Parashat Shoftim

Appoint judges and officers in all your gates, and let them judge with justice: no favoritism, no bribes. "Justice, justice shall you pursue." If the people ask for a king, he must be one of their own, must not amass horses, wives or silver, and must write his own copy of the Torah and read it all his life. Priests and Levites are provided for. A true prophet is distinguished from a false one. Cities of refuge, boundary markers and the rule that two witnesses are required for conviction follow. Before battle a priest addresses the troops and the fearful are sent home; fruit trees may not be cut down in a siege. The portion ends with the ritual for an unsolved murder.