5. you must punish the person who did this evil thing. You must take that man or woman out to a public place near the city gates and kill them with stones.
6. But no one should be punished with death if only one witness says that person did that evil thing. But if two or three witnesses say it is true, the person must be killed.
7. The witnesses must throw the first stones to kill that person. Then the other people should throw stones to finish killing that person. In this way you will remove this evil from your group.
8. “There might be some problems that are too hard for your courts to judge. It might be a murder case or an argument between two people. Or it might be a fight in which someone was hurt. When these cases are argued in your towns, your judges there might not be able to decide what is right. Then you must go to the special place that the Lord your God will choose.
9. You must go to the priests who are Levites and to the judge on duty at that time. They will decide what to do about that problem.
10. There at the Lord’S special place they will tell you their decision. You must do whatever they say. Be sure to do everything they tell you to do.
11. You must accept their decision and follow their instructions exactly—don’t change anything!
12. “You must punish anyone who refuses to obey the judge or the priest who is there at that time serving the Lord your God. That person must die. You must remove this evil person from Israel.
13. All the people will hear about this punishment and be afraid. Then they will not be stubborn anymore.
14. “You will enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You will take that land and live in it. Then you will say, ‘We will put a king over us, like all the nations around us.’
15. When that happens, you must be sure to choose the king that the Lord your God chooses. The king over you must be one of your own people. You must not make a foreigner your king.
16. The king must not get more and more horses for himself. And he must not send people to Egypt to get more horses, because the Lord has told you, ‘You must never go back that way.’