Define

• Civil or judicial laws with clear rationales, governing social interactions (e.g., laws on property, justice).

Related words

• Commandments
• Penalties/Consequence: Many commands lack specific penalties in Deuteronomy, with consequences often tied to the general curses of Deut. 28:15-68 or specific punishments like death (e.g., for idolatry, adultery, murder) or curses (Deut. 27). Some penalties are drawn from related Torah passages (e.g., Exodus, Leviticus).
  • Deuteronomy 28:15-68 (Deut-28#v15)
• Ransom: Atonement is rarely specified in Deuteronomy, except for cases like the heifer ritual (Deut. 21:1-9) or purification processes (e.g., Deut. 23:11, Lev. 14:1-32 for leprosy). Most violations lack explicit atonement instructions in Deuteronomy, often implying repentance or adherence to general sacrificial laws in Leviticus.
• Offerings

It seems initially the Passover Lamb of the Passover Offering could be applied just as the Hebrews in Egypt applied the blood to their door posts. The emphasis is on seeking fellowship with God and gratitude for His redemption. This graphs one into the Congregation of Israel, becoming one of Yah-God's people, brought out of bondage and set free. Jesus became our Passover Lamb offering.

Jesus as an Offering

• Hebrews 10:26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries. 28 A man who disregards Moses’ law dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment do you think he will be judged worthy of who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance belongs to me. I will repay,” says the Lord. Again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

• John 14:15: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments (mitzvah)."

• John 14:21: "Whoever has my commandments (mitzvah) and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him."

• John 15:10: "If you keep my commandments (mitzvah), you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments (mitzvah) and abide in his love."

• 1 John 5:2-3: "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments (entolē). For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments (mitzvah). And his commandments (entolē) are not burdensome."

List of Judgments (Mishpatim) in Deuteronomy

1. Release of Hebrew Slaves

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 15:12-15
• Scripture Text (WEB): “If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. When you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty. You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As Yahweh your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you. Therefore I command you this thing today.”
• Penalty or Consequence: No explicit penalty for non-compliance, but failure to release or provide for the slave violates the covenant, implying divine judgment (general covenant curses in Deut. 28:15-68).
• Offering or Ransom: None specified; the act of freeing and providing for the slave fulfills the command.

2. Debt Cancellation Every Seven Years

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 15:1-3
• Scripture Text (WEB): “At the end of every seven years, you shall cancel debts. This is the way it shall be: every creditor shall release that which he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not require payment from his neighbor and his brother, because Yahweh’s release has been proclaimed. Of a foreigner you may require it; but whatever of yours is with your brother, your hand shall release.”
• Penalty or Consequence: No explicit penalty, but covenant violation risks divine curses (Deut. 28:15-68).
• Offering or Ransom: None specified; debt release is the commanded action.
  • Commands which are to be done and are not does not fit into any offering's definition? Intentionally not doing or doing something which is a do not, does not fit into any offerings definition?
  • Guilt Offering?: Emphasis on restitution or resolving guilt. 1) Unintentional violations of holy/set apart things 2) Unintentional sins against specific commandments of God which are not to be done. 3) Intentional sins involving deceit.

3. Lending to the Poor

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 15:7-11
• Scripture Text (WEB): “If a poor man, one of your brothers, is with you within any of your gates in your land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother; but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he lacks.”
• Penalty or Consequence: No explicit penalty, but refusal risks divine disfavor (Deut. 28:15-68).
• Offering or Ransom: None; generosity fulfills the command.
  • Commands which are to be done and are not does not fit into any offering's definition? Intentionally not doing or doing something which is a do not, does not fit into any offerings definition?
  • Guilt Offering?: Emphasis on restitution or resolving guilt. 1) Unintentional violations of holy/set apart things 2) Unintentional sins against specific commandments of God which are not to be done. 3) Intentional sins involving deceit.

4. Treatment of Female Captives

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 21:10-14
• Scripture Text (WEB): “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and Yahweh your God delivers them into your hands and you carry them away captive, and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you are attracted to her, and desire to take her as your wife, then you shall bring her home to your house. She shall shave her head, and trim her nails. She shall take off the clothing of her captivity, and shall remain in your house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month. After that you shall go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. It shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall let her go where she desires; but you shall not sell her at all for money. You shall not deal with her as a slave, because you have humbled her.”
• Penalty or Consequence: No explicit penalty, but mistreatment (selling or enslaving her) violates the command, risking covenant curses (Deut. 28:15-68).
• Offering or Ransom: None specified; humane treatment and freedom if divorced fulfill the command.
  • Commands which are to be done and are not does not fit into any offering's definition? Intentionally not doing or doing something which is a do not, does not fit into any offerings definition?
  • Guilt Offering?: Emphasis on restitution or resolving guilt. 1) Unintentional violations of holy/set apart things 2) Unintentional sins against specific commandments of God which are not to be done. 3) Intentional sins involving deceit.

5. Rights of the Firstborn

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 21:15-17
• Scripture Text (WEB): “If a man has two wives, the one beloved and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated, and if the firstborn son is hers who was hated, then it shall be, in the day that he causes his sons to inherit that which he has, that he may not give the son of the beloved the rights of the firstborn before the son of the hated, who is the firstborn; but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that he has; for he is the beginning of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his.”
• Penalty or Consequence: No explicit penalty, but denying the firstborn’s rights violates the law, implying divine judgment (Deut. 28:15-68).
• Offering or Ransom: None specified; granting the double portion fulfills the command.
  • Commands which are to be done and are not does not fit into any offering's definition? Intentionally not doing or doing something which is a do not, does not fit into any offerings definition?
  • Guilt Offering?: Emphasis on restitution or resolving guilt. 1) Unintentional violations of holy/set apart things 2) Unintentional sins against specific commandments of God which are not to be done. 3) Intentional sins involving deceit.

7. Hanging on a Tree

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 21:22-23
• Scripture Text (WEB): “If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day; for he who is hanged is accursed of God. That way you shall not defile your land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance.”
• Penalty or Consequence: Death (for the underlying sin); body must be buried same day to avoid defiling the land.
• Offering or Ransom: None specified; burial fulfills the command to avoid land defilement.

8. Returning Lost Property

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 22:1-3
• Scripture Text (WEB): “You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep go astray and hide yourself from them. You shall surely bring them again to your brother. If your brother isn’t near to you, or if you don’t know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother looks for it, and you shall restore it to him. So you shall do with his donkey, and so you shall do with his garment, and so you shall do with every lost thing of your brother’s, which he has lost and you have found. You shall not hide yourself.”
• Penalty or Consequence: No explicit penalty, but failure risks covenant violation (Deut. 28:15-68).
• Offering or Ransom: None; returning the property fulfills the command.
  • Commands which are to be done and are not does not fit into any offering's definition? Intentionally not doing or doing something which is a do not, does not fit into any offerings definition?
  • Guilt Offering?: Emphasis on restitution or resolving guilt. 1) Unintentional violations of holy/set apart things 2) Unintentional sins against specific commandments of God which are not to be done. 3) Intentional sins involving deceit.

9. Helping with Fallen Animals

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 22:4
• Scripture Text (WEB): “You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down by the way, and hide yourself from them. You shall surely help him to lift them up again.”
• Penalty or Consequence: No explicit penalty, but failure risks covenant violation (Deut. 28:15-68).
• Offering or Ransom: None; assisting fulfills the command.
  • Commands which are to be done and are not does not fit into any offering's definition? Intentionally not doing or doing something which is a do not, does not fit into any offerings definition?

11. Bird’s Nest Law

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 22:6-7
• Scripture Text (WEB): “If a bird’s nest is found before you in the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the hen sitting on the young, or on the eggs, you shall not take the hen with the young. You shall surely let the hen go, but the young you may take for yourself, that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days.”
• Penalty or Consequence: No explicit penalty, but compliance brings blessing (long life); violation risks covenant curses (Deut. 28:15-68).
• Offering or Ransom: None; letting the hen go fulfills the command.
  • Commands which are to be done and are not does not fit into any offering's definition? Intentionally not doing or doing something which is a do not, does not fit into any offerings definition?
  • Guilt Offering?: Emphasis on restitution or resolving guilt. 1) Unintentional violations of holy/set apart things 2) Unintentional sins against specific commandments of God which are not to be done. 3) Intentional sins involving deceit.

12. Building a Parapet

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 22:8
• Scripture Text (WEB): “When you build a new house, then you shall make a railing around your roof, so that you don’t bring blood on your house if anyone falls from there.”
• Penalty or Consequence: Bloodguilt if someone falls due to negligence.
• Offering or Ransom: None specified; building the parapet prevents guilt.

13. Adultery with a Betrothed Woman

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 22:23-24
• Scripture Text (WEB): “If there is a young lady who is a virgin pledged to be married to a husband, and a man finds her in the city, and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones: the young lady, because she didn’t cry, being in the city; and the man, because he has humbled his neighbor’s wife. So you shall remove the evil from among you.”
• Penalty or Consequence: Death by stoning for both.
• Offering or Ransom: None specified; no atonement provided. Sins Requiring Death - No Offering

14. Rape of a Betrothed Woman in the Country

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 22:25-27
• Scripture Text (WEB): “But if the man finds the lady who is pledged to be married in the field, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die; but to the young lady you shall do nothing. There is in the young lady no sin worthy of death; for as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him, even so is this matter; for he found her in the field, the pledged to be married lady cried, and there was no one to save her.”
• Penalty or Consequence: Death for the man; woman is innocent.
• Offering or Ransom: None specified. Sins Requiring Death - No Offering

15. Rape of an Unbetrothed Virgin

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 22:28-29
• Scripture Text (WEB): “If a man finds a lady who is a virgin, who is not pledged to be married, and lays hold of her, and lies with her, and they are found, then the man who lay with her shall give to the lady’s father fifty shekels of silver. She shall be his wife, because he has humbled her. He may not put her away all his days.”
• Penalty or Consequence: Man must pay 50 shekels and marry her without divorce option.
• Offering or Ransom: Payment of 50 shekels and marriage serve as restitution.
  • Commands which are to be done and are not does not fit into any offering's definition? Intentionally not doing or doing something which is a do not, does not fit into any offerings definition?
  • Sin Offering?: Emphasis on purification from defilement. Unintentional sins against the commandments of God which are not to be done. Primarily those that defile the sinner or the sanctuary requiring purification.

16. Incest with Father’s Wife

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 22:30
• Scripture Text (WEB): “A man shall not take his father’s wife, and shall not uncover his father’s skirt.”
• Penalty or Consequence: No explicit penalty in Deuteronomy, but Leviticus 20:11 prescribes death for this act.
• Offering or Ransom: None specified (Lev. 20:11 offers no atonement).
  • Commands which are to be done and are not does not fit into any offering's definition? Intentionally not doing or doing something which is a do not, does not fit into any offerings definition?
  • Sin Offering?: Emphasis on purification from defilement. Unintentional sins against the commandments of God which are not to be done. Primarily those that defile the sinner or the sanctuary requiring purification.

17. False Accusation of Unchastity

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 22:13-19
• Scripture Text (WEB): “If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, hates her, and accuses her of shameful things, saying, ‘I took this woman, and when I came near to her, I didn’t find in her the tokens of virginity,’ then the young lady’s father and mother shall take and bring the tokens of the young lady’s virginity to the elders of the city in the gate… If this thing is true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the young lady, then they shall bring out the young lady to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done folly in Israel, to play the prostitute in her father’s house. So you shall remove the evil from among you.”
• Penalty or Consequence: If false, husband is fined 100 shekels, whipped, and cannot divorce her (22:19); if true, wife is stoned (22:21).
• Offering or Ransom: For false accusation, 100 shekels paid to the father; no atonement for guilty wife. Sins Requiring Death - No Offering

18. Divorce Regulations

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 24:1-4
• Scripture Text (WEB): “When a man takes a wife and marries her, then it shall be, if she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some unseemly thing in her, that he shall write her a bill of divorce, give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. When she has departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. If the latter husband hates her, and writes her a bill of divorce… or if the latter husband dies… her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife after she is defiled; for that is an abomination to Yahweh.”
• Penalty or Consequence: Remarriage to first husband is forbidden (abomination); no explicit penalty, but risks divine judgment (Deut. 28:15-68).
• Offering or Ransom: None specified; divorce certificate regulates the process.
  • Commands which are to be done and are not does not fit into any offering's definition? Intentionally not doing or doing something which is a do not, does not fit into any offerings definition?
  • Sin Offering?: Emphasis on purification from defilement. Unintentional sins against the commandments of God which are not to be done. Primarily those that defile the sinner or the sanctuary requiring purification.

19. Kidnapping

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 24:7
• Scripture Text (WEB): “If a man is found stealing any of his brothers of the children of Israel, and he deals with him as a slave, or sells him, then that thief shall die. So you shall remove the evil from among you.”
• Penalty or Consequence: Death.
• Offering or Ransom: None specified; no atonement provided. Sins Requiring Death - No Offering

20. Fair Treatment of Lepers

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 24:8-9
• Scripture Text (WEB): “Be careful in the plague of leprosy, that you observe diligently and do according to all that the Levitical priests teach you. As I commanded them, so you shall observe to do. Remember what Yahweh your God did to Miriam, by the way as you came out of Egypt.”
• Penalty or Consequence: No explicit penalty, but Miriam’s leprosy (Num. 12:10) implies divine punishment for disobedience.
• Offering or Ransom: None specified; priestly instructions (Lev. 13–14) include offerings for cleansing.

21. Pledges and Loans

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 24:10-13
• Scripture Text (WEB): “When you lend your neighbor any kind of loan, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge. You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you lend shall bring the pledge out to you. If he is a poor man, you shall not sleep with his pledge. You shall surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his garment and bless you. It shall be righteousness to you before Yahweh your God.”
• Penalty or Consequence: No explicit penalty, but failure risks divine disfavor (Deut. 28:15-68).
• Offering or Ransom: None; returning the pledge fulfills righteousness.
  • Commands which are to be done and are not does not fit into any offering's definition? Intentionally not doing or doing something which is a do not, does not fit into any offerings definition?
  • Guilt Offering?: Emphasis on restitution or resolving guilt. 1) Unintentional violations of holy/set apart things 2) Unintentional sins against specific commandments of God which are not to be done. 3) Intentional sins involving deceit.

22. Prompt Payment of Wages

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 24:14-15
• Scripture Text (WEB): “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers, or one of the foreigners who are in your land within your gates. In his day you shall give him his wages, neither shall the sun go down on it, for he is poor and sets his heart on it; lest he cry against you to Yahweh, and it be sin to you.”
• Penalty or Consequence: Sin, with implied divine judgment (Deut. 28:15-68).
• Offering or Ransom: None; prompt payment avoids sin.
  • Commands which are to be done and are not does not fit into any offering's definition? Intentionally not doing or doing something which is a do not, does not fit into any offerings definition?
  • Guilt Offering?: Emphasis on restitution or resolving guilt. 1) Unintentional violations of holy/set apart things 2) Unintentional sins against specific commandments of God which are not to be done. 3) Intentional sins involving deceit.

23. Individual Responsibility for Sin

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 24:16
• Scripture Text (WEB): “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers. Every man shall be put to death for his own sin.”
• Penalty or Consequence: Death only for the guilty individual’s sin.
• Offering or Ransom: None specified; justice is the principle.

24. Justice for the Vulnerable

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 24:17-18
• Scripture Text (WEB): “You shall not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, nor take a widow’s clothing in pledge; but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you there. Therefore I command you to do this thing.”
• Penalty or Consequence: No explicit penalty, but risks divine judgment (Deut. 28:15-68).
• Offering or Ransom: None; ensuring justice fulfills the command.
  • Commands which are to be done and are not does not fit into any offering's definition? Intentionally not doing or doing something which is a do not, does not fit into any offerings definition?
  • Guilt Offering?: Emphasis on restitution or resolving guilt. 1) Unintentional violations of holy/set apart things 2) Unintentional sins against specific commandments of God which are not to be done. 3) Intentional sins involving deceit.

25. Leaving Gleanings for the Poor

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 24:19-22
• Scripture Text (WEB): “When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go again to get it. It shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow, that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.”
• Penalty or Consequence: No explicit penalty, but compliance brings blessing; violation risks curses (Deut. 28:15-68).
• Offering or Ransom: None; leaving gleanings fulfills the command.
  • Commands which are to be done and are not does not fit into any offering's definition? Intentionally not doing or doing something which is a do not, does not fit into any offerings definition?
  • Guilt Offering?: Emphasis on restitution or resolving guilt. 1) Unintentional violations of holy/set apart things 2) Unintentional sins against specific commandments of God which are not to be done. 3) Intentional sins involving deceit.

26. Limit on Flogging

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 25:1-3
• Scripture Text (WEB): “If there is a controversy between men, and they come to judgment, and the judges judge them, then they shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked. It shall be, if the wicked man is worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down and to be beaten before his face, according to his wickedness, by number. Forty stripes he may give him, he shall not exceed; lest, if he should exceed and beat him above this with many stripes, then your brother should seem degraded in your sight.”
• Penalty or Consequence: Up to 40 stripes; exceeding risks degrading the person.
• Offering or Ransom: None specified; limit ensures justice.

27. Ox Not to Be Muzzled

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 25:4
• Scripture Text (WEB): “You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain.”
• Penalty or Consequence: No explicit penalty, but risks covenant violation (Deut. 28:15-68).
• Offering or Ransom: None; allowing the ox to eat fulfills the command.
  • Commands which are to be done and are not does not fit into any offering's definition? Intentionally not doing or doing something which is a do not, does not fit into any offerings definition?
  • Sin Offering?: Emphasis on purification from defilement. Unintentional sins against the commandments of God which are not to be done. Primarily those that defile the sinner or the sanctuary requiring purification.

28. Levirate Marriage

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 25:5-10
• Scripture Text (WEB): “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married outside to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her, and take her as his wife… If the man doesn’t want to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders, and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to raise up to his brother a name in Israel…’ Then the elders of his city shall call him… and she shall pull his sandal off his foot, and spit in his face… His name shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal pulled off.’”
• Penalty or Consequence: Public humiliation (sandal removal, spitting) for refusing.
• Offering or Ransom: None; marriage or public act resolves the obligation.

29. Unfair Fighting

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 25:11-12
• Scripture Text (WEB): “When men strive together one with another, and the wife of one draws near to deliver her husband out of the hand of him who strikes him, and puts out her hand, and grabs him by his private parts, then you shall cut off her hand. Your eye shall have no pity.”
• Penalty or Consequence: Hand amputation.
• Offering or Ransom: None specified; no atonement provided.

30. Honest Weights and Measures

• Scripture Reference: Deuteronomy 25:13-16
• Scripture Text (WEB): “You shall not have in your bag diverse weights, a great and a small. You shall not have in your house diverse measures, a great and a small… For all who do such things, all who do unrighteously, are an abomination to Yahweh your God.”
• Penalty or Consequence: No explicit penalty, but labeled an “abomination,” implying divine judgment (Deut. 28:15-68).
• Offering or Ransom: None specified.
  • Commands which are to be done and are not does not fit into any offering's definition? Intentionally not doing or doing something which is a do not, does not fit into any offerings definition?
  • Guilt Offering?: Emphasis on restitution or resolving guilt. 1) Unintentional violations of holy/set apart things 2) Unintentional sins against specific commandments of God which are not to be done. 3) Intentional sins involving deceit.

Slander, False Witness

Scripture Reference: Lev-19#v16

• Scripture Text (WEB): “You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people.“ ‘You shall not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am Yahweh.”
• Penalty or Consequence: Violation leads to hatred, which breaks covenant love. (Leviticus 19:17-18)
• Offering or Ransom:
  • Commands which are to be done and are not does not fit into any offering's definition? Intentionally not doing or doing something which is a do not, does not fit into any offerings definition?
  • Guilt Offering?: Emphasis on restitution or resolving guilt. 1) Unintentional violations of holy/set apart things 2) Unintentional sins against specific commandments of God which are not to be done. 3) Intentional sins involving deceit.
  • False Witness which endangers a life - Death Sins Requiring Death - No Offering

Scripture Reference: James-04#v11

• Scripture Text: Don’t speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.

Also related Deut-19#v15–19: One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin that he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established. 16 If an unrighteous witness rises up against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, 17 then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days; 18 and the judges shall make diligent inquisition; and behold, if the witness is a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother, 19 then you shall do to him as he had thought to do to his brother. So you shall remove the evil from among you.