Deuteronomy 22

New International Version

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.^(A) ²If 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. ³Do the same if you find their donkey or cloak or anything else they have lost. Do not ignore it.

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

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

⁶If 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.^(D) ⁷You may take the young, but be sure to let the mother go,^(E) so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.^(F)

⁸When 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.^(G)

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

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

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

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

Marriage Violations

¹³If a man takes a wife and, after sleeping with her^(L), dislikes her ¹⁴and 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,” ¹⁵then the young woman’s father and mother shall bring to the town elders at the gate^(M) proof that she was a virgin. ¹⁶Her father will say to the elders, “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her. ¹⁷Now 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, ¹⁸and the elders^(N) shall take the man and punish him. ¹⁹They 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.

²⁰If, however, the charge is true^(O) and no proof of the young woman’s virginity can be found, ²¹she 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^(P) in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from among you.

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

²³If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, ²⁴you 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.^(S)

²⁵But 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. ²⁶Do nothing to the woman; she has committed no sin deserving death. This case is like that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor, ²⁷for the man found the young woman out in the country, and though the betrothed woman screamed,^(T) there was no one to rescue her.

²⁸If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered,^(U) ²⁹he 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.

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

Footnotes

Deuteronomy 22:9 Or be forfeited to the sanctuary
Deuteronomy 22:19 That is, about 2 1/2 pounds or about 1.2 kilograms
Deuteronomy 22:29 That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams
Deuteronomy 22:30 In Hebrew texts this verse (22:30) is numbered 23:1.

Deuteronomy 22

Good News Translation

22 ^(A)“If you see an Israelite's cow or sheep running loose, do not ignore it; take it back. ²But if its owner lives a long way off or if you don't know who owns it, then take it home with you. When its owner comes looking for it, give it to him. ³Do the same thing if you find a donkey, a piece of clothing, or anything else that an Israelite may have lost.

⁴“If an Israelite's donkey or cow has fallen down, don't ignore it; help him get the animal to its feet again.

⁵“Women are not to wear men's clothing, and men are not to wear women's clothing; the Lord your God hates people who do such things.

⁶“If you happen to find a bird's nest in a tree or on the ground with the mother bird sitting either on the eggs or with her young, you are not to take the mother bird. ⁷You may take the young birds, but you must let the mother bird go, so that you will live a long and prosperous life.

⁸“When you build a new house, be sure to put a railing around the edge of the roof. Then you will not be responsible if someone falls off and is killed.

⁹^(B)“Do not plant any crop in the same field with your grapevines; if you do, you are forbidden to use either the grapes or the produce of the other crop.

¹⁰“Do not hitch an ox and a donkey together for plowing.

¹¹“Do not wear cloth made by weaving wool and linen together.

¹²^(C)“Sew tassels on the four corners of your clothes.

Laws concerning Sexual Purity

¹³“Suppose a man marries a young woman and later he decides he doesn't want her. ¹⁴So he makes up false charges against her, accusing her of not being a virgin when they got married.

¹⁵“If this happens, the young woman's parents are to take the blood-stained wedding sheet that proves she was a virgin, and they are to show it in court to the town leaders. ¹⁶Her father will say to them, ‘I gave my daughter to this man in marriage, and now he doesn't want her. ¹⁷He has made false charges against her, saying that she was not a virgin when he married her. But here is the proof that my daughter was a virgin; look at the bloodstains on the wedding sheet!’ ¹⁸Then the town leaders are to take the husband and beat him. ¹⁹They are also to fine him a hundred pieces of silver and give the money to the young woman's father, because the man has brought disgrace on an Israelite woman. Moreover, she will continue to be his wife, and he can never divorce her as long as he lives.

²⁰“But if the charge is true and there is no proof that she was a virgin, ²¹then they are to take her out to the entrance of her father's house, where the men of her city are to stone her to death. She has done a shameful thing among our people by having intercourse before she was married, while she was still living in her father's house. In this way you will get rid of this evil.

²²“If a man is caught having intercourse with another man's wife, both of them are to be put to death. In this way you will get rid of this evil.

²³“Suppose a man is caught in a town having intercourse with a young woman who is engaged to someone else. ²⁴You are to take them outside the town and stone them to death. She is to die because she did not cry out for help, although she was in a town, where she could have been heard. And the man is to die because he had intercourse with someone who was engaged. In this way you will get rid of this evil.

²⁵“Suppose a man out in the countryside rapes a young woman who is engaged to someone else. Then only the man is to be put to death; ²⁶nothing is to be done to the woman, because she has not committed a sin worthy of death. This case is the same as when one man attacks another man and murders him. ²⁷The man raped the engaged woman in the countryside, and although she cried for help, there was no one to help her.

²⁸^(D)“Suppose a man is caught raping a young woman who is not engaged. ²⁹He is to pay her father the bride price of fifty pieces of silver, and she is to become his wife, because he forced her to have intercourse with him. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

³⁰^(E)“No man is to disgrace his father by having intercourse with any of his father's wives.

Deuteronomy 22

New King James Version

Various Laws of Morality

22 “You ^(A)shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray, and ^[a]hide yourself from them; you shall certainly bring them back to your brother. ²And if your brother is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it to your own house, and it shall remain with you until your brother seeks it; then you shall restore it to him. ³You shall do the same with his donkey, and so shall you do with his garment; with any lost thing of your brother’s, which he has lost and you have found, you shall do likewise; you ^[b]must not hide yourself.

⁴^(B)“You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and hide yourself from them; you shall surely help him lift them up again.

⁵“A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do so are ^[c]an abomination to the Lord your God.

⁶“If a bird’s nest happens to be before you along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, with the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, ^(C)you shall not take the mother with the young; ⁷you shall surely let the mother go, and take the young for yourself, ^(D)that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.

⁸“When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring guilt of bloodshed on your household if anyone falls from it.

⁹^(E)“You shall not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed, lest the yield of the seed which you have sown and the fruit of your vineyard be defiled.

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

¹¹^(G)“You shall not wear a garment of different sorts, such as wool and linen mixed together.

¹²“You shall make ^(H)tassels on the four corners of the clothing with which you cover yourself.

Laws of Sexual Morality

¹³“If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and ^(I)detests her, ¹⁴and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings a bad name on her, and says, ‘I took this woman, and when I came to her I found she was not a virgin,’ ¹⁵then the father and mother of the young woman shall take and bring out the evidence of the young woman’s virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. ¹⁶And the young woman’s father shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as wife, and he detests her. ¹⁷Now he has charged her with shameful conduct, saying, “I found your daughter was not a virgin,” and yet these are the evidences of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. ¹⁸Then the elders of that city shall take that man and punish him; ¹⁹and they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought a bad name on a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife; he cannot divorce her all his days.

²⁰“But if the thing is true, and evidences of virginity are not found for the young woman, ²¹then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with ^(J)stones, because she has ^(K)done a disgraceful thing in Israel, to play the harlot in her father’s house. ^(L)So you shall ^[d]put away the evil from among you.

²²^(M)“If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel.

²³“If a young woman who is a virgin is ^(N)betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, ²⁴then 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 out in the city, and the man because he ^(O)humbled his neighbor’s wife; ^(P)so you shall put away the evil from among you.

²⁵“But if a man finds a betrothed young woman in the countryside, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. ²⁶But you shall do nothing to the young woman; there is in the young woman no sin deserving of death, for just as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him, even so is this matter. ²⁷For he found her in the countryside, and the betrothed young woman cried out, but there was no one to save her.

²⁸^(Q)“If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out, ²⁹then the man who lay with her shall give to the young woman’s father ^(R)fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife ^(S)because he has humbled her; he shall not be permitted to divorce her all his days.

³⁰^(T)“A man shall not take his father’s wife, nor ^(U)uncover his father’s bed.

Footnotes

Deuteronomy 22:1 ignore them
Deuteronomy 22:3 may not avoid responsibility
Deuteronomy 22:5 detestable
Deuteronomy 22:21 purge the evil person

New International Version (NIV)