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Friday, November 28th, 2025
the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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New Living Translation

Deuteronomy 17:7

The witnesses must throw the first stones, and then all the people may join in. In this way, you will purge the evil from among you.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Church;   Evidence;   Intolerance, Religious;   Punishment;   Witness;   Thompson Chain Reference - Evil;   Evil Put Away;   The Topic Concordance - Execution;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Courts of Justice;   Punishments;   Stars, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Stoning;   Witness;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Execution;   Witness;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Discipline;   Forgiveness;   Kill, Killing;   Marriage;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Idolatry;   Murder;   Stephen;   Witness;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Hand;   Idol;   Murder;   Paul;   Stephen;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Capital Punishment;   Court Systems;   Crimes and Punishments;   Host of Heaven;   Witness, Martyr;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Crimes and Punishments;   Deuteronomy;   Idolatry;   Stone;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Stoning (2);   Trial-At-Law;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Oath;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Hand;   Justice;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Murder;   Punishments;   Stephen;   Witness;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Capital Punishment;   Caution;   Crime;   Deuteronomy;   Homicide;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The witnesses’ hands are to be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from you.
Hebrew Names Version
The hand of the witnesses shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from the midst of you.
King James Version
The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.
Lexham English Bible
The hand of the witnesses shall be first against the person to kill the person, and afterward the hands of all the people, and so you shall purge the evil from your midst.
English Standard Version
The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
New Century Version
The witnesses must be the first to throw stones at the person, and then everyone else will follow. You must get rid of the evil among you.
New English Translation
The witnesses must be first to begin the execution, and then all the people are to join in afterward. In this way you will purge evil from among you.
Amplified Bible
"The hand of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall remove the evil from among you.
New American Standard Bible
"The hands of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall eliminate the evil from your midst.
Geneva Bible (1587)
The handes of the witnesses shall be first vpon him, to kill him: and afterward the hands of all the people: so thou shalt take the wicked away from among you.
Legacy Standard Bible
The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
Complete Jewish Bible
The witnesses are to be the first to stone him to death; afterwards, all the people are to stone him. Thus you will put an end to this wickedness among you.
Darby Translation
The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people; and thou shalt put evil away from thy midst.
Easy-to-Read Version
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.
George Lamsa Translation
And the hand of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall destroy the evildoers from among you.
Good News Translation
The witnesses are to throw the first stones, and then the rest of the people are to stone them; in this way you will get rid of this evil.
Literal Translation
The hand of the witnesses shall be first on him, to put him to death; and the hand of all the people last. And you shall put away the evil from among you.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The handes of the witnesses shal be the first to kyll him, and the ye handes of all the people, that thou mayest put awaye the euell from the.
American Standard Version
The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So thou shalt put away the evil from the midst of thee.
Bible in Basic English
The hands of the witnesses will be the first to put him to death, and after them the hands of all the people. So you are to put away the evil from among you.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
The handes of the witnesses shalbe first vpon him, to kyll him, & afterward the handes of all the people: and thou shalt put the wicked away from thee.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So thou shalt put away the evil from the midst of thee.
King James Version (1611)
The hands of the witnesses shall be first vpon him, to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people: so thou shalt put the euil away from among you.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the hand of the witnesses shall be upon him among the first to put him to death, and the hand of the people at the last; so shalt thou remove the evil one from among yourselves.
English Revised Version
The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So thou shalt put away the evil from the midst of thee.
Berean Standard Bible
The hands of the witnesses shall be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from among you.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
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.
Young's Literal Translation
the hand of the witnesses is on him, in the first place, to put him to death, and the hand of all the people last; and thou hast put away the evil thing out of thy midst.
Update Bible Version
The hand of the witnesses shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from the midst of you.
Webster's Bible Translation
The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt remove the evil from among you.
World English Bible
The hand of the witnesses shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from the midst of you.
New King James Version
The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you.
New Life Bible
Those who speak against him should be first to put him to death. And then all the people should join them. You must get rid of all sin from among you.
New Revised Standard
The hands of the witnesses shall be the first raised against the person to execute the death penalty, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
The hand of the witnesses, shall be upon him first to put him to death, and the hand of all the people, afterwards, - so shalt thou consume the wicked thing out of thy midst.
Douay-Rheims Bible
The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to kill him, and afterwards the hands of the rest of the people: that thou mayst take away the evil out of the midst of thee.
Revised Standard Version
The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from the midst of you.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

Contextual Overview

1 "Never sacrifice sick or defective cattle, sheep, or goats to the Lord your God, for he detests such gifts. 2 "When you begin living in the towns the Lord your God is giving you, a man or woman among you might do evil in the sight of the Lord your God and violate the covenant. 3 For instance, they might serve other gods or worship the sun, the moon, or any of the stars—the forces of heaven—which I have strictly forbidden. 4 When you hear about it, investigate the matter thoroughly. If it is true that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, 5 then the man or woman who has committed such an evil act must be taken to the gates of the town and stoned to death. 6 But never put a person to death on the testimony of only one witness. There must always be two or three witnesses. 7 The witnesses must throw the first stones, and then all the people may join in. In this way, you will purge the evil from among you.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

of the witnesses: Deuteronomy 13:9, Acts 7:58, Acts 7:59

So thou: Deuteronomy 17:12, Deuteronomy 13:5, Deuteronomy 19:19, Deuteronomy 24:7, Judges 20:13, 1 Corinthians 5:13

Reciprocal: Leviticus 24:14 - all that Numbers 35:30 - General Deuteronomy 19:20 - General Deuteronomy 22:21 - shalt thou 1 Samuel 18:17 - Let not mine Hebrews 10:28 - under

Cross-References

Genesis 15:18
So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, "I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River—
Genesis 17:5
What's more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations.
Genesis 17:6
I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!
Genesis 17:7
"I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
Genesis 17:8
And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God."
Genesis 17:9
Then God said to Abraham, "Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility.
Genesis 17:11
You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you.
Genesis 17:16
And I will bless her and give you a son from her! Yes, I will bless her richly, and she will become the mother of many nations. Kings of nations will be among her descendants."
Genesis 17:17
Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. "How could I become a father at the age of 100?" he thought. "And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?"
Genesis 28:13
At the top of the stairway stood the Lord , and he said, "I am the Lord , the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death,.... Of everyone of them, as Aben Ezra; they were to cast the first stone at him, which would be a further trial and confirmation of their testimony; for if they readily and without reluctance first began the stoning of the idolater, it would not only show their zeal for the honour of the divine Being, but an unconsciousness of guilt in their testimony, and be an encouragement to others to proceed with safety:

and afterwards the hands of all the people; should be employed in taking up stones, and casting at him until he was dead:

so thou shall put the evil away from among you; both the evil man and the evil committed by him, which by this means would be prevented from spreading, seeing by his death others would be deterred from following his example; as well as the evil of punishment, which otherwise would have come upon the nation, had they connived at so gross an iniquity.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Compare Deuteronomy 13:1 ff. Here special reference is made to the legal forms to be adopted, Deuteronomy 17:5-7. The sentence was to be carried into effect at “the gates” (compare Genesis 19:1 note) of the town in which the crime was committed; because, as “all the people” were to take a part, an open space would be requisite for the execution. Note the typical and prophetical aspect of the injunction; compare Acts 7:58; Hebrews 13:12.


 
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