You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” Because you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s opinion, ¹  and he delights in them,” or “Where is the God of justice?”

Moses chose capable men from all Israel, and he made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

“You shall not take ¹  the name of the Lord your God in vain, ²  for the Lord will not hold guiltless ³  anyone who takes his name in vain.

¹ “If an ox ²  gores a man or a woman so that either dies, ³  then the ox must surely ⁴  be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted.

This is the law ¹  of the diseased infection in the garment of wool or linen, or the warp or woof, or any article of leather, for pronouncing it clean or unclean. ² 

“‘If a man consecrates his house as holy to the Lord, the priest will establish its conversion value, whether good or bad. Just as the priest establishes its conversion value, thus it will stand. ¹ 

Now the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had killed among them; the Lord also executed judgments on their gods.

And they must stand as your towns of refuge from the avenger in order that the killer may not die until he has stood trial before the community.

Moreover, you must not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; he must surely be put to death.

You must not make use of the name of the Lord your God for worthless purposes, ¹  for the Lord will not exonerate anyone who abuses his name that way. ² 

You must not pervert justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distort ¹  the words of the righteous. ² 

A single witness may not testify ¹  against another person for any trespass or sin that he commits. A matter may be legally established ²  only on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Then the elders of the city nearest to the corpse ¹  must take from the herd a heifer that has not been worked – that has never pulled with the yoke –

You must not pervert justice due a resident foreigner or an orphan, or take a widow’s garment as security for a loan.

The judge ¹  may sentence him to forty blows, ²  but no more. If he is struck with more than these, you might view your fellow Israelite ³  with contempt.

As for the produce of your land and all your labor, a people you do not know will consume it, and you will be nothing but oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives.

You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God – the heads of your tribes, ¹  your elders, your officials, every Israelite man,

I will sharpen my lightning-like sword, and my hand will grasp hold of the weapon of judgment; ¹  I will execute vengeance on my foes, and repay those who hate me! ² 

When Achan son of Zerah disobeyed the command about the city’s riches, the entire Israelite community was judged, ¹  though only one man had sinned. He most certainly died for his sin!’” ² 

She would sit ¹  under the Date Palm Tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel ²  in the Ephraimite hill country. The Israelites would come up to her to have their disputes settled. ³