Deuteronomy 17

¹ The hond of witnessis schal first sle hym, and the last hond of the tothir puple schal be sent, that thou do awei yuel fro the myddis of thee. ² If thou perseyuest, that hard and douteful doom is at thee, bitwixe blood and blood, cause and cause, lepre and not lepre, and thou seest that the wordis of iugis with ynne thi yatis ben dyuerse; rise thou, and stie to the place which thi Lord God hath choose; ³ and thou schalt come to the preestis of the kyn of Leuy, and to the iuge which is in that tyme, and thou schalt axe of hem, whiche schulen schewe to thee the treuthe of doom. ⁴ And thou schalt do, what euer thing thei seien, that ben souereyns in the place which the Lord chees, and techen thee bi the lawe of the Lord; ⁵ thou schalt sue the sentence of hem; thou schalt not bowe to the riyt side, ether to the lefte. ⁶ Forsothe that man schal die, which is proud, and nyle obeie to the comaundement of the preest, that mynystrith in that tyme to thi Lord God, and to the sentence of iuge, and thou schalt do awei yuel fro the myddis of Israel; 7 and al the puple schal here, and drede, that no man fro thennus forth bolne with pride. 8 Whanne thou hast entrid in to the lond, which thi Lord God schal yyue to thee, and weldist it, and dwellist therynne, and seist, Y schal ordeyne a kyng on me, as alle naciouns bi cumpas han; ⁹ thou schalt ordeyne hym thou schalt ordeyne him, that is, in to the king; this is not a comaundement, but a simple graunt, which is of yuel; if this were an heest, the puple hadde not synned in axinge a king, but the puple synnede in this axing, as it is seid in j. book of Kingis xij. co. , whom thi Lord God chesith of the noumbre of thi brethren. Thou schalt not mow make king a man of anothir folk, which man is not thi brother. ¹⁰ And whanne the king is ordeyned, he schal not multiplie horsis to hym, nethir he schal lede ayen the puple in to Egipt, nethir he schal be reisid bi the noumbre of knyytis, moost sithen the Lord comaundide to you, that ye turne no more ayen bi the same weie. ¹¹ The kyng schal not haue ful many wyues, that drawen his soule to ouer myche fleischlynesse, nether he schal haue grete burthuns of siluer and of gold. ¹² Forsothe after that he hath sete in the trone of his rewme, he schal write schal write, that is, schal make to be writun. to himsilf the deuteronomy of this lawe in a volym ether book, and he schal take a saumpler at preestis of the kyn of Leuy; 13 and he schal haue it with hym and schal haue with him; Ebrews seyen that he schulde have ij. bokis, oon to bere with him, that he myyte ofte rede there, and another book to be kept in the hows of his tresour, as a most preciouse thing: the king schal not haue grete chargis of siluer and of gold, that is to superfluyte, but onely to the nede of his staat, and to defence of his rewme: the king schal not multiplie horsis to him silf to pride, but onely to the oneste of his staat, and to defence of his rewme. , and he schal rede it in alle the daies of his lijf, that he lerne to drede his Lord God, and to kepe hise wordis and cerymonyes, that ben comaundid in the lawe; 14 nether his herte be reisid in to pride on hise brithren, nether bowe he in to the riyt side, ether left side, that he regne long tyme, he and hise sones on Israel. 16 Preestis and dekenes, and alle men that ben of the same lynage, schulen not haue part and eritage with the tother puple of Israel, for thei schulen ete the sacrifices of the Lord, and the offryngis of hym; ¹⁷ and thei schulen not take ony othir thing of the possessioun of her britheren; for the Lord hym silf is the eritage of hem, as he spak to hem. 18 This schal be the doom that is, the thing iustly youun ether grauntid. of preestis of the puple, and of hem that offren sacrifices; whether thei offren an oxe, ether a scheep, thei schulen yyue to the preest the schuldre, and the paunche, the firste fruytis of wheete, ¹⁹ and of wyn, and of oile, and a part of wollis of the scheryng of scheep. ²⁰ For thi Lord God chees hym of alle thi lynagis, that he stonde and mynystre to `the name of the Lord, he and hise sones, with outen ende.