Deuteronomy 17:8

New English Translation

If a matter is too difficult for you to judge – bloodshed, legal claim, or assault – matters of controversy in your villages – you must leave there and go up to the place the Lord your God chooses.

Cross References

2 Samuel 15:2

Now Absalom used to get up early and stand beside the road that led to the city gate. Whenever anyone came by who had a complaint to bring to the king for arbitration, Absalom would call out to him, “What city are you from?” The person would answer, “I, your servant, am from one of the tribes of Israel.”

1 Chronicles 26:29

As for the Izharites: Kenaniah and his sons were given responsibilities outside the temple as officers and judges over Israel.

Exodus 18:15

Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God.

Exodus 18:26

They judged the people under normal circumstances; the difficult cases they would bring to Moses, but every small case they would judge themselves.

Exodus 21:20

“If a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a staff so that he or she dies as a result of the blow, he will surely be punished.

Exodus 21:22

“If men fight and hit a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, but there is no serious injury, he will surely be punished in accordance with what the woman’s husband demands of him, and he will pay what the court decides.

Exodus 21:28

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

Exodus 22:2

“If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there will be no blood guilt for him.

Exodus 22:8

If the thief is not caught, then the owner of the house will be brought before the judges to see whether he has laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods.

Ezekiel 44:24

“‘In a controversy they will act as judges; they will judge according to my ordinances. They will keep my laws and my statutes regarding all my appointed festivals and will observe my Sabbaths.

Haggai 2:11

“The Lord who rules over all says, ‘Ask the priests about the law.

Malachi 2:7

For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him because he is the messenger of the Lord who rules over all.

Numbers 35:11

you must then designate some towns as towns of refuge for you, to which a person who has killed someone unintentionally may flee.

Numbers 35:16

“But if he hits someone with an iron tool so that he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death.

Deuteronomy 1:17

They must not discriminate in judgment, but hear the lowly and the great alike. Nor should they be intimidated by human beings, for judgment belongs to God. If the matter being adjudicated is too difficult for them, they should bring it before me for a hearing.

Deuteronomy 12:11

Then you must come to the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to reside, bringing everything I am commanding you – your burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, and all your choice votive offerings which you devote to him.

Deuteronomy 12:14

for you may do so only in the place the Lord chooses in one of your tribal areas – there you may do everything I am commanding you.

Deuteronomy 12:5

But you must seek only the place he chooses from all your tribes to establish his name as his place of residence, and you must go there.

Deuteronomy 19:17

then both parties to the controversy must stand before the Lord, that is, before the priests and judges who will be in office in those days.

Deuteronomy 19:4

Now this is the law pertaining to one who flees there in order to live, if he has accidentally killed another without hating him at the time of the accident.

Deuteronomy 21:5

Then the Levitical priests will approach (for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name, and to decide every judicial verdict)

Deuteronomy 25:1

If controversy arises between people, they should go to court for judgment. When the judges hear the case, they shall exonerate the innocent but condemn the guilty.