Deuteronomy 13-22

American Standard Version

13 If there arise in the midst of thee a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give thee a sign or a wonder, ² and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; ³ thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or unto that dreamer of dreams: for Jehovah your God proveth you, to know whether ye love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ Ye shall walk after Jehovah your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. ⁵ And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he hath spoken ^[a]rebellion against Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage, to draw thee aside out of the way which Jehovah thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee.

⁶ If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, that is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; ⁷ of the gods of the peoples that are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; ⁸ thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: ⁹ but thou shalt surely kill him; thy hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. ¹⁰ And thou shalt stone him to death with stones, because he hath sought to draw thee away from Jehovah thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ¹¹ And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is in the midst of thee.

¹² If thou shalt hear tell ^[b]concerning one of thy cities, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to dwell there, saying, ¹³ Certain ^[c]base fellows are gone out from the midst of thee, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known; ¹⁴ then shalt thou inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in the midst of thee, ¹⁵ thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, ^[d]destroying it utterly, and all that is therein and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. ¹⁶ And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof ^[e]every whit, unto Jehovah thy God: and it shall be a ^[f]heap for ever; it shall not be built again. ¹⁷ And there shall cleave nought of the devoted thing to thy hand; that Jehovah may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers; ¹⁸ when thou shalt hearken to the voice of Jehovah thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah thy God.

14 Ye are the children of Jehovah your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. ² For thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God, and Jehovah hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, ^[g]above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth.

³ Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. ⁴ These are the beasts which ye may eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat, ⁵ the hart, and the gazelle, and the roebuck, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the antelope, and the chamois. ⁶ And every beast that parteth the hoof, and hath the hoof cloven in two, and ^[h]cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that may ye eat. ⁷ Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that have the hoof cloven: the camel, and the hare, and the coney; because they chew the cud but part not the hoof, they are unclean unto you. ⁸ And the swine, because he parteth the hoof but cheweth not the cud, he is unclean unto you: of their flesh ye shall not eat, and their carcasses ye shall not touch.

⁹ These ye may eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales may ye eat; ¹⁰ and whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye shall not eat; it is unclean unto you.

¹¹ Of all clean birds ye may eat. ¹² But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the gier-eagle, and the ospray, ¹³ and the glede, and the falcon, and the kite after its kind, ¹⁴ and every raven after its kind, ¹⁵ and the ostrich, and the night-hawk, and the sea-mew, and the hawk after its kind, ¹⁶ the little owl, and the great owl, and the horned owl, ¹⁷ and the pelican, and the vulture, and the cormorant, ¹⁸ and the stork, and the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat. ¹⁹ And all winged creeping things are unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten. ²⁰ Of all clean birds ye may eat.

²¹ Ye shall not eat of anything that dieth of itself: thou mayest give it unto the sojourner that is within thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto a foreigner: for thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.

²² Thou shalt surely tithe all the increase of thy seed, that which cometh forth from the field year by year. ²³ And thou shalt eat before Jehovah thy God, in the place which he shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, the tithe of thy grain, of thy new wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herd and of thy flock; that thou mayest learn to fear Jehovah thy God always. ²⁴ And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it, because the place is too far from thee, which Jehovah thy God shall choose, to set his name there, when Jehovah thy God shall bless thee; ²⁵ then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thy hand, and shalt go unto the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose: ²⁶ and thou shalt bestow the money for whatsoever thy soul desireth, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul asketh of thee; and thou shalt eat there before Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou and thy household. ²⁷ And the Levite that is within thy gates, thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no portion nor inheritance with thee.

²⁸ At the end of every three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase in the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: ²⁹ and the Levite, because he hath no portion nor inheritance with thee, and the sojourner, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that Jehovah thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hand which thou doest.

15 At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. ² And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release that which he hath lent unto his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother; because Jehovah’s release hath been proclaimed. ³ Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it: but whatsoever of thine is with thy brother thy hand shall ^[i]release. ⁴ Howbeit there shall be no poor with thee (for Jehovah will surely bless thee in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it), ⁵ if only thou diligently hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to observe to do all this commandment which I command thee this day. ⁶ For Jehovah thy God will bless thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over thee.

⁷ If there be with thee a poor man, one of thy brethren, within any of thy gates in thy land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy poor brother; ⁸ but thou shalt surely open thy hand unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wanteth. ⁹ Beware that there be not a base thought in thy heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou give him nought; and he cry unto Jehovah against thee, and it be sin unto thee. ¹⁰ Thou shalt surely give him, and thy heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him; because that for this thing Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all thy work, and in all that thou puttest thy hand unto. ¹¹ For the poor will never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt surely open thy hand unto thy brother, to thy needy, and to thy poor, in thy land.

¹² If thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. ¹³ And when thou lettest him go free from thee, thou shalt not let him go empty: ¹⁴ thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy threshing-floor, and out of thy winepress; as Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. ¹⁵ And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to-day. ¹⁶ And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go out from thee; because he loveth thee and thy house, because he is well with thee; ¹⁷ then thou shalt take an awl, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy ^[j]servant for ever. And also unto thy ^[k]maid-servant thou shalt do likewise. ¹⁸ It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou lettest him go free from thee; for to the double of the hire of a hireling hath he served thee six years: and Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all that thou doest.

¹⁹ All the firstling males that are born of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto Jehovah thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy herd, nor shear the firstling of thy flock. ²⁰ Thou shalt eat it before Jehovah thy God year by year in the place which Jehovah shall choose, thou and thy household. ²¹ And if it have any blemish, as if it be lame or blind, any ill blemish whatsoever, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto Jehovah thy God. ²² Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean shall eat it alike, as the gazelle, and as the hart. ²³ Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it out upon the ground as water.

16 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto Jehovah thy God; for in the month of Abib Jehovah thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. ² And thou shalt sacrifice the passover unto Jehovah thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which Jehovah shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there. ³ Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life. ⁴ And there shall be no leaven seen with thee in all thy borders seven days; neither shall any of the flesh, which thou sacrificest the first day at even, remain all night until the morning. ⁵ Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee; ⁶ but at the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt. ⁷ And thou shalt ^[l]roast and eat it in the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents. ⁸ Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread; and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to Jehovah thy God; thou shalt do no work therein.

⁹ Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: from the time thou beginnest to put the sickle to the standing grain shalt thou begin to number seven weeks. ¹⁰ And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto Jehovah thy God ^[m]with a tribute of a freewill-offering of thy hand, which thou shalt give, according as Jehovah thy God blesseth thee: ¹¹ and thou shalt rejoice before Jehovah thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the sojourner, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are in the midst of thee, in the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there. ¹² And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.

¹³ Thou shalt keep the feast of ^[n]tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in from thy threshing-floor and from thy winepress: ¹⁴ and thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite, and the sojourner, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates. ¹⁵ Seven days shalt thou keep a feast unto Jehovah thy God in the place which Jehovah shall choose; because Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the work of thy hands, and thou shalt be altogether joyful. ¹⁶ Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before Jehovah thy God in the place which he shall choose: in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles; and they shall not appear before Jehovah empty: ¹⁷ every man ^[o]shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of Jehovah thy God which he hath given thee.

¹⁸ Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, according to thy tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. ¹⁹ Thou shalt not wrest justice: thou shalt not respect persons; neither shalt thou take a bribe; for a bribe doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the ^[p]words of the righteous. ^20 [q]That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee.

²¹ Thou shalt not plant thee an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of Jehovah thy God, which thou shalt make thee. ²² Neither shalt thou set thee up a ^[r]pillar; which Jehovah thy God hateth.

17 Thou shalt not sacrifice unto Jehovah thy God an ox, or a sheep, wherein is a blemish, or anything evil; for that is an abomination unto Jehovah thy God.

² If there be found in the midst of thee, within any of thy gates which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that doeth that which is evil in the sight of Jehovah thy God, in transgressing his covenant, ³ and hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded, ⁴ and it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it; then shalt thou inquire diligently; and, behold, if it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel, ⁵ then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, who hath done this evil thing, unto thy gates, even the man or the woman; and thou shalt stone them to death with stones. ⁶ At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is to die be put to death; at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. ⁷ The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So thou shalt put away the evil from the midst of thee.

⁸ If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates; then shalt thou arise, and get thee up unto the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose; ⁹ and thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days: and thou shalt inquire; and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment. ¹⁰ And thou shalt do according to the tenor of the sentence which they shall show thee from that place which Jehovah shall choose; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they shall teach thee: ¹¹ according to the tenor of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do; thou shalt not turn aside from the sentence which they shall show thee, to the right hand, nor to the left. ¹² And the man that doeth presumptuously, in not hearkening unto the priest that standeth to minister there before Jehovah thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel. ¹³ And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.

¹⁴ When thou art come unto the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me; ¹⁵ thou shalt surely set him king over thee, whom Jehovah thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee; thou mayest not put a foreigner over thee, who is not thy brother. ¹⁶ Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses; forasmuch as Jehovah hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. ¹⁷ Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

¹⁸ And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests the Levites: ¹⁹ and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear Jehovah his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them; ²⁰ that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel.

18 The priests the Levites, ^[s]even all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of Jehovah made by fire, and his inheritance. ² And they shall have no inheritance among their brethren: Jehovah is their inheritance, as he hath spoken unto them. ³ And this shall be the priests’ due from the people, from them that offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep, that they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw. ⁴ The first-fruits of thy grain, of thy new wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him. ⁵ For Jehovah thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand to minister in the name of Jehovah, him and his sons for ever.

⁶ And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of all Israel, where he sojourneth, and come with all the desire of his soul unto the place which Jehovah shall choose; ⁷ then he shall minister in the name of Jehovah his God, as all his brethren the Levites do, who stand there before Jehovah. ⁸ They shall have like portions to eat, besides that which cometh of the sale of his patrimony.

⁹ When thou art come into the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. ¹⁰ There shall not be found with thee any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one that useth divination, one that practiseth augury, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, ¹¹ or a charmer, or a consulter with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer. ¹² For whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto Jehovah: and because of these abominations Jehovah thy God doth drive them out from before thee. ¹³ Thou shalt be perfect with Jehovah thy God. ¹⁴ For these nations, that thou shalt dispossess, hearken unto them that practise augury, and unto diviners; but as for thee, Jehovah thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.

¹⁵ Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; ¹⁶ according to all that thou desiredst of Jehovah thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Jehovah my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. ¹⁷ And Jehovah said unto me, They have well said that which they have spoken. ¹⁸ I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. ¹⁹ And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

²⁰ But the prophet, that shall speak a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. ²¹ And if thou say in thy heart, How shall we know the word which Jehovah hath not spoken? ²² when a prophet speaketh in the name of Jehovah, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which Jehovah hath not spoken: the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously, thou shalt not be afraid of him.

19 When Jehovah thy God shall cut off the nations, whose land Jehovah thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses; ² thou shalt set apart three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess it. ³ Thou shalt prepare thee the way, and divide the borders of thy land, which Jehovah thy God causeth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every manslayer may flee thither.

⁴ And this is the case of the manslayer, that shall flee thither and live: whoso killeth his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in time past; ⁵ as when a man goeth into the forest with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the ^[t]head slippeth from ^[u]the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbor, so that he dieth; he shall flee unto one of these cities and live: ⁶ lest the avenger of blood pursue the manslayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and smite him mortally; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past. ⁷ Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt set apart three cities for thee. ⁸ And if Jehovah thy God enlarge thy border, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers; ⁹ if thou shalt keep all this commandment to do it, which I command thee this day, to love Jehovah thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, besides these three: ¹⁰ that ^[v]innocent blood be not shed in the midst of thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.

¹¹ But if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally so that he dieth, and he flee into one of these cities; ¹² then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. ¹³ Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away ^[w]the innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.

¹⁴ Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor’s landmark, which they of old time have set, in thine inheritance which thou shalt inherit, in the land that Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess it.

¹⁵ One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established. ¹⁶ If an unrighteous witness rise up against any man to testify against him of ^[x]wrong-doing, ¹⁷ then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before Jehovah, before the priests and the judges that shall be in those days; ¹⁸ and the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and have testified falsely against his brother; ¹⁹ then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to do unto his brother: so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee. ²⁰ And those that remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil in the midst of thee. ²¹ And thine eyes shall not pity; life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

20 When thou goest forth to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, thou shalt not be afraid of them; for Jehovah thy God is with thee, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. ² And it shall be, when ye draw nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, ³ and shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye draw nigh this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint; fear not, nor tremble, neither be ye affrighted at them; ⁴ for Jehovah your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you. ⁵ And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it. ⁶ And what man is there that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not used the fruit thereof? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man use the fruit thereof. ⁷ And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her. ⁸ And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart melt as his heart. ⁹ And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall appoint captains of hosts at the head of the people.

¹⁰ When thou drawest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. ¹¹ And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that are found therein shall become ^[y]tributary unto thee, and shall serve thee. ¹² And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: ¹³ and when Jehovah thy God delivereth it into thy hand, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: ¹⁴ but the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take for a prey unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which Jehovah thy God hath given thee. ¹⁵ Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations. ¹⁶ But of the cities of these peoples, that Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth; ¹⁷ but thou shalt ^[z]utterly destroy them: the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; as Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee; ¹⁸ that they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so would ye sin against Jehovah your God.

¹⁹ When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by wielding an axe against them; for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down; for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged of thee? ²⁰ Only the trees of which thou knowest that they are not trees for food, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it fall.

21 If one be found slain in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath smitten him; ² then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: ³ and it shall be, that the city which is nearest unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; ⁴ and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. ⁵ And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them Jehovah thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be. ⁶ And all the elders of that city, who are nearest unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley; ⁷ and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. ⁸ Forgive, O Jehovah, thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and suffer not innocent blood to remain in the midst of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them. ⁹ So shalt thou put away the innocent blood from the midst of thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah.

¹⁰ When thou goest forth to battle against thine enemies, and Jehovah thy God delivereth them into thy hands, and thou carriest them away captive, ¹¹ and seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and thou hast a desire unto her, and wouldest take her to thee to wife; ¹² then thou shalt bring her home to thy house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; ¹³ and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thy house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife. ¹⁴ And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not deal with her ^[aa]as a slave, because thou hast humbled her.

¹⁵ If a man have two wives, the one beloved, and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the first-born son be hers that was hated; ¹⁶ then it shall be, in the day that he causeth his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved the first-born ^[ab]before the son of the hated, who is the first-born: ¹⁷ but he shall acknowledge the first-born, the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath; for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the first-born is his.

¹⁸ If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, that will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and, though they chasten him, will not hearken unto them; ¹⁹ then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; ²⁰ and they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. ²¹ And all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones: so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

²² And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree; ²³ his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt surely bury him the same day; for he that is hanged is ^[ac]accursed of God; that thou defile not thy land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

22 Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely bring them again unto thy brother. ² And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it home to thy house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him. ³ And so shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his garment; and so shalt thou do with every lost thing of thy brother’s, which he hath lost, and thou hast found: thou mayest not hide thyself. ⁴ Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ass or his ox fallen down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.

⁵ A woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto Jehovah thy God.

⁶ If a bird’s nest chance to be before thee in the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young: ⁷ thou shalt surely let the dam go, but the young thou mayest take unto thyself; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days.

⁸ When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thy house, if any man fall from thence.

⁹ Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the ^[ad]whole fruit be ^[ae]forfeited, the seed which thou hast sown, and the increase of the vineyard. ¹⁰ Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. ¹¹ Thou shalt not wear a mingled stuff, wool and linen together.

¹² Thou shalt make thee ^[af]fringes upon the four borders of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.

¹³ If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her, ¹⁴ and lay shameful things to her charge, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came nigh to her, I found not in her the tokens of virginity; ¹⁵ then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel’s virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate; ¹⁶ and the damsel’s father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her; ¹⁷ and, lo, he hath laid shameful things to her charge, saying, I found not in thy daughter the tokens of virginity; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity. And they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city. ¹⁸ And the elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him; ¹⁹ and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days. ²⁰ But if this thing be true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the damsel; ²¹ then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the harlot in her father’s house: so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee.

²² If a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die, the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away the evil from Israel.

²³ If there be a damsel that is a virgin betrothed unto a husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; ²⁴ then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them to death with stones; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbor’s wife: so thou shalt put away the evil from the midst of thee.

²⁵ But if the man find the damsel that is betrothed in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her; then the man only that lay with her shall die: ²⁶ but unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbor, and slayeth him, even so is this matter; ²⁷ for he found her in the field, the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.

²⁸ If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, that is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; ²⁹ then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he hath humbled her; he may not put her away all his days.

³⁰ A man shall not take his father’s wife, and shall not uncover his father’s skirt.