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“When you build a new house, you are to make a guardrail for your roof, so that you do not bring the guilt of blood on your house if anyone falls from it.

“You are not to plant your vineyard with two kinds of seed, or else the whole harvest will be forfeited[a]—both the seed you plant and the produce of the vineyard. 10 You are not to plow with an ox and a donkey together. 11 You are not to wear a woven mixture[b], wool and linen together. 12 You are to make for yourself twisted threads[c] on the four corners of your garment in which you cover yourself.

13 “Suppose a man takes a wife and goes t0 her and then dislikes her, 14 accuses her of shameful things and gives her a bad reputation by saying, ‘I took this woman, but when I came near her, I didn’t find her virginity.’ 15 Then the father of the young woman is to take her and her mother is to bring out the signs of the young woman’s virginity to the city elders at the gate. 16 The young lady’s father is to tell the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, but he hates her. 17 Indeed, he has accused her of shameful things, saying, “I didn’t find your daughter’s virginity.” Yet these are the signs of my daughter’s virginity.’ They are to spread the wedding cloth before the elders of the city. 18 The elders of that city are to take the man and punish him. 19 Then they are to fine him 100 pieces of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought an evil name on a virgin of Israel. Then she is to be his wife—he may not send her away all his days.

20 “But if this thing is true—that the signs of virginity were not found in the young lady— 21 then they are to bring the young woman out to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city are to stone her with stones to death, because she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel, to behave like a prostitute in her father’s house. So you are to purge the evil from your midst.

22 “Suppose a man is found lying with a married woman. Then both of them are to die—the man who lay with the woman and the woman. So you are to purge the evil from Israel.

23 “Suppose there is a young woman who is a virgin engaged to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies with her. 24 Then you are to bring them both out to the gate of that city and stone them with stones to death—the young woman because she did not cry out in the town, and the man because he humiliated his neighbor’s wife. So you are to purge the evil from your midst.

25 “But if the man finds the engaged woman in the field, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her is to die. 26 But to the young woman you are to do nothing—there is no sin in the young woman deserving of death. For this matter is the same as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him— 27 for he found her in the field, the engaged woman cried out, and there was no one to save her.

28 “Suppose a man finds a young virgin who is not engaged, grabs her and lies with her, and they are discovered. 29 Then the man who lay with her is to give to the young woman’s father 50 pieces of silver, and she is to be his wife, since he has humiliated her—he may not send her away all his days.

Persons Excluded from the Community

23 “A man is not to take his father’s wife—he is not to expose his father’s nakedness.

“No one with crushed or cut-off genitals is to enter the community of Adonai. No one born of forbidden relations[d] is to enter the community of Adonai—even to the tenth generation none of his descendants are to enter the community of Adonai. No Ammonite or Moabite is to enter the community of Adonai—even to the tenth generation none belonging to them is to enter the community of Adonai forever— because they did not meet you with bread and water on the way when you came out from Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam son of Beor from Petor of Aram-naharaim to curse you. But Adonai your God refused to listen to Balaam, and Adonai your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because He loves you. You are never to seek their shalom or welfare all your days.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 22:9 Lit. set apart for the Sanctuary; off-limits.
  2. Deuteronomy 22:11 Heb. shaatnez (perhaps an Egyptian loan word).
  3. Deuteronomy 22:12 Heb. g’dilim; cf. Num. 15:37-41; Matt. 9:20; 23:5.
  4. Deuteronomy 23:3 Heb. mamzer, from a union forbidden by Torah (e.g., incest); verse 3 in Christian translations is verse 2.

“When you build a new house, you are to make a guardrail for your roof, so that you do not bring the guilt of blood on your house if anyone falls from it.

“You are not to plant your vineyard with two kinds of seed, or else the whole harvest will be forfeited[a]—both the seed you plant and the produce of the vineyard. 10 You are not to plow with an ox and a donkey together. 11 You are not to wear a woven mixture[b], wool and linen together. 12 You are to make for yourself twisted threads[c] on the four corners of your garment in which you cover yourself.

13 “Suppose a man takes a wife and goes t0 her and then dislikes her, 14 accuses her of shameful things and gives her a bad reputation by saying, ‘I took this woman, but when I came near her, I didn’t find her virginity.’ 15 Then the father of the young woman is to take her and her mother is to bring out the signs of the young woman’s virginity to the city elders at the gate. 16 The young lady’s father is to tell the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, but he hates her. 17 Indeed, he has accused her of shameful things, saying, “I didn’t find your daughter’s virginity.” Yet these are the signs of my daughter’s virginity.’ They are to spread the wedding cloth before the elders of the city. 18 The elders of that city are to take the man and punish him. 19 Then they are to fine him 100 pieces of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought an evil name on a virgin of Israel. Then she is to be his wife—he may not send her away all his days.

20 “But if this thing is true—that the signs of virginity were not found in the young lady— 21 then they are to bring the young woman out to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city are to stone her with stones to death, because she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel, to behave like a prostitute in her father’s house. So you are to purge the evil from your midst.

22 “Suppose a man is found lying with a married woman. Then both of them are to die—the man who lay with the woman and the woman. So you are to purge the evil from Israel.

23 “Suppose there is a young woman who is a virgin engaged to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies with her. 24 Then you are to bring them both out to the gate of that city and stone them with stones to death—the young woman because she did not cry out in the town, and the man because he humiliated his neighbor’s wife. So you are to purge the evil from your midst.

25 “But if the man finds the engaged woman in the field, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her is to die. 26 But to the young woman you are to do nothing—there is no sin in the young woman deserving of death. For this matter is the same as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him— 27 for he found her in the field, the engaged woman cried out, and there was no one to save her.

28 “Suppose a man finds a young virgin who is not engaged, grabs her and lies with her, and they are discovered. 29 Then the man who lay with her is to give to the young woman’s father 50 pieces of silver, and she is to be his wife, since he has humiliated her—he may not send her away all his days.

Persons Excluded from the Community

23 “A man is not to take his father’s wife—he is not to expose his father’s nakedness.

“No one with crushed or cut-off genitals is to enter the community of Adonai. No one born of forbidden relations[d] is to enter the community of Adonai—even to the tenth generation none of his descendants are to enter the community of Adonai. No Ammonite or Moabite is to enter the community of Adonai—even to the tenth generation none belonging to them is to enter the community of Adonai forever— because they did not meet you with bread and water on the way when you came out from Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam son of Beor from Petor of Aram-naharaim to curse you. But Adonai your God refused to listen to Balaam, and Adonai your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because He loves you. You are never to seek their shalom or welfare all your days.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 22:9 Lit. set apart for the Sanctuary; off-limits.
  2. Deuteronomy 22:11 Heb. shaatnez (perhaps an Egyptian loan word).
  3. Deuteronomy 22:12 Heb. g’dilim; cf. Num. 15:37-41; Matt. 9:20; 23:5.
  4. Deuteronomy 23:3 Heb. mamzer, from a union forbidden by Torah (e.g., incest); verse 3 in Christian translations is verse 2.