Old/New Testament
Other Laws
22 “If you see that your neighbor’s ox or sheep is loose, you must not ignore it. Be sure to take it back to its owner. 2 If the owner does not live near you or if you don’t know who it belongs to, take the ox or sheep to your house. Keep it there until the owner comes looking for it; then give it back. 3 You must do the same thing when you find anything that your neighbor might have lost. Don’t try selling it to your neighbor—you must give it back.
4 “If your neighbor’s donkey or ox has fallen down on the road, you must not ignore it. You must help your neighbor lift it up again.
5 “A woman must not wear men’s clothes, and a man must not wear women’s clothes. That is disgusting to the Lord your God.
6 “You might be walking along a path and find a bird’s nest in a tree or on the ground. If the mother bird is sitting with her baby birds or on the eggs, you must not take the mother bird with the babies. 7 You may take the babies for yourself, but you must let the mother go. If you obey these laws, things will go well for you, and you will live a long time.
8 “When you build a new house, you must build a wall around your roof.[a] Then you will not be guilty for the death of a person who falls from the house.
Things That Must Not Be Put Together
9 “You must not plant seeds of grain in the same fields as your grapevines. Why? Because then they become useless[b]—both the grapes and the grain produced by the seeds you planted.
10 “You must not plow with an ox and a donkey together.
11 “You must not wear clothes made by weaving together wool and linen.
12 “Tie several pieces of thread together. Then put these tassels[c] on the four corners of the robes you wear.
Marriage Laws
13 “A man might marry a woman and have sexual relations with her. Then he might decide that he does not like her. 14 He might accuse her of doing wrong and say, ‘I married this woman, but when we had sexual relations, I found she was not a virgin.’ By saying this against her, people might think bad things about her. 15 If this happens, the girl’s father and mother must bring the proof that the girl was a virgin to the town elders at the meeting place of the town. 16 The girl’s father must say to the leaders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife, but now he does not want her. 17 This man accused my daughter of doing wrong and said, “I did not find the proof that your daughter is a virgin.” But here is the proof that my daughter was a virgin.’ Then they should show the cloth[d] to the town leaders. 18 Then the leaders of that town must take that man and punish him. 19 They must fine him 40 ounces of silver.[e] They will give the money to the girl’s father because her husband brought shame to an Israelite girl. And the girl will continue to be the man’s wife. He cannot divorce her for the rest of his life.
20 “But what the husband said about his wife might be true. The wife’s parents might not have the proof that she was a virgin. If this happens, 21 the town leaders must bring the girl to the door of her father’s house. Then the men of the town must kill her with stones, because she has done a shameful thing in Israel. She has acted like a prostitute in her father’s house. You must remove this evil from your group.
Sexual Sins
22 “If a man is found having sexual relations with another man’s wife, both of them must die—the woman and the man who had sexual relations with her. You must remove this evil from Israel.
23 “A man might meet a virgin girl engaged to another man. He might have sexual relations with her. If this happens in the city, 24 you must bring them both out to the public place near the gate of that city, and you must kill them with stones. You must kill the man, because he used another man’s wife for sexual sin. And you must kill the girl, because she was in the city but did not call for help. You must remove this evil from your people.
25 “But if a man finds an engaged girl out in the field and forces her to have sexual relations with him, only the man must die. 26 You must do nothing to the girl. She did nothing that deserves the punishment of death. This is like someone attacking their neighbor and killing them. 27 The man found the engaged girl out in the field and attacked her. Maybe she called for help, but there was no one to help her.
28 “A man might find a virgin girl who is not engaged and force her to have sexual relations with him. If other people see this happen, 29 he must pay the girl’s father 20 ounces of silver.[f] And the girl will become the man’s wife, because he used her for sexual sin. He cannot divorce her all his life.
30 “A man must not bring shame to his father by marrying his father’s wife.
People Who Cannot Join in Worship
23 “A man with a crushed testicle or part of his sex organ cut off may not join with the men of Israel to worship the Lord. 2 If a man’s parents were not legally married, that man may not join with the men of Israel to worship the Lord. And none of his descendants to the tenth generation—may join in that group.
3 “An Ammonite or Moabite may not join with the men of Israel when they gather to worship the Lord. And none of their descendants, to the tenth generation, may join in the worship of the Lord. 4 The Ammonites and Moabites refused to give you bread and water on your trip at the time you came from Egypt. They also tried to hire Balaam, the son of Beor from the Mesopotamian city of Pethor, to curse you. 5 But the Lord your God refused to do what Balaam asked. Instead, the Lord changed the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you. 6 You must never try to make peace with the Ammonites or Moabites. As long as you live, don’t be friendly to them.
People the Israelites Must Accept
7 “You must not hate Edomites, because they are your relatives. You must not hate Egyptians, because you were a stranger in their land. 8 The children of the third generation born to the Edomites and Egyptians may join with the people of Israel to worship the Lord.
Keeping the Army Camp Clean
9 “When your army goes to fight against your enemies, stay away from everything that would make you unclean. 10 If there is any man who is unclean because he had a flow of semen during the night, he must go out of the camp. He must stay away from the camp. 11 Then, when evening comes, the man must bathe himself in water. And when the sun goes down, he may come into the camp again.
12 “You also must have a place outside the camp where people can go to relieve themselves. 13 Among your weapons, you must also carry a stick to dig with. Then, when you relieve yourself, you must dig a hole and cover it up. 14 This is because the Lord your God is there with you in your camp to save you and to help you defeat your enemies. So the camp must be holy. Then he will not see something disgusting and leave you.
Other Laws
15 “If slaves run away and come to you, don’t force them to go back to their masters. 16 Runaway slaves may live with you wherever they like in whatever city they choose. You must not trouble them.
17 “An Israelite man or woman must never become a temple prostitute. 18 The money earned by a prostitute, either a male or female, must not be brought to the special house of the Lord your God. That money cannot be used to pay for a gift that was promised to the Lord your God, because that kind of sin is disgusting to him.
19 “When you loan something to another Israelite, you must not charge interest. Don’t charge interest on money, on food or on anything that may earn interest. 20 You may charge interest to a foreigner. But you must not charge interest to another Israelite. If you follow these rules, the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do in the land where you are going to live.
21 “When you make a promise to the Lord your God, don’t be slow to pay everything you promised. The Lord your God will demand that you pay it. You will sin if you don’t pay what you promised. 22 If you don’t make a promise, you are not sinning. 23 But you must do what you say you will do. If you choose to make a promise to the Lord your God, you must do what you promised.
24 “When you go through another person’s vineyard, you may eat as many grapes as you want. But you cannot put any of the grapes in your basket. 25 When you go through another person’s field of grain, you may eat all the grain you can pick with your hands. But you cannot use a sickle to cut that person’s grain and take it with you.
24 “A man might marry a woman, and then find some secret thing about her that he does not like. If that man is not pleased with her, he must write the divorce papers and give them to her. Then he must send her from his house. 2 When she has left his house, she may go and become another man’s wife. 3-4 But suppose the new husband also does not like her and sends her away. If that man divorces her, the first husband may not take her again to be his wife. Or if the new husband dies, her first husband may not take her again to be his wife. She has become unclean to him. If he married her again, he would be doing something the Lord hates. You must not sin like this in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
5 “When a man is newly married, he must not be sent into the army. And he must not be given any other special work. For one year he must be free to stay home and make his new wife happy.
6 “When you lend someone something, you must not take as security[g] any part of the stones used to grind flour. That would be the same as taking away their food.
7 “Someone might kidnap another Israelite—one of their own people. And that kidnapper might sell that person as a slave. If that happens, that kidnapper must be killed. You must remove this evil from your group.
8 “When you have a very bad skin disease, be very careful to follow everything the Levite priests teach you. You must follow carefully what I told the priests to do. 9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam[h] on your trip out of Egypt.
10 “When you give someone any kind of loan, you must not go into their house to get security. 11 You must stand outside. Then the person who you gave the loan to will bring out the security to you. 12 If he is a poor man, then he might give the clothes that keep him warm. You must not keep that security overnight. 13 You must give his security back to him every evening. Then he will have clothes to sleep in. He will bless you, and the Lord your God will accept this as living right and doing good.
14 “You must not cheat a hired servant who is poor and needy. It does not matter if he is an Israelite or if he is a foreigner living in one of your cities. 15 Give him his pay every day before sunset, because he is poor and depends on the money. If you don’t pay him, he will complain against you to the Lord, and you will be guilty of sin.
16 “Parents must not be put to death for something their children did. And children must not be put to death for something their parents did. People should be put to death only for a bad thing that they themselves did.
17 “You must make sure that foreigners and orphans are treated fairly. And you must never take clothes from a widow as security. 18 Remember, you were poor slaves in Egypt. And the Lord your God took you from that place and set you free. That is why I tell you to do these things for the poor.
19 “You might be gathering your harvest in the field, and you might forget and leave some grain there. You must not go back to get it. It will be for the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows. If you leave some grain for them, the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. 20 When you beat your olive trees, you must not go back to check the branches. The olives you leave will be for the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows. 21 When you gather the grapes from your vineyard, you must not go back to gather the grapes you left. They will be for the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows. 22 Remember you were poor slaves in Egypt. That is why I tell you to do these things for the poor.
The Jewish Leaders Plan to Kill Jesus(A)
14 It was now only two days before the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The leading priests and teachers of the law were trying to find a way to arrest Jesus without the people seeing it. Then they could kill him. 2 They said, “But we cannot arrest Jesus during the festival. We don’t want the people to be angry and cause a riot.”
A Woman Does Something Special(B)
3 Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper. While he was eating there, a woman came to him. She had an alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume made of pure nard. She opened the jar and poured the perfume on Jesus’ head.
4 Some of the followers there saw this. They were upset and complained to each other. They said, “Why waste that perfume? 5 It was worth a full year’s pay.[a] It could have been sold and the money given to those who are poor.” And they told the woman what a bad thing she had done.
6 Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why are you giving her such trouble? She did a very good thing for me. 7 You will always have the poor with you,[b] and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 This woman did the only thing she could do for me. She poured perfume on my body before I die to prepare it for burial. 9 The Good News will be told to people all over the world. And I can assure you that everywhere the Good News is told, the story of what this woman did will also be told, and people will remember her.”
Judas Agrees to Help Jesus’ Enemies(C)
10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve apostles, went to talk to the leading priests about handing Jesus over to them. 11 They were very happy about this, and they promised to pay him. So he waited for the best time to hand Jesus over to them.
The Passover Meal(D)
12 It was now the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread—the day the lambs were killed for the Passover. Jesus’ followers came to him and said, “We will go and prepare everything for you to eat the Passover meal. Where do you want us to have the meal?”
13 Jesus sent two of his followers into the city. He said to them, “Go into the city. You will see a man carrying a jar of water. He will come to you. Follow him. 14 He will go into a house. Tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks that you show us the room where he and his followers can eat the Passover meal.’ 15 The owner will show you a large room upstairs that is ready for us. Prepare the meal for us there.”
16 So the followers left and went into the city. Everything happened the way Jesus said. So the followers prepared the Passover meal.
17 In the evening Jesus went to that house with the twelve apostles. 18 While they were all at the table eating, he said, “Believe me when I say that one of you will hand me over to my enemies—one of you eating with me now.”
19 The followers were very sad to hear this. Each one said to Jesus, “Surely I am not the one!”
20 Jesus answered, “It is one of you twelve—the one who is dipping his bread in the same bowl with me. 21 The Son of Man will suffer what the Scriptures say will happen to him. But it will be very bad for the one who hands over the Son of Man to be killed. It would be better for him if he had never been born.”
The Lord’s Supper(E)
22 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread and thanked God for it. He broke off some pieces, gave them to his followers and said, “Take and eat this bread. It is my body.”
23 Then he took a cup of wine, thanked God for it, and gave it to them. They all drank from the cup. 24 Then he said, “This wine is my blood, which will be poured out for many to begin the new agreement from God to his people. 25 I want you to know, I will not drink this wine again until that day when I drink it in God’s kingdom and the wine is new.”
26 They all sang a song and then went out to the Mount of Olives.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International