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
Revised Standard Version
22 “You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and withhold your help[a] from them; you shall take them back to your brother. 2 And if he is not near you, or if you do not know him, you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother seeks it; then you shall restore it to him. 3 And so you shall do with his ass; so you shall do with his garment; so you shall do with any lost thing of your brother’s, which he loses and you find; you may not withhold your help. 4 You shall not see your brother’s ass or his ox fallen down by the way, and withhold your help[b] from them; you shall help him to 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 whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.
6 “If you chance to come upon a bird’s nest, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young; 7 you shall let the mother go, but the young you may take to yourself; that it may go well with you, and that you may live long.
8 “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house, if any one fall from it.
9 “You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole yield be forfeited to the sanctuary,[c] the crop which you have sown and the yield of the vineyard. 10 You shall not plow with an ox and an ass together. 11 You shall not wear a mingled stuff, wool and linen together.
12 “You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of your cloak with which you cover yourself.
Laws concerning Sexual Relations
13 “If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and then spurns her, 14 and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings an evil name upon her, saying, ‘I took this woman, and when I came near her, I did not find in her the tokens of virginity,’ 15 then the father of the young woman and her mother shall take and bring out the tokens of her virginity to the elders of the city in the gate; 16 and the father of the young woman shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to wife, and he spurns her; 17 and lo, he has made shameful charges against her, saying, “I did not find in your 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 Then the elders of that city shall take the man and whip him; 19 and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver, and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought 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 the thing is true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the young woman, 21 then 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 stones, because she has wrought folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father’s house; so you shall purge the evil from the midst of you.
22 “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; so you shall purge the evil from Israel.
23 “If there is a 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; so you shall purge the evil from the midst of you.
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 to the young woman you shall do nothing; in the young woman there is no offense punishable by death, for this case is like that of a man attacking and murdering his neighbor; 27 because he came upon her in the open country, and though the betrothed young woman cried for help there was no one to rescue her.
28 “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 put her away all his days.
30 [d] “A man shall not take his father’s wife, nor shall he uncover her who is his father’s.[e]
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 22:1 Heb hide yourself
- Deuteronomy 22:4 Heb hide yourself
- Deuteronomy 22:9 Heb become holy
- Deuteronomy 22:30 Ch 23.1 in Heb
- Deuteronomy 22:30 Heb uncover his father’s skirt
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Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.