They must declare to the elders ¹  of his city, “Our son is stubborn and rebellious and pays no attention to what we say – he is a glutton and drunkard.”

It is not in heaven, as though one must say, “Who will go up to heaven to get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”

You must go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, “I declare today to the Lord your ¹  God that I have come into the land that the Lord ²  promised ³  to our ancestors ⁴  to give us.”

So be sure to do them, because this will testify of your wise understanding ¹  to the people who will learn of all these statutes and say, “Indeed, this great nation is a very wise ²  people.”

When the Lord your God extends your borders as he said he would do and you say, “I want to eat meat just as I please,” ¹  you may do so as you wish. ² 

When you come to the land the Lord your God is giving you and take it over and live in it and then say, “I will select a king like all the nations surrounding me,”

In addition, the officers are to say to the troops, “Who among you is afraid and fainthearted? He may go home so that he will not make his fellow soldier’s ¹  heart as fearful ²  as his own.”

And it is not across the sea, as though one must say, “Who will cross over to the other side of the sea and get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”

‘Cursed is the one ¹  who makes a carved or metal image – something abhorrent ²  to the Lord, the work of the craftsman ³  – and sets it up in a secret place.’ Then all the people will say, ‘Amen!’ ⁴ 

Then people will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

Moreover, the officers are to say to the troops, ¹  “Who among you ²  has built a new house and not dedicated ³  it? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else ⁴  dedicate it.

Otherwise the people of the land ¹  from which you brought us will say, “The Lord was unable to bring them to the land he promised them, and because of his hatred for them he has brought them out to kill them in the desert.” ² 

But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, then she ¹  must go to the elders at the town gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel; he is unwilling to perform the duty of a brother-in-law to me!”

After they have been destroyed from your presence, be careful not to be ensnared like they are; do not pursue their gods and say, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do the same.”

Then you shall say before the Lord your God, “I have removed the sacred offering ¹  from my house and given it to the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows just as you have commanded me. ²  I have not violated or forgotten your commandments.

At that time ¹  my anger will erupt against them ²  and I will abandon them and hide my face from them until they are devoured. Many disasters and distresses will overcome ³  them ⁴  so that they ⁵  will say at that time, ‘Have not these disasters ⁶  overcome us ⁷  because our ⁸  God is not among us ⁹ ?’

I say this ¹  so you will not corrupt yourselves by making an image in the form of any kind of figure. This includes the likeness of a human male or female,

Go and tell them, ‘Return to your tents!’

If you think, “These nations are more numerous than I – how can I dispossess them?”

“The Levites will call out to every Israelite ¹  with a loud voice: