The portion begins with Moses commanding the people of Israel to appoint judges to decide the law. Laws regarding both sacred and secular legislation are addressed.

The Israelites are told that in every dealing they should pursue justice in order to merit the land that God is giving them. The people are warned to avoid sorcery and witchcraft.

There are laws governing the appointment and behaviour of a king, who must have two Torah scrolls. One is to be carried around with him for “...he shall read in it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to revere his God Adonai, to observe every word of this Teaching as well as these laws” (Deuteronomy 17:19).

There are guidelines for the creation of “cities of refuge” for the inadvertent murderer, rules of war, the requirement to offer terms of peace before attacking a city and, when the Israelites take over a country, they are prohibited from chopping down or destroying trees that give fruit.

Finally, we learn of the law of the eglah arufah (literally “calf decapitated”), the special procedure for when a person is killed by an unknown murderer and his body is found in a field.