Deuteronomy 22:20-24:7

English Standard Version

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 ^(A)the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has ^(B)done an outrageous thing in Israel by whoring in her father's house. ^(C)So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

^22 (D)“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. ^(E)So you shall purge the evil from Israel.

²³ “If there is a ^(F)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. ^(G)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 (H)“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 [a] (I)}“A man shall not take his father's wife, so that he does not ^(J)uncover his father's nakedness.^[b]

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.

^2 (K)“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.

^3 (L)“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, ^4 (M)because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they ^(N)hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of ^(O)Mesopotamia, to curse you. ⁵ But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the Lord your God turned ^(P)the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loved you. ⁶ You ^(Q)shall not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days forever.

⁷ “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for ^(R)he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because ^(S)you were a sojourner in his land. ⁸ Children born to them in the third generation may enter the assembly of the Lord.

Uncleanness in the Camp

⁹ “When you are encamped against your enemies, then you shall keep yourself from every evil thing.

¹⁰ “If any man among you becomes ^(T)unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he shall go outside the camp. He shall not come inside the camp, ¹¹ but when evening comes, he shall ^(U)bathe himself in water, and as the sun sets, he may come inside the camp.

¹² “You shall have a place outside the camp, and you shall go out to it. ¹³ And you shall have a trowel with your tools, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig a hole with it and turn back and cover up your excrement. ¹⁴ Because ^(V)the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you.

Miscellaneous Laws

^15 (W)“You shall not give up to his master a slave^[c] who has escaped from his master to you. ¹⁶ He shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place that he shall choose within one of your towns, wherever it suits him. You shall not wrong him.

¹⁷ “None of the ^(X)daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, and none ^(Y)of the sons of Israel shall be a cult prostitute. ¹⁸ You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog^[d] into the house of the Lord your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God.

^19 (Z)“You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, ^(AA)interest on money, interest on food, interest on anything that is lent for interest. ^20 (AB)You may charge a foreigner interest, but you may not charge your brother interest, ^(AC)that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.

^21 (AD)“If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. ²² But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. ²³ You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.

²⁴ “If you go into your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in your bag. ²⁵ If you go into your neighbor's standing grain, ^(AE)you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor's standing grain.

Laws Concerning Divorce

24 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and ^(AF)he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, ² and if she goes and becomes another man's wife, ³ and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, ⁴ then ^(AG)her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the Lord. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.

Miscellaneous Laws

^5 (AH)“When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be liable for any other public duty. He shall be free at home one year ^(AI)to be happy with his wife^[e] whom he has taken.

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

^7 (AJ)“If a man is found stealing one of his brothers of the people of Israel, and if he ^(AK)treats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die. ^(AL)So you shall purge the evil from your midst.