“When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house, if anyone should fall from it.

(A)“You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole yield be forfeited,[a] the crop that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard. 10 You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. 11 You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together.

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

Laws Concerning Sexual Immorality

13 “If any man takes a wife and (C)goes in to her and then hates her 14 and accuses her of misconduct and brings a bad name upon her, saying, ‘I took this woman, and when I came near her, I did not find in her evidence of virginity,’ 15 then the father of the young woman and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of her virginity to the elders of the city in the gate. 16 And the father of the young woman shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to marry, and he hates her; 17 and behold, he has accused her of misconduct, saying, “I did not find in your daughter evidence of virginity.” And yet this is the evidence of my daughter's virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloak before the elders of the city. 18 Then the elders of that city shall take the man and whip[b] him, 19 and they shall fine him a hundred shekels[c] of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought a bad name upon a virgin[d] of Israel. And she shall be his wife. (D)He may not divorce her all his days. 20 But if the thing is true, that evidence of virginity was not found in the young woman, 21 then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house, and (E)the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has (F)done an outrageous thing in Israel by whoring in her father's house. (G)So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

22 (H)“If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. (I)So you shall purge the evil from Israel.

23 “If there is a (J)betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her, 24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor's wife. (K)So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

25 “But if in the open country a man meets a young woman who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. 26 But you shall do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no offense punishable by death. For this case is like that of a man attacking and murdering his neighbor, 27 because he met her in the open country, and though the betrothed young woman cried for help there was no one to rescue her.

28 (L)“If a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found, 29 then the man who lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has violated her. He may not divorce her all his days.

30 [e] (M)“A man shall not take his father's wife, so that he does not (N)uncover his father's nakedness.[f]

Those Excluded from the Assembly

23 “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord.

(O)“No one born of a forbidden union may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord.

(P)“No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever, (Q)because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they (R)hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of (S)Mesopotamia, to curse you. But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the Lord your God turned (T)the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loved you. You (U)shall not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days forever.

“You shall not abhor an Edomite, for (V)he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because (W)you were a sojourner in his land.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 22:9 Hebrew become holy
  2. Deuteronomy 22:18 Or discipline
  3. Deuteronomy 22:19 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
  4. Deuteronomy 22:19 Or girl of marriageable age
  5. Deuteronomy 22:30 Ch 23:1 in Hebrew
  6. Deuteronomy 22:30 Hebrew uncover his father's skirt

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.(A)

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

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

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

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

Marriage Violations

13 If a man takes a wife and, after sleeping with her(F), 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(G) 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(H) shall take the man and punish him. 19 They shall fine him a hundred shekels[b] 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(I) 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(J) 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(K) with her and the woman must die.(L) 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.(M)

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,(N) 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,(O) 29 he shall pay her father fifty shekels[c] 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.[d](P)

Exclusion From the Assembly

23 [e]No one who has been emasculated(Q) by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the Lord.

No one born of a forbidden marriage[f] nor any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, not even in the tenth generation.

No Ammonite(R) or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, not even in the tenth generation.(S) For they did not come to meet you with bread and water(T) on your way when you came out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam(U) son of Beor from Pethor in Aram Naharaim[g](V) to pronounce a curse on you.(W) However, the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse(X) into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves(Y) you. Do not seek a treaty(Z) of friendship with them as long as you live.(AA)

Do not despise an Edomite,(AB) for the Edomites are related to you.(AC) Do not despise an Egyptian, because you resided as foreigners in their country.(AD)

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 22:9 Or be forfeited to the sanctuary
  2. Deuteronomy 22:19 That is, about 2 1/2 pounds or about 1.2 kilograms
  3. Deuteronomy 22:29 That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams
  4. Deuteronomy 22:30 In Hebrew texts this verse (22:30) is numbered 23:1.
  5. Deuteronomy 23:1 In Hebrew texts 23:1-25 is numbered 23:2-26.
  6. Deuteronomy 23:2 Or one of illegitimate birth
  7. Deuteronomy 23:4 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia