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Deuteronomy 16-22
New American Standard Bible

The Feasts of Passover, of Weeks, and of Booths

16 “Observe (A)the month of Abib and [a](B)celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 You shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to establish His name. 3 (C)You shall not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in a hurry), so that you will remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt (D)all the days of your life. 4 For seven days no leaven shall be seen with you in your entire territory, and (E)none of the meat which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day shall be left overnight until the morning. 5 You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your [b]towns which the Lord your God is giving you; 6 but only (F)at the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name, you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at sunset, at the time that you came out of Egypt. 7 You shall (G)cook and eat it in the place which the Lord your God chooses. In the morning you are to return to your tents. 8 For six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and (H)on the seventh day there shall be (I)a festive assembly to the Lord your God; you shall do no work on it.

9 “(J)You shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. 10 Then you shall [c]celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with a [d]voluntary offering of your hand in a proportional amount, which you shall give just as the Lord your God blesses you; 11 and you shall (K)rejoice before the Lord your God, you, your son and your daughter, and your male and female slaves, and (L)the Levite who is in your [e]town, and (M)the stranger, the [f]orphan, and the widow who are in your midst, at the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name. 12 (N)You shall also remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful and [g]comply with these statutes.

13 “(O)You shall [h]celebrate the Feast of [i]Booths for seven days when you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat; 14 and you shall (P)rejoice in your feast, you, your son and your daughter, and your male and female slaves, and the Levite, the stranger, the [j]orphan, and the widow who are in your [k]towns. 15 For seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.

16 “(Q)Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths; and (R)they are not to appear before the Lord empty-handed. 17 Everyone [l]shall give as he is able, in accordance with the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you.

18 “You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your [m]towns which the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 (S)You shall not distort justice, (T)you shall not [n]show partiality; and (U)you shall not accept a bribe, because a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and distorts the words of the righteous. 20 Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that (V)you may live and possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

21 “(W)You shall not plant for yourself an [o]Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the Lord your God, which you shall make for yourself. 22 And (X)you shall not set up for yourself a memorial stone, which the Lord your God hates.

Administration of Justice

17 “(Y)You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep which has a blemish or any [p]defect, for that is a detestable thing to the Lord your God.

2 “(Z)If there is found in your midst, in any of your [q]towns which the Lord your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, by violating His covenant, 3 and that person has gone and (AA)served other gods and worshiped them, (AB)or the sun, the moon, or any of the heavenly [r]lights, (AC)which I have commanded not to do, 4 and if it is reported to you and you have heard about it, then you shall investigate thoroughly. And [s]if it is true and the report is trustworthy that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, 5 then you are to bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil deed, that is, the man or the woman, and (AD)you shall stone them to [t]death. 6 (AE)On the [u]testimony of two witnesses or three witnesses, the [v]condemned shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the [w]testimony of only one witness. 7 (AF)The hands of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. (AG)So you shall eliminate the evil from your midst.

8 “(AH)If a case is too difficult for you to decide, between [x]one kind of homicide or another, between [y]one kind of lawsuit or another, and between [z]one kind of assault or another, that are cases of dispute in your [aa]courts, then you shall arise and go up to (AI)the place which the Lord your God chooses. 9 So you shall come to (AJ)the Levitical priests or the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall inquire of them and they will declare to you the [ab]verdict. 10 Then you shall act in accordance with the [ac]terms of the verdict which they declare to you from that place which the Lord chooses; and you shall be careful to act in accordance with everything that they instruct you to do. 11 (AK)In accordance with the [ad]terms of the law about which they instruct you, and in accordance with the verdict which they tell you, you shall act; you shall not turn aside from the word which they declare to you, to the right or the left. 12 But the person who acts (AL)insolently by not listening to the priest who stands there to serve the Lord your God, nor to the judge, that person shall die; so you shall eliminate the evil from Israel. 13 Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and will not act (AM)insolently again.

14 “When you enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and you (AN)take possession of it and live in it, and you say, ‘(AO)I will appoint a king over me like all the nations who are around me,’ 15 you shall in fact appoint a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses. One (AP)from among your countrymen you shall appoint as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves, anyone who is not your countryman. 16 (AQ)In any case, he is not to acquire many horses for himself, nor shall he (AR)make the people return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since (AS)the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never again return that way.’ 17 And (AT)he shall not acquire many wives for himself, so that his heart does not turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself.

18 “Now it shall come about, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this Law on a scroll [ae](AU)in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read it (AV)all the days of his life, so that he will learn to fear the Lord his God, [af]by carefully following all the words of this Law and these statutes, 20 so that his heart will not be haughty toward his countrymen, (AW)and that he will not turn away from the commandment to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may [ag]live long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel.

Portion for the Levites

18 “(AX)The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, shall not have a portion or inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the Lord’s offerings by fire and His [ah]property. 2 (AY)They shall not have an inheritance among their countrymen; the Lord is their inheritance, as He [ai]promised them.

3 “(AZ)Now this shall be the priests’ portion from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, either an ox or a sheep: they shall give the priest the shoulder, the two cheeks, and the stomach. 4 You shall give him the (BA)first fruits of your grain, your new wine, and your oil, and the first fleece of your sheep. 5 (BB)For the Lord your God has chosen him and his sons from all your tribes, to (BC)stand to serve in the name of the Lord always.

6 “Now if a Levite comes from any of your [aj]towns throughout Israel where he (BD)resides, and he comes [ak]whenever he desires to the place which the Lord chooses, 7 then he shall serve in the name of the Lord his God, like all his fellow Levites who stand there before the Lord. 8 (BE)They shall eat [al]equal portions, except for what they receive from the sale of their fathers’ estates.

Spiritism Forbidden

9 “When you enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to [am](BF)imitate the detestable things of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone (BG)who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, a (BH)soothsayer, one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who casts a spell, (BI)or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who consults the dead. 12 For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord; and (BJ)because of these detestable things the Lord your God is going to drive them out before you. 13 (BK)You are to be blameless before the Lord your God. 14 For these nations, which you are going to dispossess, listen to (BL)soothsayers and diviners, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so.

15 “(BM)The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen; to him you shall listen. 16 This is (BN)in accordance with everything that you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Do not let me hear the voice of the Lord my God again, and do not let me see this great fire anymore, or I will die!’ 17 And (BO)the Lord said to me, ‘They have [an]spoken well. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and (BP)I will put My words in his mouth, and (BQ)he shall speak to them everything that I command him. 19 (BR)And it shall come about that whoever does not listen to My words which he speaks in My name, I Myself will [ao]require it of him. 20 But the prophet who speaks a word (BS)presumptuously in My name, a word which I have not commanded him to speak, or (BT)which he speaks in the name of other gods, [ap]that prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How will we recognize the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ 22 (BU)When the prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, and the thing does not happen or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it (BV)presumptuously; you are not to be afraid of him.

Cities of Refuge

19 “(BW)When the Lord your God cuts off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and settle in their cities and in their houses, 2 (BX)you shall set aside for yourself three cities in the midst of your land which the Lord your God is giving you to [aq]possess. 3 You shall prepare the [ar]roads for yourself, and divide into three regions the territory of your land which the Lord your God will give you as an inheritance, [as]so that anyone who commits manslaughter may flee there.

4 “(BY)Now this is the case of the one who commits manslaughter, who may flee there and live: when he [at]kills his friend [au]unintentionally, [av]not hating him previously— 5 as when a person goes into the forest with his friend to cut wood, and his hand [aw]swings the axe to cut down the tree, and the iron head slips off the [ax]handle and [ay]strikes his friend so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live. 6 Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue [az]him [ba]in the heat of his anger, and overtake him because the way is long, and [bb]take his life, though he was not sentenced to death since he had not hated him previously. 7 Therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall set aside for yourself three cities.’

8 “And if the Lord your God (BZ)enlarges your territory, just as He has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land that He [bc]promised to give your fathers— 9 if you [bd]carefully follow all of this commandment which I am commanding you today, (CA)to love the Lord your God, and to walk in His ways always—(CB)then you shall add three more cities for yourself, besides these three. 10 So innocent blood will not be shed in the midst of your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and (CC)guilt for bloodshed will not be on you.

11 “But (CD)if there is a person who hates his neighbor, and waits in ambush for him and rises up against him and strikes [be]him so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities, 12 then the elders of his city shall send men and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die. 13 [bf](CE)You shall not pity him, but (CF)you shall eliminate the guilt for the bloodshed of the innocent from Israel, so that it may go well for you.

Laws of Landmark and Testimony

14 “(CG)You shall not displace your neighbor’s boundary marker, which the ancestors have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to [bg]possess.

15 “(CH)A single witness shall not rise up against a person regarding any wrongdoing or any sin [bh]that he commits; on the [bi]testimony of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed. 16 (CI)If a malicious witness rises up against a person to testify against him of wrongdoing, 17 then both people who have the dispute shall stand (CJ)before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. 18 And the judges (CK)shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has testified against his brother falsely, 19 then (CL)you shall do to him just as he had planned to do to his brother. So you shall eliminate the evil from among you. 20 And (CM)the rest of the people will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you. 21 So [bj](CN)you shall not show pity: (CO)life for life, (CP)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.

Laws of Warfare

20 “When you go out to battle against your enemies and see (CQ)horses, chariots, and people more numerous than you, (CR)do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you. 2 When you are approaching the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people. 3 He shall say to them, ‘Hear, Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted. (CS)Do not be afraid, or panic, or be terrified by them, 4 for the Lord your God (CT)is the One who is going with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’ 5 The officers also shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Who is the man that has built a new house but has not (CU)dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man would dedicate it. 6 And who is the man that has planted a vineyard but has not [bk]put it to use? Let him go and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man [bl]would put it to use. 7 (CV)And who is the man that is [bm]betrothed to a woman and has not [bn]married her? Let him go and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man would [bo]marry her.’ 8 Then the officers shall speak further to the people and say, ‘(CW)Who is the man that is afraid and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, so that [bp]he does not make his brothers’ hearts melt like his heart!’ 9 And when the officers have finished speaking to the people, they shall appoint commanders of armies at the head of the people.

10 “When you approach a city to fight against it, you shall [bq]offer it terms of peace. 11 And if it [br]agrees to make peace with you and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your (CX)forced labor and serve you. 12 However, if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13 When the Lord your God gives it into your hand, (CY)you shall strike all the [bs]men in it with the edge of the sword. 14 However, the women, the children, (CZ)the animals, and everything that is in the city, all of its spoils, you shall take as plunder for yourself; and you shall [bt]use the spoils of your enemies which the Lord your God has given you. 15 This is what you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations [bu]nearby. 16 (DA)Only in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave anything that breathes alive. 17 Instead, you shall [bv]utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you, 18 so that they will not teach you to do [bw](DB)all the same detestable practices of theirs which they have done for their gods, [bx]by which you would (DC)sin against the Lord your God.

19 “When you besiege a city for a long time, to make war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them; for you may eat from them, so you shall not cut them down. For [by]is the tree of the field a human, that it should [bz]be besieged by you? 20 Only the trees that you know [ca]are not fruit trees you shall destroy and cut down, so that you may construct siegeworks against the city that is making war against you until it falls.

Expiation of a Crime

21 “If a person who has been killed by someone is found lying in the open country in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to [cb]possess, and it is not known who struck him, 2 then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the one who was killed. 3 And it shall be that the city which is nearest to the person killed, that is, that the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd that has not been worked [cc]and has not pulled in a yoke; 4 and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which has not been plowed or sown, and they shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. 5 Then (DD)the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, because the Lord your God has chosen them to serve Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; and every dispute and [cd]violent crime shall be [ce]settled by them. 6 And all the elders of that city [cf]which is nearest to the person killed shall (DE)wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley; 7 and they shall respond and say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see who did. 8 [cg]Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, Lord, and do not place the guilt for (DF)innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel.’ And the guilt for bloodshed shall be [ch]forgiven them. 9 (DG)So you shall remove the guilt for innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

Domestic Relations

10 “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and (DH)the Lord your God hands them over to you and you take them away captive, 11 and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and are strongly attracted to her and would take her as a wife for yourself, 12 then you shall bring her into your home, and she shall (DI)shave her head and [ci]trim her nails. 13 She shall also [cj]remove the clothes of her captivity and shall remain in your house, and (DJ)weep for her father and mother a full month; and after that you may have relations with her and become her husband and she shall be your wife. 14 But it shall be, if you are not pleased with her, then you shall let her go [ck]wherever she wishes; and you certainly shall not sell her for money, you shall not treat her as merchandise, since you have [cl](DK)humiliated her.

15 “If a man has two wives, the one loved and (DL)the other [cm]unloved, and both the loved and the [cn]unloved have borne him sons, and the firstborn son belongs to the [co]unloved, 16 then it shall be on the day that he wills what he owns as an inheritance to his sons, he is not allowed to treat the son of the loved wife as the firstborn, [cp]at the expense of the son of the [cq]unloved, who actually is the firstborn son. 17 On the contrary, he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the [cr]unloved wife, by giving him a double [cs]portion of everything that [ct]he owns, for he was the (DM)beginning of his [cu]strength; (DN)to him belongs the right of the firstborn.

18 “If any person has a stubborn and rebellious son who does (DO)not obey his father or his mother, and when they discipline him, he does not listen to them, 19 then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city [cv]at the gateway of his hometown. 20 And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us, he is thoughtless and given to drinking.’ 21 (DP)Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so (DQ)you shall eliminate the evil from your midst, and (DR)all Israel will hear about it and fear.

22 “Now if [cw]a person has committed a sin carrying (DS)a sentence of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on [cx]a tree, 23 (DT)his body is not to be left overnight on the [cy]tree, but you shall certainly bury him on the same day (for (DU)he who is hanged is cursed of God), so that you (DV)do not defile your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Various Laws

22 “(DW)You shall not see your countryman’s ox or his sheep straying away, and avoid them; you shall certainly bring them back to your countryman. 2 And if your countryman is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it to your house, and it shall remain with you until your countryman looks for it; then you shall restore it to him. 3 You shall also do this with his donkey, and you shall do the same with his garment, and you shall do likewise with any lost property of your countryman, which has been lost by him and you have found. You are not allowed to avoid them. 4 You shall not see your countryman’s donkey or his ox fallen down on the road, and avoid them; you shall certainly help him raise them up.

5 “A woman shall not wear a man’s clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.

6 “If you happen to come upon a bird’s nest along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs in it, and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, (DX)you shall not take the mother with the young; 7 you shall certainly let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, (DY)in order that it may go well for you and that you may prolong your days.

8 “When you build a new house, you shall make a [cz]parapet for your roof, so that you will not bring guilt for bloodshed on your house if anyone falls from it.

9 “(DZ)You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, otherwise [da]all the produce of the seed which you have sown and the yield of the vineyard will be [db]forfeited to the sanctuary.

10 “(EA)You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.

11 “(EB)You shall not wear a material of wool and linen combined together.

12 “(EC)You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of your garment with which you cover yourself.

Laws on Morality

13 “(ED)If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then [dc]turns against her, 14 and he charges her with shameful behavior and [dd]publicly defames her, and says, ‘I took this woman, but when I came near her, I did not find her to have evidence of virginity,’ 15 then the girl’s father and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of the girl’s virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. 16 And the girl’s father shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, but he [de]turned against her; 17 and behold, he has charged her with shameful behavior, saying, “I did not find your daughter to have evidence of virginity.” But [df]this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread out the garment before the elders of the city. 18 Then (EE)the elders of that city shall take the man and rebuke him, 19 and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give it to the girl’s father, because he [dg]publicly defamed a virgin of Israel. And she shall remain his wife; he is not allowed to [dh]divorce her all his days.

20 “But if this [di](EF)charge is true, and they did not find the girl to have evidence of virginity, 21 then they shall bring the girl out to the doorway of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her [dj]to death, because she has (EG)committed a disgraceful sin in Israel by playing the prostitute in her father’s house; so (EH)you shall eliminate the evil from among you.

22 “(EI)If a man is found sleeping with a married woman, then both of them shall die, the man who slept with the woman, and the woman; so you shall eliminate the evil from Israel.

23 “(EJ)If there is a girl who is a virgin [dk]betrothed to a man, and another man finds her in the city and sleeps with her, 24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you shall stone them [dl]to death: the girl, because she did not cry out for help though she was in the city, and the man, because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. So you shall eliminate the evil from among you.

25 “But if the man finds the girl who is betrothed in the field, and the man seizes her and [dm]rapes her, then only the man who [dn]raped her shall die. 26 And you are not to do anything to the girl; there is no sin in the girl worthy of death, for just as a man rises against his neighbor and murders him, [do]so is this case. 27 When he found her in the field, the betrothed girl [dp]cried out, but there was no one to save her.

28 “(EK)If a man finds a girl who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and has sexual relations with her, and they are discovered, 29 then the man who had sexual relations with her shall give the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall become his wife, because he has violated her; he is not allowed to divorce her all his days.

30 “[dq](EL)A man shall not take [dr]his father’s wife in marriage, so that he does not [ds]uncover his father’s garment.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 16:1 Lit perform
  2. Deuteronomy 16:5 Lit gates
  3. Deuteronomy 16:10 Lit perform
  4. Deuteronomy 16:10 Or freewill offering
  5. Deuteronomy 16:11 Lit gates
  6. Deuteronomy 16:11 Or fatherless
  7. Deuteronomy 16:12 Lit perform these
  8. Deuteronomy 16:13 Lit perform
  9. Deuteronomy 16:13 Or Tabernacles
  10. Deuteronomy 16:14 Or fatherless
  11. Deuteronomy 16:14 Lit gates
  12. Deuteronomy 16:17 Lit according to the gift of his hand
  13. Deuteronomy 16:18 Lit gates
  14. Deuteronomy 16:19 Lit recognize faces
  15. Deuteronomy 16:21 I.e., wooden symbol of a female deity
  16. Deuteronomy 17:1 Lit bad thing
  17. Deuteronomy 17:2 Lit gates
  18. Deuteronomy 17:3 Lit host
  19. Deuteronomy 17:4 Lit behold, true
  20. Deuteronomy 17:5 Lit death with stones
  21. Deuteronomy 17:6 Lit mouth
  22. Deuteronomy 17:6 Lit one dying
  23. Deuteronomy 17:6 Lit mouth
  24. Deuteronomy 17:8 Lit blood to blood
  25. Deuteronomy 17:8 Lit lawsuit to lawsuit
  26. Deuteronomy 17:8 Lit blow to blow
  27. Deuteronomy 17:8 Lit gates
  28. Deuteronomy 17:9 Lit word of decision
  29. Deuteronomy 17:10 Lit mouth
  30. Deuteronomy 17:11 Lit mouth
  31. Deuteronomy 17:18 Lit from before
  32. Deuteronomy 17:19 Lit to keep all...to do them,
  33. Deuteronomy 17:20 Lit prolong days
  34. Deuteronomy 18:1 Or inheritance
  35. Deuteronomy 18:2 Lit spoke to
  36. Deuteronomy 18:6 Lit gates
  37. Deuteronomy 18:6 Lit with all the desire of his soul
  38. Deuteronomy 18:8 Lit portion like portion
  39. Deuteronomy 18:9 Lit do as
  40. Deuteronomy 18:17 Lit done well what they have spoken
  41. Deuteronomy 18:19 I.e., hold him responsible
  42. Deuteronomy 18:20 Lit then that
  43. Deuteronomy 19:2 Lit possess it
  44. Deuteronomy 19:3 Lit road
  45. Deuteronomy 19:3 Lit and it shall be for everyone who committed manslaughter to flee there
  46. Deuteronomy 19:4 Lit strikes
  47. Deuteronomy 19:4 Lit without knowledge
  48. Deuteronomy 19:4 Lit and he was not hating him previously
  49. Deuteronomy 19:5 Lit is put to the
  50. Deuteronomy 19:5 Lit wood
  51. Deuteronomy 19:5 Lit finds
  52. Deuteronomy 19:6 Lit the one who committed manslaughter
  53. Deuteronomy 19:6 Lit while his heart is hot
  54. Deuteronomy 19:6 Lit strike him in the soul
  55. Deuteronomy 19:8 Lit spoke
  56. Deuteronomy 19:9 Lit keep all...to do it
  57. Deuteronomy 19:11 Lit him in the soul
  58. Deuteronomy 19:13 Lit Your eye
  59. Deuteronomy 19:14 Lit possess it
  60. Deuteronomy 19:15 Lit in any sin, that he sins
  61. Deuteronomy 19:15 Lit mouth of two witnesses, or by the mouth of three
  62. Deuteronomy 19:21 Lit your eye
  63. Deuteronomy 20:6 Lit treat(ed) it as common
  64. Deuteronomy 20:6 Lit treat(ed) it as common
  65. Deuteronomy 20:7 A betrothed couple was considered legally married, but did not yet live together
  66. Deuteronomy 20:7 Lit taken
  67. Deuteronomy 20:7 Lit take
  68. Deuteronomy 20:8 As in LXX and other ancient versions; MT his brothers’ hearts do not melt like
  69. Deuteronomy 20:10 Lit call to it for peace
  70. Deuteronomy 20:11 Lit answers peace to you
  71. Deuteronomy 20:13 Lit males
  72. Deuteronomy 20:14 Lit eat
  73. Deuteronomy 20:15 Lit here
  74. Deuteronomy 20:17 Or put them under the ban
  75. Deuteronomy 20:18 Lit according to all the detestable
  76. Deuteronomy 20:18 Lit and you would
  77. Deuteronomy 20:19 Read as interrogative with ancient versions; MT the tree of the field is man
  78. Deuteronomy 20:19 Lit come before you in the siege
  79. Deuteronomy 20:20 Lit that it is not a tree of food
  80. Deuteronomy 21:1 Lit possess it
  81. Deuteronomy 21:3 Lit which has not
  82. Deuteronomy 21:5 Lit blow
  83. Deuteronomy 21:5 Lit according to their mouth
  84. Deuteronomy 21:6 Lit who are
  85. Deuteronomy 21:8 Lit Cover over, atone for
  86. Deuteronomy 21:8 Lit covered over, atoned for
  87. Deuteronomy 21:12 Lit do
  88. Deuteronomy 21:13 Lit remove from her
  89. Deuteronomy 21:14 Lit according to her soul
  90. Deuteronomy 21:14 I.e., by a forced marriage
  91. Deuteronomy 21:15 Or scorned; lit hated
  92. Deuteronomy 21:15 Or scorned; lit hated
  93. Deuteronomy 21:15 Or scorned; lit hated
  94. Deuteronomy 21:16 Lit against the face of
  95. Deuteronomy 21:16 See note v 15
  96. Deuteronomy 21:17 See note v 15
  97. Deuteronomy 21:17 Lit mouthful
  98. Deuteronomy 21:17 Lit is found with him
  99. Deuteronomy 21:17 I.e., power of procreation
  100. Deuteronomy 21:19 Lit and to the gate of his place
  101. Deuteronomy 21:22 Lit a sin is in a person carrying
  102. Deuteronomy 21:22 Lit wood
  103. Deuteronomy 21:23 Lit wood
  104. Deuteronomy 22:8 I.e., a protective railing
  105. Deuteronomy 22:9 Lit the fullness
  106. Deuteronomy 22:9 Or forfeit, adj sense
  107. Deuteronomy 22:13 Lit hates her
  108. Deuteronomy 22:14 Lit brings out an evil reputation against her
  109. Deuteronomy 22:16 Lit hated her
  110. Deuteronomy 22:17 Lit these are
  111. Deuteronomy 22:19 Lit brought out an evil reputation against a virgin
  112. Deuteronomy 22:19 Lit send her away
  113. Deuteronomy 22:20 Lit matter
  114. Deuteronomy 22:21 Lit with stones so that she dies
  115. Deuteronomy 22:23 A betrothed couple was considered legally married, but did not yet live together
  116. Deuteronomy 22:24 Lit with stones so that they die
  117. Deuteronomy 22:25 Lit lies down with
  118. Deuteronomy 22:25 Lit lies down with
  119. Deuteronomy 22:26 I.e., she is only a victim
  120. Deuteronomy 22:27 I.e., presumably did so
  121. Deuteronomy 22:30 Ch 23:1 in Heb
  122. Deuteronomy 22:30 I.e., a stepmother, not his birth mother
  123. Deuteronomy 22:30 Idiom for violating his father’s marriage
Listen to Deuteronomy 16-22
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Deuteronomy 16-22
New International Version

The Passover(A)

16 Observe the month of Aviv(B) and celebrate the Passover(C) of the Lord your God, because in the month of Aviv he brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 Sacrifice as the Passover to the Lord your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his Name.(D) 3 Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction,(E) because you left Egypt in haste(F)—so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt.(G) 4 Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening(H) of the first day remain until morning.(I)

5 You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the Lord your God gives you 6 except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary[a](J) of your departure from Egypt. 7 Roast(K) it and eat it at the place the Lord your God will choose. Then in the morning return to your tents. 8 For six days eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day hold an assembly(L) to the Lord your God and do no work.(M)

The Festival of Weeks(N)

9 Count off seven weeks(O) from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.(P) 10 Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the Lord your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the Lord your God has given you. 11 And rejoice(Q) before the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name(R)—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites(S) in your towns, and the foreigners,(T) the fatherless and the widows living among you.(U) 12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt,(V) and follow carefully these decrees.

The Festival of Tabernacles(W)

13 Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor(X) and your winepress.(Y) 14 Be joyful(Z) at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. 15 For seven days celebrate the festival to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy(AA) will be complete.

16 Three times a year all your men must appear(AB) before the Lord your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread,(AC) the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles.(AD) No one should appear before the Lord empty-handed:(AE) 17 Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.

Judges

18 Appoint judges(AF) and officials for each of your tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly.(AG) 19 Do not pervert justice(AH) or show partiality.(AI) Do not accept a bribe,(AJ) for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent. 20 Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Worshiping Other Gods

21 Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole(AK) beside the altar you build to the Lord your God,(AL) 22 and do not erect a sacred stone,(AM) for these the Lord your God hates.

17 Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect(AN) or flaw in it, for that would be detestable(AO) to him.(AP)

2 If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the Lord gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God in violation of his covenant,(AQ) 3 and contrary to my command(AR) has worshiped other gods,(AS) bowing down to them or to the sun(AT) or the moon or the stars in the sky,(AU) 4 and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true(AV) and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel,(AW) 5 take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death.(AX) 6 On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.(AY) 7 The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death,(AZ) and then the hands of all the people.(BA) You must purge the evil(BB) from among you.

Law Courts

8 If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge(BC)—whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults(BD)—take them to the place the Lord your God will choose.(BE) 9 Go to the Levitical(BF) priests and to the judge(BG) who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict.(BH) 10 You must act according to the decisions they give you at the place the Lord will choose. Be careful to do everything they instruct you to do. 11 Act according to whatever they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left.(BI) 12 Anyone who shows contempt(BJ) for the judge or for the priest who stands ministering(BK) there to the Lord your God is to be put to death.(BL) You must purge the evil from Israel.(BM) 13 All the people will hear and be afraid, and will not be contemptuous again.(BN)

The King

14 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession(BO) of it and settled in it,(BP) and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,”(BQ) 15 be sure to appoint(BR) over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites.(BS) Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. 16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses(BT) for himself(BU) or make the people return to Egypt(BV) to get more of them,(BW) for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”(BX) 17 He must not take many wives,(BY) or his heart will be led astray.(BZ) He must not accumulate(CA) large amounts of silver and gold.(CB)

18 When he takes the throne(CC) of his kingdom, he is to write(CD) for himself on a scroll a copy(CE) of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life(CF) so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees(CG) 20 and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law(CH) to the right or to the left.(CI) Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.(CJ)

Offerings for Priests and Levites

18 The Levitical(CK) priests—indeed, the whole tribe of Levi—are to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel. They shall live on the food offerings(CL) presented to the Lord, for that is their inheritance.(CM) 2 They shall have no inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance,(CN) as he promised them.(CO)

3 This is the share due the priests(CP) from the people who sacrifice a bull(CQ) or a sheep: the shoulder, the internal organs and the meat from the head.(CR) 4 You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the first wool from the shearing of your sheep,(CS) 5 for the Lord your God has chosen them(CT) and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister(CU) in the Lord’s name always.(CV)

6 If a Levite moves from one of your towns anywhere in Israel where he is living, and comes in all earnestness to the place the Lord will choose,(CW) 7 he may minister in the name(CX) of the Lord his God like all his fellow Levites who serve there in the presence of the Lord. 8 He is to share equally in their benefits, even though he has received money from the sale of family possessions.(CY)

Occult Practices

9 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate(CZ) the detestable ways(DA) of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire,(DB) who practices divination(DC) or sorcery,(DD) interprets omens, engages in witchcraft,(DE) 11 or casts spells,(DF) or who is a medium or spiritist(DG) or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.(DH) 13 You must be blameless(DI) before the Lord your God.(DJ)

The Prophet

14 The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination.(DK) But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so. 15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites.(DL) You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”(DM)

17 The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet(DN) like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words(DO) in his mouth.(DP) He will tell them everything I command him.(DQ) 19 I myself will call to account(DR) anyone who does not listen(DS) to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.(DT) 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods,(DU) is to be put to death.”(DV)

21 You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” 22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true,(DW) that is a message the Lord has not spoken.(DX) That prophet has spoken presumptuously,(DY) so do not be alarmed.

Cities of Refuge(DZ)

19 When the Lord your God has destroyed the nations whose land he is giving you, and when you have driven them out and settled in their towns and houses,(EA) 2 then set aside for yourselves three cities in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess. 3 Determine the distances involved and divide into three parts the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that a person who kills someone may flee for refuge to one of these cities.

4 This is the rule concerning anyone who kills a person and flees there for safety—anyone who kills a neighbor unintentionally, without malice aforethought. 5 For instance, a man may go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he swings his ax to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his neighbor and kill him. That man may flee to one of these cities and save his life. 6 Otherwise, the avenger of blood(EB) might pursue him in a rage, overtake him if the distance is too great, and kill him even though he is not deserving of death, since he did it to his neighbor without malice aforethought. 7 This is why I command you to set aside for yourselves three cities.

8 If the Lord your God enlarges your territory,(EC) as he promised(ED) on oath to your ancestors, and gives you the whole land he promised them, 9 because you carefully follow all these laws I command you today—to love the Lord your God and to walk always in obedience to him(EE)—then you are to set aside three more cities. 10 Do this so that innocent blood(EF) will not be shed in your land, which the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance, and so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.(EG)

11 But if out of hate someone lies in wait, assaults and kills a neighbor,(EH) and then flees to one of these cities, 12 the killer shall be sent for by the town elders, be brought back from the city, and be handed over to the avenger of blood to die. 13 Show no pity.(EI) You must purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood,(EJ) so that it may go well with you.

14 Do not move your neighbor’s boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess.(EK)

Witnesses

15 One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.(EL)

16 If a malicious witness(EM) takes the stand to accuse someone of a crime, 17 the two people involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges(EN) who are in office at the time. 18 The judges must make a thorough investigation,(EO) and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, 19 then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party.(EP) You must purge the evil from among you. 20 The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid,(EQ) and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. 21 Show no pity:(ER) life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.(ES)

Going to War

20 When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours,(ET) do not be afraid(EU) of them,(EV) because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with(EW) you. 2 When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. 3 He shall say: “Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted(EX) or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. 4 For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you(EY) to fight(EZ) for you against your enemies to give you victory.(FA)”

5 The officers shall say to the army: “Has anyone built a new house and not yet begun to live in(FB) it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else may begin to live in it. 6 Has anyone planted(FC) a vineyard and not begun to enjoy it?(FD) Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else enjoy it. 7 Has anyone become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and someone else marry her.(FE)” 8 Then the officers shall add, “Is anyone afraid or fainthearted? Let him go home so that his fellow soldiers will not become disheartened too.”(FF) 9 When the officers have finished speaking to the army, they shall appoint commanders over it.

10 When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace.(FG) 11 If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject(FH) to forced labor(FI) and shall work for you. 12 If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city. 13 When the Lord your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it.(FJ) 14 As for the women, the children, the livestock(FK) and everything else in the city,(FL) you may take these as plunder(FM) for yourselves. And you may use the plunder the Lord your God gives you from your enemies. 15 This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance(FN) from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.

16 However, in the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes.(FO) 17 Completely destroy[b] them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the Lord your God has commanded you. 18 Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods,(FP) and you will sin(FQ) against the Lord your God.

19 When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees people, that you should besiege them?[c] 20 However, you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees(FR) and use them to build siege works until the city at war with you falls.

Atonement for an Unsolved Murder

21 If someone is found slain, lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who the killer was,(FS) 2 your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns. 3 Then the elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked and has never worn a yoke(FT) 4 and lead it down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and where there is a flowing stream. There in the valley they are to break the heifer’s neck. 5 The Levitical priests shall step forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings(FU) in the name of the Lord and to decide all cases of dispute and assault.(FV) 6 Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands(FW) over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, 7 and they shall declare: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. 8 Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, Lord, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent person.” Then the bloodshed will be atoned for,(FX) 9 and you will have purged(FY) from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

Marrying a Captive Woman

10 When you go to war against your enemies and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands(FZ) and you take captives,(GA) 11 if you notice among the captives a beautiful(GB) woman and are attracted to her,(GC) you may take her as your wife. 12 Bring her into your home and have her shave her head,(GD) trim her nails 13 and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month,(GE) then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. 14 If you are not pleased with her, let her go wherever she wishes. You must not sell her or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.(GF)

The Right of the Firstborn

15 If a man has two wives,(GG) and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love,(GH) 16 when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love.(GI) 17 He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double(GJ) share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father’s strength.(GK) The right of the firstborn belongs to him.(GL)

A Rebellious Son

18 If someone has a stubborn and rebellious(GM) son(GN) who does not obey his father and mother(GO) and will not listen to them when they discipline him, 19 his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. 20 They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” 21 Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death.(GP) You must purge the evil(GQ) from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.(GR)

Various Laws

22 If someone guilty of a capital offense(GS) is put to death and their body is exposed on a pole, 23 you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight.(GT) Be sure to bury(GU) it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse.(GV) You must not desecrate(GW) the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

22 If you see your fellow Israelite’s ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it but be sure to take it back to its owner.(GX) 2 If they do not live near you or if you do not know who owns it, take it home with you and keep it until they come looking for it. Then give it back. 3 Do the same if you find their donkey or cloak or anything else they have lost. Do not ignore it.

4 If you see your fellow Israelite’s donkey(GY) or ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it. Help the owner get it to its feet.(GZ)

5 A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this.

6 If you come across a bird’s nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young.(HA) 7 You may take the young, but be sure to let the mother go,(HB) so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.(HC)

8 When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof.(HD)

9 Do not plant two kinds of seed in your vineyard;(HE) if you do, not only the crops you plant but also the fruit of the vineyard will be defiled.[d]

10 Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.(HF)

11 Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.(HG)

12 Make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear.(HH)

Marriage Violations

13 If a man takes a wife and, after sleeping with her(HI), dislikes her 14 and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, “I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity,” 15 then the young woman’s father and mother shall bring to the town elders at the gate(HJ) proof that she was a virgin. 16 Her father will say to the elders, “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her. 17 Now he has slandered her and said, ‘I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.’ But here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity.” Then her parents shall display the cloth before the elders of the town, 18 and the elders(HK) shall take the man and punish him. 19 They shall fine him a hundred shekels[e] of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, because this man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. She shall continue to be his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.

20 If, however, the charge is true(HL) and no proof of the young woman’s virginity can be found, 21 she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done an outrageous thing(HM) in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from among you.

22 If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept(HN) with her and the woman must die.(HO) You must purge the evil from Israel.

23 If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, 24 you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the young woman because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you.(HP)

25 But if out in the country a man happens to meet a young woman pledged to be married and rapes her, only the man who has done this shall die. 26 Do nothing to the woman; she has committed no sin deserving death. This case is like that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor, 27 for the man found the young woman out in the country, and though the betrothed woman screamed,(HQ) there was no one to rescue her.

28 If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered,(HR) 29 he shall pay her father fifty shekels[f] of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

30 A man is not to marry his father’s wife; he must not dishonor his father’s bed.[g](HS)

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 16:6 Or down, at the time of day
  2. Deuteronomy 20:17 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
  3. Deuteronomy 20:19 Or down to use in the siege, for the fruit trees are for the benefit of people.
  4. Deuteronomy 22:9 Or be forfeited to the sanctuary
  5. Deuteronomy 22:19 That is, about 2 1/2 pounds or about 1.2 kilograms
  6. Deuteronomy 22:29 That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams
  7. Deuteronomy 22:30 In Hebrew texts this verse (22:30) is numbered 23:1.
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Deuteronomy 15
Deuteronomy 23
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