts the land Yahuwah your Elohim is giving
you as an inheritance, so that anyone who kills a man may flee there. 4 This is the rule
concerning the man who kills another and flees there to save his life--
one who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without malice aforethought. 5 For instance, a
man may go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he
swings his ax to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his neighbor
and kill him. That man may flee to one of these cities and save his
life. 6 Otherwise, the
avenger of blood might pursue him in a rage, overtake him if the
distance is too great, and kill him even though he is not deserving of
death, since he did it to his neighbor without malice aforethought. 7 This is why I
command you to set aside for yourselves three cities. 8 If Yahuwah your
Elohim enlarges your territory, as he promised on oath to your
forefathers, and gives you the whole land he promised them, 9 because you
carefully follow all these laws I command you today-- to love Yahuwah
your Elohim and to walk always in his ways-- then you are to set aside
three more cities. 10 Do this so that
innocent blood will not be shed in your land, which Yahuwah your Elohim
is giving you as your inheritance, and so that you will not be guilty of
bloodshed. 11 But if a man
hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him, assaults and kills him, and
then flees to one of these cities, 12 the elders of his
town shall send for him, bring him back from the city, and hand him over
to the avenger of blood to die. 13 Show him no pity.
You must purge from Yisrael the guilt of shedding innocent blood, so
that it may go well with you. Rules for
Witnesses
14 15 One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. 16 If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime, 17 the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of Yahuwah before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. 18 The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, 19 then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you. 20 The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. 21 Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. Rules for
Warfare
20:1 When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and
chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them,
because Yahuwah your Elohim, who brought you up out of Mitzrayim, will
be with you. 2 When you are about
to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. 3 He shall say:
"Hear, O Yisrael, today you are going into battle against your enemies.
Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give way to
panic before them. 4 For Yahuwah your
Elohim is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your
enemies to give you victory." 5 The officers shall
say to the army: "Has anyone built a new house and not dedicated it? Let
him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else may dedicate it. 6 Has anyone planted
a vineyard and not begun to enjoy it? Let him go home, or he may die in
battle and someone else enjoy it. 7 Has anyone become
pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him go home, or he may die
in battle and someone else marry her." 8 Then the officers
shall add, "Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that
his brothers will not become disheartened too." 9 When the officers
have finished speaking to the army, they shall appoint commanders over
it. 10 When you march up
to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. 11 If they accept
and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced
labor and shall work for you. 12 If they refuse to
make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city. 13 When Yahuwah your
Elohim delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it. 14 As for the women,
the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may
take these as plunder for yourselves. And you may use the plunder
Yahuwah your Elohim gives you from your enemies. 15 This is how you
are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you and do not
belong to the nations nearby. 16 However, in the
cities of the nations Yahuwah your Elohim is giving you as an
inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. 17 Completely
destroy them-- the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites
and Yebusites-- as Yahuwah your Elohim has commanded you. 18 Otherwise, they
will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping
their gods, and you will sin against Yahuwah your Elohim. 19 When you lay
siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do
not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat
their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees of the field people,
that you should besiege them? 20 However, you may
cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees and use them to build
siege works until the city at war with you falls. 21:1 If a man is found slain, lying in a field in the land Yahuwah your Elohim is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, 2 your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns. 3 Then the elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked and has never worn a yoke 4 and lead her down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and where there is a flowing stream. There in the valley they are to break the heifer's neck. 5 The priests, the sons of Levi, shall step forward, for Yahuwah your Elohim has chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings in the name of Yahuwah and to decide all cases of dispute and assault. 6 Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, 7 and they shall declare: "Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. 8 Accept this atonement for your people Yisrael, whom you have redeemed, Yahuwah, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent man." And the bloodshed will be atoned for.
Prophetic End
Time Shadows in the Torah Parashah
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