Deuteronomy 12-25

Contemporary English Version

Only One Place To Worship the Lord

Moses said to Israel:

12 Now I'll tell you the laws and teachings that you have to obey as long as you live. Your ancestors worshiped the Lord, and he is giving you this land. ² But the nations that live there worship other gods. So after you capture the land, you must completely destroy their places of worship—on mountains and hills or in the shade of large trees. ^3 (A) Wherever these nations worship their gods, you must tear down their altars, break their sacred stones, burn the sacred poles^[a] used in worshiping the goddess Asherah, and smash their idols to pieces. Destroy these places of worship so completely that no one will remember they were ever there. ⁴ Don't worship the Lord your God in the way those nations worship their gods.

^5-19 (B) Soon you will cross the Jordan, and the Lord will help you conquer your enemies and let you live in peace, there in the land he has given you. But after you are settled, life will be different. You must not offer sacrifices just anywhere you want to. Instead, the Lord will choose a place somewhere in Israel where you must go to worship him. All of your sacrifices and offerings must be taken there, including sacrifices to please the Lord^[b] and any gift you promise or voluntarily give him. That's where you must also take one tenth of your grain, wine, and olive oil,^[c] as well as the first-born of your cattle, sheep, and goats.^[d] You and your family and servants will eat your gifts and sacrifices^[e] and celebrate there at the place of worship, because the Lord your God has made you successful in everything you have done. And since Levites will not have any land of their own, you must ask some of them to come along and celebrate with you.

Sometimes you may want to kill an animal for food and not as a sacrifice. If the Lord has blessed you and given you enough cows or sheep or goats, then you can butcher one of them where you live. You can eat it just like the meat from a deer or gazelle that you kill when you go hunting. And even those people who are unclean and unfit for worship can have some of the meat. But you must not eat the blood of any animal—let the blood drain out on the ground.

^20-21 The Lord has promised that later on he will give Israel more land, and some of you may not be able to travel all the way from your homes to the place of worship each time you are hungry for meat.^[f] But the Lord will give you cattle, sheep, and goats, and you can butcher any of those animals at home and eat as much as you want. ²² It is the same as eating the meat from a deer or a gazelle that you kill when you go hunting. And in this way, anyone who is unclean and unfit for worship can have some of the meat.^[g]

^23-24 (C) But don't eat the blood. It is the life of the animal, so let it drain out on the ground before you eat the meat. ²⁵ Do you want the Lord to make you successful? Do you want your children to be successful even after you are gone? Then do what pleases the Lord and don't eat blood.

^26-27 All sacrifices and offerings to the Lord must be taken to the place where he chooses to be worshiped. If you offer a sacrifice to please the Lord, all of its meat must be burned on the altar. You can eat the meat from certain kinds of sacrifices, but you must always pour out the animal's blood on the altar.

²⁸ If you obey these laws, you will be doing what the Lord your God says is right and good. Then he will help you and your descendants be successful.

Worship the Lord in the Right Way

Moses said:

²⁹ Israel, as you go into the land and attack the nations that are there, the Lord will get rid of them, and you can have their land.

³⁰ But that's when you must be especially careful not to ask, “How did those nations worship their gods? Shouldn't we worship the Lord in the same way?” ³¹ No, you should not! The Lord hates the disgusting way those nations worship their gods, because they even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices.

^32 (D) Obey all the laws and teachings I am giving you. Don't add any, and don't take any away.

Don't Worship Other Gods

Moses said to Israel:

13 ^1-2 Someday a prophet^[h] may come along who is able to perform miracles or tell what will happen in the future. Then the prophet may say, “Let's start worshiping some new gods—some gods that we know nothing about.” ³ If the prophet says this, don't listen! The Lord your God will be watching to find out whether or not you love him with all your heart and soul. ⁴ You must be completely faithful to the Lord. Worship and obey only the Lord and do this with fear and trembling, ⁵ because he rescued you from slavery in Egypt.

If a prophet tells you to disobey the Lord your God and to stop worshiping him, then that prophet is evil and must be put to death.

^6-10 (E) Someone else may say to you, “Let's worship other gods.” That person may be your best friend, your brother or sister, your son or daughter, or your own dear wife or husband. But you must not listen to people who say such things. Instead, you must stone them to death. You must be the first to throw the stones, then others from the community will finish the job. Don't show any pity.

The gods worshiped by other nations have never done anything for you or your ancestors. People who ask you to worship other gods are trying to get you to stop worshiping the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in Egypt. So put to death anyone who asks you to worship another god. ¹¹ And when the rest of Israel hears about it, they will be afraid, and no one else will ever do such an evil thing again.

¹² After the Lord your God gives you towns to live in, you may hear a rumor about one of the towns. ¹³ You may hear that some worthless people have talked everyone there into worshiping other gods, even though these gods had never done anything for them. ¹⁴ You must carefully find out if the rumor is true. Then if the people of that town have actually done such a disgusting thing in your own country, ¹⁵ you must take your swords and kill every one of them, and their livestock too. ^16-17 Gather all the possessions of the people who lived there, and pile them up in the marketplace, without keeping anything for yourself. Set the pile and the whole town on fire, and don't ever rebuild the town. The whole town will be a sacrifice to the Lord your God. Then he won't be angry anymore, and he will have mercy on you and make your nation stronger, just as he promised your ancestors. ¹⁸ That's why you must do what the Lord your God says is right. I am giving you his laws and teachings today, and you must obey them.

Don't Mourn like Other Nations

Moses said:

14 ^(F) People of Israel, you are the Lord's children, so when you mourn for the dead, you must not cut yourselves or shave your forehead.^{[i] 2 (G)} Out of all the nations on this earth, the Lord your God chose you to be his own. You belong to the Lord, so don't behave like those who worship other gods.

Animals That Can Be Eaten

(Leviticus 11.1-47)

^3 (H) Don't eat any disgusting animals.

^4-5 You may eat the meat of cattle, sheep, and goats; wild sheep and goats; and gazelles, antelopes, and all kinds of deer. ⁶ It is all right to eat meat from any animals that have divided hoofs and also chew the cud.^[j]

⁷ But don't eat camels, rabbits, and rock badgers. These animals chew the cud but do not have divided hoofs. You must treat them as unclean. ⁸ And don't eat pork, since pigs have divided hoofs, but they do not chew their cud. Don't even touch a dead pig!

⁹ You can eat any fish that has fins and scales. But there are other creatures that live in the water, ¹⁰ and if they do not have fins and scales, you must not eat them. Treat them as unclean.

¹¹ You can eat any clean bird. ^12-18 But don't eat the meat of any of the following birds: eagles, vultures, falcons, kites, ravens, ostriches, owls, sea gulls, hawks, pelicans, ospreys, cormorants, storks, herons, and hoopoes.^[k] You must not eat bats. ¹⁹ Swarming insects are unclean, so don't eat them. ²⁰ However, you are allowed to eat certain kinds of winged insects.^[l]

^21 (I) You belong to the Lord your God, so if you happen to find a dead animal, don't eat its meat. You may give it to foreigners who live in your town or sell it to foreigners who are visiting your town.

Don't boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

Give the Lord Ten Percent of Your Harvest

Moses said:

^22 (J) People of Israel, every year you must set aside ten percent of your grain harvest. ²³ Also set aside ten percent of your wine and olive oil, and the first-born of every cow, sheep, and goat. Take these to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped, and eat them there. This will teach you to always respect the Lord your God.

²⁴ But suppose you can't carry that ten percent of your harvest to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. If you live too far away, or if the Lord gives you a big harvest, ²⁵ then sell this part and take the money there instead. ²⁶ When you and your family arrive, spend the money on food for a big celebration. Buy cattle, sheep, goats, wine, beer, and if there are any other kinds of food that you want, buy those too. ²⁷ And since people of the Levi tribe won't own any land for growing crops, remember to ask the Levites to celebrate with you.

²⁸ Every third year, instead of using the ten percent of your harvest for a big celebration, bring it into town and put it in a community storehouse. ²⁹ The Levites have no land of their own, so you must give them food from the storehouse. You must also give food to the poor who live in your town, including orphans, widows, and foreigners. If they have enough to eat, then the Lord your God will be pleased and make you successful in everything you do.

Loans

(Leviticus 25.1-7)

Moses said:

15 ^1-2 Every seven years you must announce, “The Lord says loans do not need to be paid back.” Then if you have loaned money to another Israelite, you can no longer ask for payment.^{[m] 3} This law applies only to loans you have made to other Israelites. Foreigners will still have to pay back what you have loaned them.

^4-6 No one in Israel should ever be poor. The Lord your God is giving you this land, and he has promised to make you very successful, if you obey his laws and teachings that I'm giving you today. You will lend money to many nations, but you won't have to borrow. You will rule many nations, but they won't rule you.

^7 (K) After the Lord your God gives land to each of you, there may be poor Israelites in the town where you live. If there are, then don't be mean and selfish with your money. ⁸ Instead, be kind and lend them what they need. ⁹ Be careful! Don't say to yourself, “Soon it will be the seventh year, and then I won't be able to get my money back.” It would be horrible for you to think that way and to be so selfish that you refuse to help the poor. They are your relatives, and if you don't help them, they may ask the Lord to decide whether you have done wrong. And he will say that you are guilty. ¹⁰ You should be happy to give the poor what they need, because then the Lord will make you successful in everything you do.

^11 (L) There will always be some Israelites who are poor and needy. That's why I am commanding you to be generous with them.

Setting Slaves Free

(Exodus 21.1-11)

Moses said to Israel:

^12 (M) If any of you buy Israelites as slaves, you must set them free after six years. ¹³ And don't just tell them they are free to leave— ¹⁴ give them sheep and goats and a good supply of grain and wine. The more the Lord has given you, the more you should give them. ¹⁵ I am commanding you to obey the Lord as a reminder that you were slaves in Egypt before he set you free. ¹⁶ But one of your slaves may say, “I love you and your family, and I would be better off staying with you, so please don't make me leave.” ¹⁷ Take the slave to the door of your house and push a sharp metal rod through one earlobe and into the door. Such slaves will belong to you for life, whether they are men or women.

¹⁸ Don't complain when you have to set a slave free. After all, you got six years of service at half the cost of hiring someone to do the work.^[n]

First-Born Animals

(Leviticus 27.26,27; Numbers 18.15-18)

Moses said to Israel:

^19 (N) If the first-born animal of a cow or sheep or goat is a male, it must be given to the Lord. Don't put first-born cattle to work or cut wool from first-born sheep. ²⁰ Instead, each year you must take the first-born of these animals to the place where the Lord your God chooses to be worshiped. You and your family will sacrifice them to the Lord and then eat them as part of a sacred meal.

²¹ But if the animal is lame or blind or has something else wrong with it, you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. ²² You can butcher it where you live, and eat it just like the meat of a deer or gazelle that you kill while hunting. Even those people who are unclean and unfit for worship can have some. ^23 (O) But you must never eat the blood of an animal—let it drain out on the ground.

Passover

(Exodus 12.1-20; Leviticus 23.4-8)

Moses said:

16 ^(P) People of Israel, you must celebrate Passover in the month of Abib,^[o] because one night in that month years ago, the Lord your God rescued you from Egypt. ² The Passover sacrifice must be a cow, a sheep, or a goat, and you must offer it at the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. ^3-4 Eat all of the meat of the Passover sacrifice that same night. But don't serve bread made with yeast at the Passover meal. Serve the same kind of thin bread that you ate when you were slaves suffering in Egypt^[p] and when you had to leave Egypt quickly. As long as you live, this thin bread will remind you of the day you left Egypt.

For seven days following Passover,^[q] don't make any bread with yeast. In fact, there should be no yeast anywhere in Israel.

⁵ Don't offer the Passover sacrifice in just any town where you happen to live. ⁶ It must be offered at the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. Kill the sacrifice at sunset, the time of day when you left Egypt.^{[r] 7} Then cook it and eat it there at the place of worship, returning to your tents the next morning.

⁸ Eat thin bread for the next six days. Then on the seventh day, don't do any work. Instead, come together and worship the Lord.

The Harvest Festival

(Exodus 34.22; Leviticus 23.15-21)

Moses said to Israel:

^9 (Q) Seven weeks after you start your grain harvest, ^10-11 go to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped and celebrate the Harvest Festival^[s] in honor of the Lord your God. Bring him an offering as large as you can afford, depending on how big a harvest he has given you. Be sure to take along your sons and daughters and all your servants. Also invite the poor, including Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows. ¹² Remember that you used to be slaves in Egypt, so obey these laws.

The Festival of Shelters

(Leviticus 23.33-43; Numbers 29.12-38)

Moses said to Israel:

^13-15 (R) After you have finished the grain harvest and the grape harvest,^[t] take your sons and daughters and all your servants to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. Celebrate the Festival of Shelters for seven days. Also invite the poor, including Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows.

The Lord will give you big harvests and make you successful in everything you do. You will be completely happy, so celebrate this festival in honor of the Lord your God.

Three Festivals at the Place of Worship

(Exodus 23.14-17)

Moses said:

¹⁶ Each year there are three festivals when all Israelite men must go to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. These are the Festival of Thin Bread, the Harvest Festival,^[u] and the Festival of Shelters. And don't forget to take along a gift for the Lord. ¹⁷ The bigger the harvest the Lord gives you, the bigger your gift should be.

Treat Everyone with Justice

Moses said to Israel:

^18-19 (S) After you are settled in the towns that you will receive from the Lord your God, the people in each town must appoint judges and other officers. Those of you that become judges must be completely fair when you make legal decisions, even if someone important is involved. Don't take bribes to give unfair decisions. Bribes keep people who are wise from seeing the truth and turn honest people into liars.^[v]

²⁰ People of Israel, if you want to enjoy a long and successful life, make sure that everyone is treated with justice in the land the Lord is giving you.

Don't Set Up Sacred Poles or Stones

Moses said to Israel:

^21 (T) When you build the altar for offering sacrifices to the Lord your God, don't set up a sacred pole^[w] for the worship of the goddess Asherah. ^22 (U) And don't set up a sacred stone! The Lord hates these things.

Sacrifices That Have Something Wrong with Them

Moses said to Israel:

17 If an ox or a sheep has something wrong with it, don't offer it as a sacrifice to the Lord your God—he will be disgusted!

Put To Death People Who Worship Idols

Moses said to Israel:

^2-3 (V) The Lord your God is giving you towns to live in. But later, a man or a woman in your town may start worshiping other gods, or even the sun, moon, or stars.^[x] I have warned you not to worship other gods, because whoever worships them is disobeying the Lord and breaking the agreement he made with you. ⁴ So when you hear that someone in your town is committing this disgusting sin, you must carefully find out if that person really is guilty. ^5-7 (W) But you will need two or three witnesses—one witness isn't enough to prove a person guilty.

Get rid of those who are guilty of such evil. Take them outside your town gates and everyone must stone them to death. But the witnesses must be the first to throw stones.

Difficult Cases

Moses said to Israel:

^8-12 It may be difficult to find out the truth in some legal cases in your town. You may not be able to decide if someone was killed accidentally or murdered. Or you may not be able to tell whether an injury or some property damage was done by accident or on purpose. If the case is too difficult, take it to the court at the place where the Lord your God chooses to be worshiped.

This court will be made up of one judge and several priests^[y] who serve at the Lord's altar. They will explain the law to you and give you their decision about the case. Do exactly what they tell you, or you will be put to death. ¹³ When other Israelites hear about it, they will be afraid and obey the decisions of the court.

The King

Moses said:

^14 (X) People of Israel, after you capture the land the Lord your God is giving you, and after you settle on it, you will say, “We want a king, just like the nations around us.”

¹⁵ Go ahead and appoint a king, but make sure that he is an Israelite and that he is the one the Lord has chosen.

^16 (Y) The king should not have many horses, especially those from Egypt. The Lord has said never to go back there again. ^17 (Z) And the king must not have a lot of wives—they might tempt him to be unfaithful to the Lord.^[z] Finally, the king must not try to get huge amounts of silver and gold.

¹⁸ The official copy of God's laws^[aa] will be kept by the priests of the Levi tribe. So, as soon as anyone becomes king, he must go to the priests and write out a copy of these laws while they watch. ¹⁹ Each day the king must read and obey these laws, so that he will learn to worship the Lord with fear and trembling ²⁰ and not think that he's better than everyone else.

If the king completely obeys the Lord's commands, he and his descendants will rule Israel for many years.

Special Privileges for Priests and Levites

(Numbers 18.8-32)

Moses said to Israel:

18 The people of the Levi tribe, including the priests, will not receive any land. Instead, they will receive part of the sacrifices that are offered to the Lord, ^2 (AA) because he has promised to provide for them in this way.

³ When you sacrifice a bull or sheep, the priests will be given the shoulder, the jaws, and the stomach.^{[ab] 4} In addition, they will receive the first part of your grain harvest and part of your first batches of wine and olive oil.^[ac] You must also give them the first wool that is cut from your sheep each year. ⁵ Give these gifts to the priests, because the Lord has chosen them and their descendants out of all the tribes of Israel to be his special servants at the place of worship.

⁶ Any Levite can leave his hometown, and go to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped, ⁷ and then be a special servant of the Lord^[ad] there, just like all the other Levites. ⁸ Some Levites may have money from selling family possessions, and others may not. But all Levites serving at the place of worship will receive the same amount of food from the sacrifices and gifts brought by the people.

Don't Do Disgusting Things

Moses said to Israel:

⁹ Soon you will go into the land that the Lord your God is giving you. The nations that live there do things that are disgusting to the Lord, and you must not follow their example. ^10-11 (AB) Don't sacrifice your son or daughter. And don't try to use any kind of magic or witchcraft to tell fortunes^[ae] or to cast spells or to talk with spirits of the dead.

¹² The Lord is disgusted with anyone who does these things, and that's why he will help you destroy the nations that are in the land. ^13 (AC) Never be guilty of doing any of these disgusting things!

A Prophet like Moses

Moses said to Israel:

¹⁴ You will go in and take the land from nations that practice magic and witchcraft. But the Lord your God won't allow you to do those things. ^15 (AD) Instead, he will choose one of your own people to be a prophet just like me, and you must do what that prophet says. ¹⁶ You were asking for a prophet the day you were gathered at Mount Sinai^[af] and said to the Lord, “Please don't let us hear your voice or see this terrible fire again—if we do, we will die!”

¹⁷ Then the Lord told me:

Moses, they have said the right thing. ¹⁸ So when I want to speak to them, I will choose one of them to be a prophet like you. I will give my message to that prophet, who will tell the people exactly what I have said. ^19 (AE) Since the message comes from me, anyone who doesn't obey the message will have to answer to me.

²⁰ But if I haven't spoken, and a prophet claims to have a message from me, you must kill that prophet, and you must also kill any prophet who claims to have a message from another god.

Moses said to Israel:

²¹ You may be asking yourselves, “How can we tell if a prophet's message really comes from the Lord?” ²² You will know, because if the Lord says something will happen, it will happen. And if it doesn't, you will know that the prophet was falsely claiming to speak for the Lord. Don't be afraid of any prophet whose message doesn't come from the Lord.

Safe Towns

(Numbers 35.9-28; Joshua 20.1-9)

Moses said to Israel:

19 ^(AF) Soon you will go into the land and attack the nations. The Lord your God will destroy them and give you their lands, towns, and homes. Then after you are settled, ^2-4 you must choose three of your towns to be Safe Towns. Divide the land into three regions with one Safe Town near the middle of each, so that a Safe Town can be easily reached from anywhere in your land.

Then, if one of you accidentally kills someone, you can run to a Safe Town and find protection from being put to death. But you must not have been angry with the person you killed.

⁵ For example, suppose you and a friend go into the forest to cut wood. You are chopping down a tree with an ax, when the ax head slips off the handle, hits your friend, and kills him. You can run to one of the Safe Towns and save your life. ⁶ You don't deserve to die, since you did not mean to harm your friend. But he did get killed, and his relatives might be very angry. They might even choose one of the men from their family to track you down and kill you. If it is too far to one of the Safe Towns, the victim's relative might be able to catch you and kill you. ⁷ That's why I said there must be three Safe Towns.

^8-9 Israel, the Lord your God has promised that if you obey his laws and teachings I'm giving you, and if you always love him, then he will give you the land he promised your ancestors. When that happens, you must name three more Safe Towns in the new territory. ¹⁰ You will need them, so innocent people won't be killed on your land while they are trying to reach a Safe Town that is too far away. You will be guilty of murder, if innocent people lose their lives because you didn't name enough Safe Towns in the land the Lord your God will give you.

¹¹ But what if you really do commit murder? Suppose one of you hates a neighbor. So you wait in a deserted place, kill the neighbor, and run to a Safe Town. ¹² If that happens, the leaders of your town must send messengers to bring you back from the Safe Town. They will hand you over to one of the victim's relatives, who will put you to death.

¹³ Israel, for the good of the whole country, you must kill anyone who murders an innocent person. Never show mercy to a murderer!

Property Lines

Moses said to Israel:

^14 (AG) In the land the Lord is giving you, there are already stones set up to mark the property lines between fields. So don't move those stones.

Witnesses Must Tell the Truth

Moses said to Israel:

^15 (AH) Before you are convicted of a crime, at least two witnesses must be able to testify that you did it.

¹⁶ If you accuse someone of a crime, but seem to be lying, ^17-18 then both you and the accused must be taken to the court at the place where the Lord is worshiped. There the priests and judges will find out if you are lying or telling the truth.

If you are lying and the accused is innocent, ^19-21 (AI) then you will be punished without mercy. You will receive the same punishment the accused would have received if found guilty, whether it means losing an eye, a tooth, a hand, a foot, or even your life.

Israel, the crime of telling lies in court must be punished. And when people hear what happens to witnesses that lie, everyone else who testifies in court will tell the truth.

Laws for Going to War

Moses said to Israel:

20 If you have to go to war, you may find yourselves facing an enemy army that is bigger than yours and that has horses and chariots. But don't be afraid! The Lord your God rescued you from Egypt, and he will help you fight. ² Before you march into battle, a priest will go to the front of the army ³ and say, “Soldiers of Israel, listen to me! Today when you go into battle, don't be afraid of the enemy, and when you see them, don't panic. ⁴ The Lord your God will fight alongside you and help you win the battle.”

⁵ Then the tribal officials will say to the troops:

If any of you have built a new house, but haven't yet moved in, you may go home. It isn't right for you to die in battle and for somebody else to live in your new house.

⁶ If any of you have planted a vineyard but haven't had your first grape harvest, you may go home. It isn't right for you to die in battle and for somebody else to enjoy your grapes.

⁷ If any of you are engaged to be married, you may go back home and get married. It isn't right for you to die in battle and for somebody else to marry the woman you are engaged to.

⁸ Finally, if any of you are afraid, you may go home. We don't want you to discourage the other soldiers.

⁹ When the officials are finished giving these orders, they will appoint officers to be in command of the army.

^10-15 Before you attack a town that is far from your land, offer peace to the people who live there. If they surrender and open their town gates, they will become your slaves. But if they reject your offer of peace and try to fight, surround their town and attack. Then, after the Lord helps you capture it, kill all the men. Take the women and children as slaves and keep the livestock and everything else of value.

¹⁶ Whenever you capture towns in the land the Lord your God is giving you, be sure to kill all the people and animals. ¹⁷ He has commanded you to completely wipe out the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ¹⁸ If you allow them to live, they will persuade you to worship their disgusting gods, and you will be unfaithful to the Lord.

¹⁹ When you are attacking a town, don't chop down its fruit trees, not even if you have had the town surrounded for a long time. Fruit trees aren't your enemies, and they produce food that you can eat, so don't cut them down. ²⁰ You may need wood to make ladders and towers to help you get over the walls and capture the town. But use only trees that you know are not fruit trees.

Unsolved Murder

Moses said to Israel:

21 Suppose the body of a murder victim is found in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you, and no one knows who the murderer is. ² The judges and other leaders from the towns around there must find out what town is the closest to where the body was found. ³ The leaders from that town will go to their cattle herds and choose a young cow that has never been put to work.^{[ag] 4-5} They and some of the priests will take this cow to a nearby valley where there is a stream, but no crops. Once they reach the valley, the leaders will break the cow's neck.

The priests must be there, because the Lord your God has chosen them to be his special servants at the place of worship. The Lord has chosen them to bless the people in his name and to be judges in all legal cases, whether property or injury is involved.

⁶ The town leaders will wash their hands over the body of the dead cow ⁷ and say, “We had no part in this murder, and we don't know who did it. ^8-9 But since an innocent person was murdered, we beg you, our Lord, to accept this sacrifice and forgive Israel. We are your people, and you rescued us. Please don't hold this crime against us.”

If you obey the Lord and do these things, he will forgive Israel.

Marrying a Woman Taken Prisoner in War

Moses said to Israel:

¹⁰ From time to time, you men will serve as soldiers and go off to war. The Lord your God will help you defeat your enemies, and you will take many prisoners. ^11-13 One of these prisoners may be a beautiful woman, and you may want to marry her. But first you must bring her into your home, and have her shave her head, cut her nails, get rid of her foreign clothes, and start wearing Israelite clothes. She will mourn a month for her father and mother, then you can marry her.

¹⁴ Later on, if you are not happy with the woman, you can divorce her, and she can go free. But you have slept with her as your wife, so you cannot sell her as a slave or make her into your own slave.

Rights of a First-Born Son

Moses said to Israel:

^15-17 Suppose a man has two wives and loves one more than the other. The first son of either wife is the man's first-born son, even if the boy's mother is the wife the man doesn't love. Later, when the man is near death and is dividing up his property, he must give a double share to his first-born son, simply because he was the first to be born.

A Son Who Rebels

Moses said to Israel:

¹⁸ A father and a mother may have a stubborn and rebellious son who refuses to obey them even after he has been punished. ¹⁹ If a son is like that, his parents must drag him to the town gate, where the leaders of the town hold their meetings. ²⁰ The parents will tell the leaders, “This son of ours is stubborn and never obeys. He spends all his time drinking and partying.”

²¹ The men of the town will stone that son to death, because they must get rid of the evil he brought into the community. Everyone in Israel will be afraid when they hear how he was punished.

The Body of a Criminal

Moses said to Israel:

²² If a criminal is put to death, and you hang the dead body on a tree, ^23 (AJ) you must not leave it there overnight. Bury it the same day, because the dead body of a criminal hanging on a tree will bring God's curse on the land. The Lord your God is giving this land to you, so don't make it unclean by leaving the bodies of executed criminals on display.

Helping Others

Moses said to Israel:

22 ^(AK) If you see a cow or sheep wandering around lost, take the animal back to its owner. ² If the owner lives too far away, or if you don't know who the owner is, take the animal home with you and take care of it. The owner will come looking for the animal, and then you can give it back. ³ That's what you should do if you find anything that belongs to someone else. Do whatever you can to help, whether you find a cow or sheep or donkey or some clothing.

⁴ Oxen and donkeys that carry heavy loads can stumble and fall, and be unable to get up by themselves. So as you walk along the road, help anyone who is trying to get an ox or donkey back on its feet.

Don't Pretend To Be the Opposite Sex

Moses said to Israel:

⁵ Women must not pretend to be men, and men must not pretend to be women.^[ah] The Lord your God is disgusted with people who do that.

Don't Take a Mother Bird

Moses said to Israel:

^6-7 As you walk along the road, you might see a bird's nest in a tree or on the ground. If the mother bird is in the nest with either her eggs or her baby birds, you are allowed to take the baby birds or the eggs, but not the mother bird. Let her go free, and the Lord will bless you with a long and successful life.

Put a Wall around Your Flat Roof

⁸ If you build a house, make sure to put a low wall around the edge of the flat roof.^[ai] Then if someone falls off the roof and is killed, it won't be your fault.

Laws against Mixing Different Things

Moses said to Israel:

^9 (AL) If you plant a vineyard, don't plant any other fruit tree or crop in it. If you do plant something else there, you must bring to the place of worship everything you harvest from the vineyard.

¹⁰ Don't hitch an ox and a donkey to your plow at the same time.

¹¹ When you weave cloth for clothing, you can use thread made of flax^[aj] or wool, but not both together. ^12 (AM) And when you make a coat, sew a tassel on each of the four corners.

When a Husband Accuses His Wife

Moses said to Israel:

¹³ Suppose a man starts hating his wife soon after they are married. ¹⁴ He might tell ugly lies about her, and say, “I married this woman, but when we slept together, I found out she wasn't a virgin.”

¹⁵ If this happens, the bride's father and mother must go to the town gate to show the town leaders the proof that the woman was a virgin. ¹⁶ Her father will say, “I let my daughter marry this man, but he started hating her ¹⁷ and accusing her of not being a virgin. But he is wrong, because here is proof that she was a virgin!” Then the bride's parents will show them the bed sheet from the woman's wedding night.

¹⁸ The town leaders will beat the man with a whip ¹⁹ because he accused his bride of not being a virgin. He will have to pay her father 100 pieces of silver and will never be allowed to divorce her.

²⁰ But if the man was right and there is no proof that his bride was a virgin, ²¹ the men of the town will take the woman to the door of her father's house and stone her to death.

This woman brought evil into your community by sleeping with someone before she got married, and you must get rid of that evil by killing her.

Laws about Illegal Sex

Moses said:

²² People of Israel, if a man is caught having sex with someone else's wife, you must put them both to death. That way, you will get rid of the evil they have done in Israel.

^23-24 If a man is caught in town having sex with an engaged woman who isn't screaming for help, they both must be put to death. The man is guilty of having sex with a married woman.^[ak] And the woman is guilty because she didn't call for help, even though she was inside a town and people were nearby. Take them both to the town gate and stone them to death. You must get rid of the evil they brought into your community.

^25 (AN) If an engaged woman is raped out in the country, only the man will be put to death. ²⁶ Do not punish the woman at all; she has done nothing wrong, and certainly nothing deserving death. This crime is like murder, ²⁷ because the woman was alone out in the country when the man attacked her. She screamed, but there was no one to help her.

^28 (AO) Suppose a woman isn't engaged to be married, and a man forces her to have sex with him. If he is caught, ²⁹ they will be forced to get married. He must give her father 50 pieces of silver as a bride-price and^[al] can never divorce her.

^30 (AP) A man must not marry a woman who was married to his father. This would be a disgrace to his father.

Who Cannot Become One of the Lord's People

Moses said to Israel:

23 If a man's private parts have been crushed or cut off,^[am] he cannot fully belong to the Lord's people.

² No one born outside of a legal marriage, or any of their descendants for ten generations, can fully belong to the Lord's people.

^3 (AQ) No Ammonites or Moabites, or any of their descendants for ten generations, can become part of Israel, the Lord's people. ^4 (AR) This is because when you came out of Egypt, they refused to provide you with food and water. And besides, they hired Balaam^[an] to put a curse on you. ^5 (AS) But the Lord your God loves you, so he refused to listen to Balaam and turned Balaam's curse into a blessing. ⁶ Don't even think of signing a peace treaty with Moab or Ammon.

⁷ But Edomites are your relatives, and you lived as foreigners in the country of Egypt. Now you must be kind to Edomites and Egyptians ⁸ and let their great-grandchildren become part of Israel, the Lord's people.

Keep the Army Camp Acceptable

Moses said to Israel:

⁹ When you men go off to fight your enemies, make sure your camp is acceptable to the Lord.

¹⁰ For example, if something happens at night that makes a man unclean and unfit for worship, he^[ao] must go outside the camp and stay there ¹¹ until late afternoon. Then he must take a bath, and at sunset he can go back into camp.

¹² Set up a place outside the camp to be used as a toilet area. ¹³ And make sure that you have a small shovel in your equipment. When you go out to the toilet area, use the shovel to dig a hole. Then, after you relieve yourself, bury the waste in the hole. ¹⁴ You must keep your camp clean of filthy and disgusting things. The Lord is always present in your camp, ready to rescue you and give you victory over your enemies. But if he sees something disgusting in your camp, he may turn around and leave.

Runaway Slaves from Other Countries

Moses said:

¹⁵ When runaway slaves from other countries come to Israel and ask for protection, you must not hand them back to their owners. ¹⁶ Instead, you must let them choose which one of your towns they want to live in. Don't be cruel to runaway slaves.

Temple Prostitutes

Moses said:

^17 (AT) People of Israel, don't any of you ever be temple prostitutes.^{[ap] 18} The Lord your God is disgusted with men and women who are prostitutes of any kind, and he will not accept a gift from them, even if it had been promised to him.

Interest on Loans

Moses said:

^19 (AU) When you lend money, food, or anything else to another Israelite, you are not allowed to charge interest. ²⁰ You can charge a foreigner interest. But if you charge other Israelites interest, the Lord your God will not let you be successful in the land you are about to take.

Sacred Promises to the Lord

Moses said:

^21 (AV) People of Israel, if you make a sacred promise to give a gift to the Lord, then do it as soon as you can. If the Lord has to come looking for the gift you promised, you will be guilty of breaking that promise. ²² On the other hand, if you never make a sacred promise, you can't be guilty of breaking it. ²³ You must keep whatever promises you make to the Lord. After all, you are the one who chose to make the promises.

Eating Someone Else's Produce

²⁴ If you go into a vineyard that belongs to someone else, you are allowed to eat as many grapes as you want while you are there. But don't take any with you when you leave. ²⁵ In the same way, if you are in a grain field that belongs to someone else, you can pick heads of grain and eat the kernels. But don't cut down the stalks of grain and take them with you.

A Law about Divorce

Moses said to Israel:

24 ^(AW) Suppose a woman was divorced by her first husband because he found something disgraceful about her.^[aq] He wrote out divorce papers, gave them to her, and sent her away. ² Later she married another man, ³ who then either divorced her in the same way or died. ⁴ Since she has slept with her second husband, she cannot marry her first husband again. Their marriage would pollute the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and he would be disgusted.

Newlyweds

Moses said to Israel:

⁵ If a man and a woman have been married less than one year, he must not be sent off to war or sent away to do forced labor. He must be allowed to stay home for a year and be happy with his wife.

Loans

Moses said to Israel:

⁶ When you lend money to people, you are allowed to keep something of theirs as a guarantee that they will pay back the loan. But don't take one or both of their millstones, or else they may starve. They need these stones for grinding grain into flour to make bread.

Kidnapping

Moses said to Israel:

^7 (AX) If you are guilty of kidnapping Israelites and forcing them into slavery, you will be put to death to remove this evil from the community.

Skin Diseases

Moses said to Israel:

^8 (AY) I have told the priests^[ar] what to do if any of you have leprosy,^[as] so do exactly what they say. ^9 (AZ) And remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam^[at] after you left Egypt.

Loans

Moses said to Israel:

^10 (BA) When you lend money to people, you are allowed to keep something of theirs as a guarantee that the money will be paid back. But you must not go into their house to get it. ¹¹ Wait outside, and they will bring out the item you have agreed on.

¹² Suppose someone is so poor that a coat is the only thing that can be offered as a guarantee on a loan. Don't keep the coat overnight. ¹³ Instead, give it back before sunset, so the owner can keep warm and sleep and ask the Lord to bless you. Then the Lord your God will notice that you have done the right thing.

Poor People's Wages

Moses said:

^14 (BB) If you hire poor people to work for you, don't hold back their pay,^[au] whether they are Israelites or foreigners who live in your town. ¹⁵ Pay them their wages at the end of each day, because they live in poverty and need the money to survive. If you don't pay them on time, they will complain about you to the Lord, and he will punish you.

The Death Penalty

Moses said to Israel:

^16 (BC) Parents must not be put to death for crimes committed by their children, and children must not be put to death for crimes committed by their parents. Don't put anyone to death for someone else's crime.

Don't Mistreat the Powerless

Moses said to Israel:

^17 (BD) Make sure that orphans and foreigners are treated fairly. And if you lend money to a widow and want to keep something of hers to guarantee that she will pay you back, don't take any of her clothes. ¹⁸ You were slaves in Egypt until the Lord your God rescued you. That's why I am giving you these laws.

Leave Some of Your Harvest for the Poor

Moses said to Israel:

^19 (BE) If you forget to bring in a stack of harvested grain, don't go back in the field to get it. Leave it for the poor, including foreigners, orphans, and widows, and the Lord will make you successful in everything you do.

²⁰ When you harvest your olives, don't try to get them all for yourself, but leave some for the poor. ²¹ And when you pick your grapes, go over the vines only once, then let the poor have what is left. ²² You lived in poverty as slaves in Egypt until the Lord your God rescued you. That's why I am giving you these laws.

Whipping as Punishment for a Crime

Moses said to Israel:

25 ^1-2 Suppose you and someone else each accuse the other of doing something wrong, and you go to court, where the judges decide you are guilty. If your punishment is to be beaten with a whip,^[av] one of the judges will order you to lie down, and you will receive the number of lashes you deserve. ^3 (BF) Forty lashes is the most that you can be given, because more than that might make other Israelites think you are worthless.

Don't Muzzle an Ox

Moses said to Israel:

^4 (BG) Don't muzzle an ox while it is threshing grain.^[aw]

A Son for a Dead Brother

Moses said to Israel:

^5-6 (BH) Suppose two brothers are living on the same property, when one of them dies without having a son to carry on his name. If this happens, his widow must not marry anyone outside the family. Instead, she must marry her late husband's brother, and their first son will be the legal son of the dead man.

^7 (BI) But suppose the brother refuses to marry the widow. She must go to a meeting of the town leaders at the town gate and say, “My husband died without having a son to carry on his name. And my husband's brother refuses to marry me so I can have a son.”

⁸ The leaders will call the living brother to the town gate and try to persuade him to marry the widow. But if he doesn't change his mind and marry her, ⁹ she must go over to him while the town leaders watch. She will pull off one of his sandals and spit in his face, while saying, “That's what happens to a man who won't help provide descendants for his dead brother.” ¹⁰ From then on, that man's family will be known as “the family of the man whose sandal was pulled off.”

When Two Men Fight

Moses said to Israel:

¹¹ If two men are fighting, and the wife of one man tries to rescue her husband by grabbing the other man's private parts, ¹² you must cut off her hand. Don't have any mercy.

Be Honest in Business

Moses said to Israel:

^13-14 (BJ) Don't try to cheat people by having two sets of weights or measures, one to get more when you are buying, and the other to give less when you are selling. ¹⁵ If you weigh and measure things honestly, the Lord your God will let you enjoy a long life in the land he is giving you. ¹⁶ But the Lord is disgusted with anyone who cheats or is dishonest.

Wipe Out Amalek

Moses said:

^17 (BK) People of Israel, do you remember what the Amalekites did to you after you came out of Egypt? ¹⁸ You were tired, and they followed along behind, attacking those who could not keep up with the others. This showed that the Amalekites have no respect for God.

¹⁹ The Lord your God will help you capture the land, and he will give you peace. But when that day comes, you must wipe out Amalek so completely that no one will remember they ever lived.