Deuteronomy 22
New American Standard Bible
Various Laws
22 “(A)You shall not see your countryman’s ox or his sheep straying away, and avoid them; you shall certainly bring them back to your countryman. 2 And if your countryman is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it to your house, and it shall remain with you until your countryman looks for it; then you shall restore it to him. 3 You shall also do this with his donkey, and you shall do the same with his garment, and you shall do likewise with any lost property of your countryman, which has been lost by him and you have found. You are not allowed to avoid them. 4 You shall not see your countryman’s donkey or his ox fallen down on the road, and avoid them; you shall certainly help him raise them up.
5 “A woman shall not wear a man’s clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.
6 “If you happen to come upon a bird’s nest along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs in it, and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, (B)you shall not take the mother with the young; 7 you shall certainly let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, (C)in order that it may go well for you and that you may prolong your days.
8 “When you build a new house, you shall make a [a]parapet for your roof, so that you will not bring guilt for bloodshed on your house if anyone falls from it.
9 “(D)You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, otherwise [b]all the produce of the seed which you have sown and the yield of the vineyard will be [c]forfeited to the sanctuary.
10 “(E)You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.
11 “(F)You shall not wear a material of wool and linen combined together.
12 “(G)You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of your garment with which you cover yourself.
Laws on Morality
13 “(H)If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then [d]turns against her, 14 and he charges her with shameful behavior and [e]publicly defames her, and says, ‘I took this woman, but when I came near her, I did not find her to have evidence of virginity,’ 15 then the girl’s father and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of the girl’s virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. 16 And the girl’s father shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, but he [f]turned against her; 17 and behold, he has charged her with shameful behavior, saying, “I did not find your daughter to have evidence of virginity.” But [g]this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread out the garment before the elders of the city. 18 Then (I)the elders of that city shall take the man and rebuke him, 19 and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give it to the girl’s father, because he [h]publicly defamed a virgin of Israel. And she shall remain his wife; he is not allowed to [i]divorce her all his days.
20 “But if this [j](J)charge is true, and they did not find the girl to have evidence of virginity, 21 then they shall bring the girl out to the doorway of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her [k]to death, because she has (K)committed a disgraceful sin in Israel by playing the prostitute in her father’s house; so (L)you shall eliminate the evil from among you.
22 “(M)If a man is found sleeping with a married woman, then both of them shall die, the man who slept with the woman, and the woman; so you shall eliminate the evil from Israel.
23 “(N)If there is a girl who is a virgin [l]betrothed to a man, and another man finds her in the city and sleeps with her, 24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you shall stone them [m]to death: the girl, because she did not cry out for help though she was in the city, and the man, because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. So you shall eliminate the evil from among you.
25 “But if the man finds the girl who is betrothed in the field, and the man seizes her and [n]rapes her, then only the man who [o]raped her shall die. 26 And you are not to do anything to the girl; there is no sin in the girl worthy of death, for just as a man rises against his neighbor and murders him, [p]so is this case. 27 When he found her in the field, the betrothed girl [q]cried out, but there was no one to save her.
28 “(O)If a man finds a girl who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and has sexual relations with her, and they are discovered, 29 then the man who had sexual relations with her shall give the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall become his wife, because he has violated her; he is not allowed to divorce her all his days.
30 “[r](P)A man shall not take [s]his father’s wife in marriage, so that he does not [t]uncover his father’s garment.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 22:8 I.e., a protective railing
- Deuteronomy 22:9 Lit the fullness
- Deuteronomy 22:9 Or forfeit, adj sense
- Deuteronomy 22:13 Lit hates her
- Deuteronomy 22:14 Lit brings out an evil reputation against her
- Deuteronomy 22:16 Lit hated her
- Deuteronomy 22:17 Lit these are
- Deuteronomy 22:19 Lit brought out an evil reputation against a virgin
- Deuteronomy 22:19 Lit send her away
- Deuteronomy 22:20 Lit matter
- Deuteronomy 22:21 Lit with stones so that she dies
- Deuteronomy 22:23 A betrothed couple was considered legally married, but did not yet live together
- Deuteronomy 22:24 Lit with stones so that they die
- Deuteronomy 22:25 Lit lies down with
- Deuteronomy 22:25 Lit lies down with
- Deuteronomy 22:26 I.e., she is only a victim
- Deuteronomy 22:27 I.e., presumably did so
- Deuteronomy 22:30 Ch 23:1 in Heb
- Deuteronomy 22:30 I.e., a stepmother, not his birth mother
- Deuteronomy 22:30 Idiom for violating his father’s marriage
Deuteronomy 22
New Living Translation
22 “If you see your neighbor’s ox or sheep or goat wandering away, don’t ignore your responsibility.[a] Take it back to its owner. 2 If its owner does not live nearby or you don’t know who the owner is, take it to your place and keep it until the owner comes looking for it. Then you must return it. 3 Do the same if you find your neighbor’s donkey, clothing, or anything else your neighbor loses. Don’t ignore your responsibility.
4 “If you see that your neighbor’s donkey or ox has collapsed on the road, do not look the other way. Go and help your neighbor get it back on its feet!
5 “A woman must not put on men’s clothing, and a man must not wear women’s clothing. Anyone who does this is detestable in the sight of the Lord your God.
6 “If you happen to find a bird’s nest in a tree or on the ground, and there are young ones or eggs in it with the mother sitting in the nest, do not take the mother with the young. 7 You may take the young, but let the mother go, so that you may prosper and enjoy a long life.
8 “When you build a new house, you must build a railing around the edge of its flat roof. That way you will not be considered guilty of murder if someone falls from the roof.
9 “You must not plant any other crop between the rows of your vineyard. If you do, you are forbidden to use either the grapes from the vineyard or the other crop.
10 “You must not plow with an ox and a donkey harnessed together.
11 “You must not wear clothing made of wool and linen woven together.
12 “You must put four tassels on the hem of the cloak with which you cover yourself—on the front, back, and sides.
Regulations for Sexual Purity
13 “Suppose a man marries a woman, but after sleeping with her, he turns against her 14 and publicly accuses her of shameful conduct, saying, ‘When I married this woman, I discovered she was not a virgin.’ 15 Then the woman’s father and mother must bring the proof of her virginity to the elders as they hold court at the town gate. 16 Her father must say to them, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife, and now he has turned against her. 17 He has accused her of shameful conduct, saying, “I discovered that your daughter was not a virgin.” But here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity.’ Then they must spread her bed sheet before the elders. 18 The elders must then take the man and punish him. 19 They must also fine him 100 pieces of silver,[b] which he must pay to the woman’s father because he publicly accused a virgin of Israel of shameful conduct. The woman will then remain the man’s wife, and he may never divorce her.
20 “But suppose the man’s accusations are true, and he can show that she was not a virgin. 21 The woman must be taken to the door of her father’s home, and there the men of the town must stone her to death, for she has committed a disgraceful crime in Israel by being promiscuous while living in her parents’ home. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you.
22 “If a man is discovered committing adultery, both he and the woman must die. In this way, you will purge Israel of such evil.
23 “Suppose a man meets a young woman, a virgin who is engaged to be married, and he has sexual intercourse with her. If this happens within a town, 24 you must take both of them to the gates of that town and stone them to death. The woman is guilty because she did not scream for help. The man must die because he violated another man’s wife. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you.
25 “But if the man meets the engaged woman out in the country, and he rapes her, then only the man must die. 26 Do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no crime worthy of death. She is as innocent as a murder victim. 27 Since the man raped her out in the country, it must be assumed that she screamed, but there was no one to rescue her.
28 “Suppose a man has intercourse with a young woman who is a virgin but is not engaged to be married. If they are discovered, 29 he must pay her father fifty pieces of silver.[c] Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.
30 [d]“A man must not marry his father’s former wife, for this would violate his father.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
