Miscellaneous Laws

²² “When someone is convicted of a crime punishable by death and is executed and you hang him on a tree, ²³ his corpse must not remain all night upon the tree; you must bury him that same day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the Lord your God is giving you for possession.^(A)

22 “You shall not watch your neighbor’s ox or sheep straying away and ignore them; you shall take them back to their owner.^{(B) 2} If the owner does not reside near you or you do not know who the owner is, you shall bring it to your own house, and it shall remain with you until the owner claims it; then you shall return it. ³ You shall do the same with a neighbor’s donkey; you shall do the same with a neighbor’s garment; and you shall do the same with anything else that your neighbor loses and you find. You may not withhold your help.

⁴ “You shall not see your neighbor’s donkey or ox fallen on the road and ignore it; you shall help to lift it up.^(C)

⁵ “A woman shall not wear a man’s apparel, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for whoever does such things is abhorrent to the Lord your God.

⁶ “If you come on a bird’s nest, in any tree or on the ground, with fledglings or eggs, with the mother sitting on the fledglings or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young.^{(D) 7} Let the mother go, taking only the young for yourself, in order that it may go well with you and you may live long.^(E)

⁸ “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof; otherwise you might have bloodguilt on your house, if anyone should fall from it.

The Council at Jerusalem

15 Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”^{(A) 2} And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders.^{(B) 3} So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported the conversion of the gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers and sisters.^{(C) 4} When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.^{(D) 5} But some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, “It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses.”

⁶ The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. ⁷ After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “My brothers,^[a] you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers.^{(E) 8} And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us,^{(F) 9} and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us.^{(G) 10} Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?^{(H) 11} On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”^(I)

¹² The whole assembly kept silence and listened to Barnabas and Paul as they told of all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the gentiles.^{(J) 13} After they finished speaking, James replied, “My brothers,^[b] listen to me.^{(K) 14} Simeon has related how God first looked favorably on the gentiles, to take from among them a people for his name. ¹⁵ This agrees with the words of the prophets, as it is written,

¹⁹ “Therefore I have reached the decision that we should not trouble those gentiles who are turning to God, ²⁰ but we should write to them to abstain only from things polluted by idols and from sexual immorality and from whatever has been strangled^[d] and from blood.^{(M) 21} For in every city, for generations past, Moses has had those who proclaim him, for he has been read aloud every Sabbath in the synagogues.”^(N)

Miscellaneous Laws

⁵ “When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be charged with any related duty. He shall be free at home one year, to be happy with the wife whom he has married.^(A)

⁶ “No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge.

⁷ “If someone is caught kidnaping another Israelite, enslaving or selling the Israelite, then that kidnaper shall die. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.^(B)

⁸ “Guard against an outbreak of a defiling skin disease by being very careful; you shall carefully observe whatever the Levitical priests instruct you, just as I have commanded them.^{(C) 9} Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on your journey out of Egypt.^(D)

¹⁰ “When you make your neighbor a loan of any kind, you shall not go into the house to take the pledge. ¹¹ You shall wait outside while the person to whom you are making the loan brings the pledge out to you. ¹² If the person is poor, you shall not sleep in the garment given you as^[a] the pledge. ¹³ You shall give the pledge back by sunset, so that your neighbor may sleep in the cloak and bless you, and it will be to your credit before the Lord your God.^(E)

¹⁴ “You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy laborers, whether other Israelites or aliens who reside in your land in one of your towns.^{(F) 15} You shall pay them their wages daily before sunset, because they are poor and their livelihood depends on them; otherwise they might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt.^(G)

¹⁶ “Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their parents; only for their own crimes may persons be put to death.^(H)

¹⁷ “You shall not deprive a resident alien or an orphan of justice; you shall not take a widow’s garment in pledge.^{(I) 18} Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.^(J)

¹⁹ “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all your undertakings.^{(K) 20} When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow.^(L)

²¹ “When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. ²² Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this.^(M)

The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers

²² Then the apostles and the elders, with the consent of the whole church, decided to choose men from among them and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers, ²³ with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers and sisters of gentile origin in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. ²⁴ Since we have heard that certain persons who have gone out from us, though with no instructions from us, have said things to disturb you and have unsettled your minds,^{[a](A) 25} we have decided unanimously to choose men and send them to you, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, ²⁶ who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.^{(B) 27} We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. ²⁸ For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials: ²⁹ that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled^[b] and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”^(C)

³⁰ So they were sent off and went down to Antioch. When they gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. ³¹ When they read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation. ³² Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers and sisters. ³³ After they had been there for some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers and sisters to those who had sent them.^{[c](D) 35} But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, and there, with many others, they taught and proclaimed the word of the Lord.