Deuteronomy 21:5

And the priests the sons of Levi shall approach, those whom the Lord your God has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in his name, and to decide every controversy by their word, and to judge which things are clean and which are unclean.

Catholic Public Domain Version

In The King James Version

And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried:

In Context

4And they shall lead it into a rough and stony valley, one which has never been tilled or sown. And in that place, they shall cut the neck of the calf.

6And those greater by birth of that city, nearest to the one who was slain, shall go and shall wash their hands over the calf that was killed in the valley.

Read all of Deuteronomy 21

Cross References

Leviticus 9:22And extending his hands to the people, he blessed them. And so, the victims for sin, and the holocausts, and the peace offerings being completed, he descended.

Deuteronomy 10:8At that time, he separated the tribe of Levi, so that he would carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and stand before him in the ministry, and speak blessings in his name, even to the present day.

Deuteronomy 17:9And you shall approach the priests of the Levitical stock, and the judge, who shall be among them at that time, and you shall inquire of them, and they will reveal to you the truth of the judgment.

Deuteronomy 19:17both of those whose case it is shall stand before the Lord in the sight of the priests and the judges who shall be in those days.

2 Chronicles 19:10Every case that will come to you from your brothers, who live in their cities, between kindred and kindred, wherever there is a question concerning law, commandment, ceremonies, or justifications, reveal it to them, so that they may not sin against the Lord, and so that wrath may not overwhelm you and your brothers. Then, by acting in this way, you will not sin.

Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 21:2-10

Undetected Murder. ( b. c. 1451.) 1 If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him: 2 Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: 3 And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; 4 And the elders of… Read the whole commentary →

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