Deuteronomy 22
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
22 “You shall not watch your neighbor’s ox or sheep straying away and ignore them; you shall take them back to their owner.(A) 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.(B)
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.(C) 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.(D)
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.
9 “You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, or the whole yield will be forbidden, both the crop that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard itself.(E)
10 “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.
11 “You shall not wear clothes made of wool and linen woven together.(F)
12 “You shall make tassels on the four corners of the cloak with which you cover yourself.(G)
Laws concerning Sexual Relations
13 “Suppose a man marries a woman but after going in to her dislikes her(H) 14 and makes up charges against her, slandering her by saying, ‘I married this woman, but when I lay with her, I did not find evidence of her virginity.’ 15 The father of the young woman and her mother shall then submit the evidence of the young woman’s virginity to the elders of the city at the gate.(I) 16 The father of the young woman shall say to the elders: ‘I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her, 17 and now he has made up charges against her, saying, “I did not find evidence of your daughter’s virginity.” But here is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ Then they shall spread out the cloth before the elders of the town. 18 The elders of that town shall take the man and punish him; 19 they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver (which they shall give to the young woman’s father) because he has slandered a virgin of Israel. She shall remain his wife; he shall not be permitted to divorce her as long as he lives.
20 “If, however, this charge is true, that evidence of the young woman’s virginity was not found, 21 then they shall bring the young woman out to the entrance of her father’s house, and the men of her town shall stone her to death, because she committed a disgraceful act in Israel by prostituting herself in her father’s house. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.(J)
22 “If a man is discovered lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman as well as the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.(K)
23 “If there is a young woman, a virgin already engaged to be married, and a man meets her in the town and lies with her, 24 you shall bring both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry for help in the town and the man because he violated his neighbor’s wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.(L)
25 “But if the man meets the engaged woman in the open country and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die.(M) 26 You shall do nothing to the young woman; the young woman has not committed an offense punishable by death, because this case is like that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor. 27 Since he found her in the open country, the engaged woman may have cried for help, but there was no one to rescue her.
28 “If a man meets a virgin who is not engaged and seizes her and lies with her, and they are discovered,(N) 29 the man who lay with her shall give fifty shekels of silver to the young woman’s father, and she shall become his wife. Because he violated her, he shall not be permitted to divorce her as long as he lives.
30 [a]“A man shall not marry his father’s wife, thereby violating his father’s rights.[b](O)
Deuteronomy 22
International Standard Version
Hospitality to Neighbors
22 “When you see the ox or sheep of your fellow countryman[a] straying, don’t go away and leave it. Instead, be sure to return it to him.[b] 2 If your fellow countryman doesn’t live near you or you don’t know who he is, bring the animal[c] to your house and let it remain with you until he[d] claims it. Then return it to him. 3 Do the same for his donkey, his garment, and for anything lost that belongs to your fellow countryman. When you find it, you must not ignore it. 4 When you see the donkey or the ox of your fellow countryman fallen on the road, don’t ignore it. Instead be sure to help it get up.”
Miscellaneous Laws
5 “A woman is not to wear what is appropriate to a man, nor is a man to put on a woman’s garment, because anyone who does this is detestable to the Lord your God.
6 “When you encounter a bird’s nest along the road, whether in a tree or on the ground, and the mother bird is sitting on its chicks[e] or eggs, don’t take the mother along with its young.[f] 7 You may take the young, but be sure to release the mother, so that life will go well for you and that you may have a long life.
8 “When you build a new house, install a parapet along your roof so that if someone falls from the roof, you won’t bring guilt of bloodshed on your house.”
Principles of Distinction
9 “Don’t plant two kinds of seeds in your vineyard. Otherwise, the entire crop will have to be forfeited, both the seed that you have sown and the produce from it.
10 “Don’t plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.
11 “Don’t wear material made from wool and linen mixed together.
12 “Sew tassels for yourself on the four corners of the garment with which you cover yourself.”
Integrity in Marriage
13 “Suppose a man marries a wife, but after having sexual relations with her, he despises her, 14 invents charges against her, and defames her by saying, ‘I have married this woman, but when I had sexual relations with her I found that she wasn’t a virgin.’ 15 Then the father of the young lady, along with her mother, is to bring evidence of the young lady’s virginity to the elders at the gate. 16 The father of the young lady is to then say to the elders: ‘I have given my daughter to this man as a wife, but he despises her. 17 Now look, he has invented charges against her by saying, “I haven’t found your daughter to be a virgin.” But here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity.’ Then they are to spread the cloth before the elders of the city. 18 The elders of that city will then take the man, punish him, 19 fine him 100 shekels of silver, and then give them to the young lady’s father, because he defamed a virgin of Israel. She is to remain his wife and he can’t divorce her as long as he lives. 20 But if this charge is true, and the evidence of the young lady’s virginity wasn’t found, 21 they are to bring her to the door of her father’s house. Then the men of the city are to stone her with boulders until she dies for doing a detestable thing in Israel—acting like a prostitute while in her father’s house. By doing this, you will remove this evil from among you.
22 “If a man is caught having sexual relations with a married woman, then both of them must die—the man who had sex with the woman and the woman herself—so that this evil will be removed from Israel.
23 “If a man meets a young virgin lady in the city who is engaged to be married and has sexual relations with her, 24 then the two must be brought to the city gate and there they must be stoned to death—the girl because she was in a city but did not cry out for help, and the man who abused a woman who was engaged to another man. By doing this you are to remove this evil from among you.
25 “If a man meets a girl in the country who is engaged to be married and then rapes[g] her, the man alone—the one who had sexual relations with her—must die. 26 As for the young lady, don’t do anything to her. The young lady did nothing worthy of death. This case is similar to when a man attacks his countryman and kills him. 27 Since he found her in the country, the engaged girl may have cried out, but there was no one to rescue her.
28 “However, if a man meets a girl who isn’t engaged to be married, and he seizes her, rapes her, and is later found out, 29 then the man who raped her must give 50 shekels of silver to the girl’s father. Furthermore, he must marry her. Because he violated her, he is to not divorce her as long as he lives.
30 [h]“A man must not marry his father’s wife, so that he will not dishonor his father’s memory.”[i]
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 22:1 Lit. brother’s and so throughout the chapter
- Deuteronomy 22:1 Lit. brother and so throughout the chapter
- Deuteronomy 22:2 Lit. bring it
- Deuteronomy 22:2 Lit. brother
- Deuteronomy 22:6 Lit. on the young
- Deuteronomy 22:6 Lit. sons
- Deuteronomy 22:25 Lit. overwhelms
- Deuteronomy 22:30 This v. is 23:1 in MT
- Deuteronomy 22:30 Lit. wing; or skirt
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