1
The king receives authority for protection, administration, defense, and Mishpat; he does not become the source of righteousness merely by occupying the throne.
2
The ruler is bound to hear the cry of the oppressed, restrain robbery, protect roads and markets, appoint competent judges, defend the realm, and preserve the peace.
3
Taxes and public burdens shall be imposed for public necessity and ordered administration, not for private appetite.
4
The king shall not seize inheritance, land, wife, child, or goods merely because he desires them. Royal taking without lawful cause is not purified by royal status.
5
Officials act under delegated authority and must account for abuse. The king who knowingly sustains corrupt officers shares responsibility for the disorder he protects.
6
War shall be distinguished from private violence. Defense of the people and realm is not permission for indiscriminate plunder.
7
The king shall preserve weights, measures, roads, water, markets, judgments, and the security necessary for cultivation and trade.
8
He shall honor the qodesh assembly without making it a tool for arbitrary rule, and the assembly shall counsel the ruler without pretending that spiritual office erases the civil rights of the people.
9
Succession to royal office follows the constitution, covenant, or recognized law of the polity; sacred lineage claims and civil legal title are analytically distinct questions and require their own proof.
10
A ruler who despises Mishpat destroys the basis of his own authority, for kingship is stewardship before it is glory.