⁸ If they do not get the thief, let the master of the house come before the judges and take an oath that he has not put his hand on his neighbour's goods.

⁶ Then his master is to take him to the gods of the house, and at the door, or at its framework, he is to make a hole in his ear with a sharp-pointed instrument; and he will be his servant for ever.

²⁸ You may not say evil of the judges, or put a curse on the ruler of your people.

¹⁸ You are to make judges and overseers in all your towns which the Lord your God gives you, for every tribe: and they are to be upright men, judging the people in righteousness.

⁹ In any question about an ox or an ass or a sheep or clothing, or about the loss of any property which anyone says is his, let the two sides put their cause before God; and he who is judged to be in the wrong is to make payment to his neighbour of twice the value.

⁸ If you are not able to give a decision as to who is responsible for a death, or who is right in a cause, or who gave the first blow in a fight, and there is a division of opinion about it in your town: then go to the place marked out by the Lord your God;

⁹ And come before the priests, the Levites, or before him who is judge at the time: and they will go into the question and give you a decision:

¹⁷ Then the two men, between whom the argument has taken place, are to come before the Lord, before the priests and judges who are then in power;

¹⁸ And the judges will have the question looked into with care: and if the witness is seen to be false and to have made a false statement against his brother,

⁴ Of these, twenty-four thousand were to be overseers of the work of the house of the Lord, and six thousand were judges and men of authority;

¹ <A Psalm. Of Asaph.> God is in the meeting-place of God; he is judging among the gods.