Deuteronomy 22
Common English Bible
Rules for property and mixtures
22 Don’t just watch your fellow Israelite’s ox or sheep wandering around and do nothing about it. You must return the animal to its owner. 2 If the owner doesn’t live nearby, or you don’t know who owns the animal, then you must take care of it. It should stay with you until your fellow Israelite comes looking for it, at which point you must return it to him.
3 Do the same thing in the case of a donkey. Do the same thing in the case of a piece of clothing. Do the same thing in the case of anything that your fellow Israelite loses and you end up finding. You are not allowed to sit back and do nothing about it.
4 Don’t just watch your fellow Israelite’s donkey or ox fall down in the road and do nothing about it. You must help your fellow Israelite get the animal up again.
5 Women must not wear men’s clothes, and men must not wear women’s clothes. Everyone who does such things is detestable to the Lord your God.
6 If you come across a bird’s nest along your way, whether in a tree or on the ground, with baby birds or eggs, and the mother is sitting on the baby birds or eggs, do not remove the mother from her young. 7 You must let the mother go, though you may take the young for yourself so that things go well for you and so you can prolong your life.
8 Whenever you build a new house, you must build a railing for the roof so that you don’t end up with innocent blood on your hands because someone fell off of it.
9 Don’t plant your vineyards with two types of seed; otherwise, the entire crop that you have planted and the produce of the vineyard will be unusable.[a]
10 Don’t plow with an ox and a donkey together.
11 Don’t wear clothes that mix wool and linen together.
12 Make tassels for the four corners of the coat you wear.
Virgin bride
13 Suppose a man gets married and consummates the marriage but subsequently despises his wife. 14 He then spreads false claims about her to the point that she has a bad reputation, because he said such things as, “I married this woman, but when I went to have sex with her, I couldn’t find any proof that she was a virgin.”
15 At that point, the young woman’s father and mother will bring proof of her virginity to the city’s elders at the city gate. 16 The young woman’s father will say to the elders: “I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife, but he doesn’t like her anymore. 17 That’s why he has spread false claims about her, saying, ‘I couldn’t find any proof that your daughter was a virgin.’ But look! Here’s proof of my daughter’s virginity.” At that point they will spread out the blanket in front of the city’s elders. 18 The city’s elders must then take that husband and punish him. 19 They will fine him one hundred silver shekels, giving that to the young woman’s father, because that husband gave one of Israel’s virgin daughters a bad reputation. Moreover, she must remain his wife; he is never allowed to divorce her.
20 However, if the claim is true and proof of the young woman’s virginity can’t be produced, 21 then the city’s elders will bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house. The citizens of that city must stone her until she dies because she acted so sinfully in Israel by having extramarital sex while still in her father’s house.
Remove[b] such evil from your community!
Inappropriate sexual behavior
22 If a man is found having sex with a woman who is married to someone else, both of them must die—the man who was having sex with the woman and the woman herself.
Remove such evil from Israel!
23 If a young woman who is a virgin is engaged to one man and another man meets up with her in a town and has sex with her, 24 you must bring both of them to the city gates there and stone them until they die—the young woman because she didn’t call for help in the city, and the man because of the fact that he humiliated his neighbor’s wife.
Remove such evil from your community!
25 But if the man met up with the engaged woman in a field, grabbing her and having sex with her there, only the man will die. 26 Don’t do anything whatsoever to the young woman. She hasn’t committed any capital crime—rather, this situation is exactly like the one where someone attacks his neighbor and kills him.[c] 27 Since the man met up with her in a field, the engaged woman may well have called out for help, but there was no one to rescue her.
28 If a man meets up with a young woman who is a virgin and not engaged, grabs her and has sex with her, and they are caught in the act, 29 the man who had sex with her must give fifty silver shekels to the young woman’s father. She will also become his wife because he has humiliated her. He is never allowed to divorce her.
30 [d] A man cannot marry his father’s former wife so that his father’s private matters are not exposed.[e]
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 22:9 Or sanctified
- Deuteronomy 22:21 Or burn; so also 22:22, 24
- Deuteronomy 22:26 See 19:11.
- Deuteronomy 22:30 23:1 in Heb
- Deuteronomy 22:30 Or so that he doesn’t uncover his father’s skirt
Deuteronomy 22
Easy-to-Read Version
Other Laws
22 “If you see that your neighbor’s ox or sheep is loose, you must not ignore it. Be sure to take it back to its owner. 2 If the owner does not live near you or if you don’t know who it belongs to, take the ox or sheep to your house. Keep it there until the owner comes looking for it; then give it back. 3 You must do the same thing when you find anything that your neighbor might have lost. Don’t try selling it to your neighbor—you must give it back.
4 “If your neighbor’s donkey or ox has fallen down on the road, you must not ignore it. You must help your neighbor lift it up again.
5 “A woman must not wear men’s clothes, and a man must not wear women’s clothes. That is disgusting to the Lord your God.
6 “You might be walking along a path and find a bird’s nest in a tree or on the ground. If the mother bird is sitting with her baby birds or on the eggs, you must not take the mother bird with the babies. 7 You may take the babies for yourself, but you must let the mother go. If you obey these laws, things will go well for you, and you will live a long time.
8 “When you build a new house, you must build a wall around your roof.[a] Then you will not be guilty for the death of a person who falls from the house.
Things That Must Not Be Put Together
9 “You must not plant seeds of grain in the same fields as your grapevines. Why? Because then they become useless[b]—both the grapes and the grain produced by the seeds you planted.
10 “You must not plow with an ox and a donkey together.
11 “You must not wear clothes made by weaving together wool and linen.
12 “Tie several pieces of thread together. Then put these tassels[c] on the four corners of the robes you wear.
Marriage Laws
13 “A man might marry a woman and have sexual relations with her. Then he might decide that he does not like her. 14 He might accuse her of doing wrong and say, ‘I married this woman, but when we had sexual relations, I found she was not a virgin.’ By saying this against her, people might think bad things about her. 15 If this happens, the girl’s father and mother must bring the proof that the girl was a virgin to the town elders at the meeting place of the town. 16 The girl’s father must say to the leaders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife, but now he does not want her. 17 This man accused my daughter of doing wrong and said, “I did not find the proof that your daughter is a virgin.” But here is the proof that my daughter was a virgin.’ Then they should show the cloth[d] to the town leaders. 18 Then the leaders of that town must take that man and punish him. 19 They must fine him 40 ounces of silver.[e] They will give the money to the girl’s father because her husband brought shame to an Israelite girl. And the girl will continue to be the man’s wife. He cannot divorce her for the rest of his life.
20 “But what the husband said about his wife might be true. The wife’s parents might not have the proof that she was a virgin. If this happens, 21 the town leaders must bring the girl to the door of her father’s house. Then the men of the town must kill her with stones, because she has done a shameful thing in Israel. She has acted like a prostitute in her father’s house. You must remove this evil from your group.
Sexual Sins
22 “If a man is found having sexual relations with another man’s wife, both of them must die—the woman and the man who had sexual relations with her. You must remove this evil from Israel.
23 “A man might meet a virgin girl engaged to another man. He might have sexual relations with her. If this happens in the city, 24 you must bring them both out to the public place near the gate of that city, and you must kill them with stones. You must kill the man, because he used another man’s wife for sexual sin. And you must kill the girl, because she was in the city but did not call for help. You must remove this evil from your people.
25 “But if a man finds an engaged girl out in the field and forces her to have sexual relations with him, only the man must die. 26 You must do nothing to the girl. She did nothing that deserves the punishment of death. This is like someone attacking their neighbor and killing them. 27 The man found the engaged girl out in the field and attacked her. Maybe she called for help, but there was no one to help her.
28 “A man might find a virgin girl who is not engaged and force her to have sexual relations with him. If other people see this happen, 29 he must pay the girl’s father 20 ounces of silver.[f] And the girl will become the man’s wife, because he used her for sexual sin. He cannot divorce her all his life.
30 “A man must not bring shame to his father by marrying his father’s wife.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 22:8 wall around your roof In ancient Israel, houses had flat roofs that were used as an extra room. This law made the roof a safer place.
- Deuteronomy 22:9 they become useless Literally, “they become holy.” This means these things belonged only to God, so they couldn’t be used by the people.
- Deuteronomy 22:12 tassels These pieces of string were made from different materials, so they became holy. This helped the people remember God and his commands.
- Deuteronomy 22:17 cloth The bloodstained bed cover that the bride kept from her wedding night to prove she was a virgin when she married.
- Deuteronomy 22:19 40 ounces of silver This is probably twice the amount of money that a man usually paid the father of the bride to seal the marriage agreement. See Deut. 22:29.
- Deuteronomy 22:29 20 ounces of silver This money became the dowry, the money a man paid to a woman’s father to seal the marriage agreement. Often the father saved this money to take care of the woman if something happened to her husband.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International