Show no partiality in your decisions; judge everyone on the same basis, no matter who they are. Do not be afraid of anyone, for the decisions you make come from God. If any case is too difficult for you, bring it to me, and I will decide it.'

They served as judges for the people on a permanent basis, bringing the difficult cases to Moses but deciding the smaller disputes themselves.

One day two prostitutes came and presented themselves before King Solomon.

Two days after my child was born, she also gave birth to a baby boy. Only the two of us were there in the house---no one else was present.

She got up during the night, took my son from my side while I was asleep, and carried him to her bed; then she put the dead child in my bed.

But the other woman said, "No! The living child is mine, and the dead one is yours!" The first woman answered back, "No! The dead child is yours, and the living one is mine!" And so they argued before the king.

He sent for a sword, and when it was brought,

The real mother, her heart full of love for her son, said to the king, "Please, Your Majesty, don't kill the child! Give it to her!" But the other woman said, "Don't give it to either of us; go on and cut it in two."

When the people of Israel heard of Solomon's decision, they were all filled with deep respect for him, because they knew then that God had given him the wisdom to settle disputes fairly.

In Jerusalem Jehoshaphat appointed Levites, priests, and some of the leading citizens as judges in cases involving a violation of the Law of the LORD or legal disputes between inhabitants of the city.

Whenever your fellow citizens from any of the cities bring before you a case of homicide or any other violation of a law or commandment, you must instruct them carefully how to conduct themselves during the trial, so that they do not become guilty of sinning against the LORD. Unless you do, you and your fellow citizens will feel the force of the LORD's anger. But if you do your duty, you will not be guilty.

He said, "Ask the priests for a ruling on this question:

It is the duty of priests to teach the true knowledge of God. People should go to them to learn my will, because they are the messengers of the LORD Almighty.

If you accidentally kill someone who is not your enemy, you may escape to any of these cities and be safe.

Do this, so that innocent people will not die and so that you will not be guilty of putting them to death in the land that the LORD is giving you.

"But suppose you deliberately murder your enemy in cold blood and then escape to one of those cities for protection.

"Whoever hits someone and kills him is to be put to death.

But when someone gets angry and deliberately kills someone else, he is to be put to death, even if he has run to my altar for safety.

He must pay for what he stole. If he owns nothing, he shall be sold as a slave to pay for what he has stolen. If the stolen animal, whether a cow, a donkey, or a sheep, is found alive in his possession, he shall pay two for one. "If a thief is caught breaking into a house at night and is killed, the one who killed him is not guilty of murder. But if it happens during the day, he is guilty of murder.

you are to choose cities of refuge to which any of you can escape if you kill someone accidentally.

"If, however, any of you use a weapon of iron or stone or wood to kill someone, you are guilty of murder and are to be put to death.

The dead person's nearest relative has the responsibility for putting the murderer to death. When he finds you, he is to kill you.

or by striking him with your fist, you are guilty of murder and are to be put to death. The dead person's nearest relative has the responsibility for putting the murderer to death. When he finds you, he is to kill you.

Or suppose that, without looking, you throw a stone that kills someone whom you did not intend to hurt and who was not your enemy.

You are guilty only of manslaughter, and the community is to rescue you from the dead person's relative, and they are to return you to the city of refuge to which you had escaped. You must live there until the death of the man who is then High Priest.

and if the dead person's relative finds you and kills you, this act of revenge is not murder.

These rules apply to you and your descendants wherever you may live.

Murderers must be put to death. They cannot escape this penalty by the payment of money.

If you did this, you would defile the land where you are living. Murder defiles the land, and except by the death of the murderer there is no way to perform the ritual of purification for the land where someone has been murdered.

Out of the territory of all your tribes the LORD will choose the one place where the people are to come into his presence and worship him.

both of you are to go to the one place of worship and be judged by the priests and judges who are then in office.

This is where the tribes come, the tribes of Israel, to give thanks to the LORD according to his command.

Here the kings of Israel sat to judge their people.