⁴ Abel also brought of ^(A)the firstborn of his flock and of ^(B)their fat. And the Lord ^(C)respected Abel and his offering, ⁵ but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

⁶ So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? ⁷ If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is ^[a]for you, but you should rule over it.”

⁸ Now Cain ^[b]talked with Abel his ^[c]brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and ^(D)killed him.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”

He said, ^(E)“I do not know. Am I ^(F)my brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰ And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood ^(G)cries out to Me from the ground. ¹¹ So now ^(H)you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹² When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”

¹³ And Cain said to the Lord, “My ^[d]punishment is greater than I can bear! ¹⁴ Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; ^(I)I shall be ^(J)hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that ^(K)anyone who finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵ And the Lord said to him, ^[e]“Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him ^(L)sevenfold.” And the Lord set a ^(M)mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.

The Family of Cain

¹⁶ Then Cain ^(N)went out from the ^(O)presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of ^[f]Nod on the east of Eden.

^4 (A)But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. ⁵ Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; ^(B)from the hand of every beast I will require it, and ^(C)from the hand of man. From the hand of every ^(D)man’s brother I will require the life of man.

Penalties for Breaking the Law

20 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^2 (A)“Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: ^(B)‘Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who ^[a]dwell in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall ^(C)stone him with stones. ^3 (D)I will set My face against that man, and will ^[b]cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name. ⁴ And if the people of the land should in any way ^[c]hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him, ⁵ then I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech.

⁶ ‘And ^(E)the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. ^7 (F)Consecrate^[d] yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. ⁸ And you shall keep ^(G)My statutes, and perform them: ^(H)I am the Lord who ^[e]sanctifies you.

⁹ ‘For ^(I)everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. ^(J)His blood shall be upon him.

^10 (K)‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death. ¹¹ The man who lies with his ^(L)father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. ¹² If a man lies with his ^(M)daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed perversion. Their blood shall be upon them. ^13 (N)If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. ¹⁴ If a man marries a woman and her ^(O)mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you. ¹⁵ If a man mates with an ^(P)animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. ¹⁶ If a woman approaches any animal and mates with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them.

¹⁷ ‘If a man takes his ^(Q)sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a wicked thing. And they shall be ^[f]cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness. He shall bear his ^[g]guilt. ^18 (R)If a man lies with a woman during her ^[h]sickness and uncovers her nakedness, he has ^[i]exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood. Both of them shall be ^[j]cut off from their people.

¹⁹ ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your ^(S)mother’s sister nor of your ^(T)father’s sister, for that would uncover his near of kin. They shall bear their guilt. ²⁰ If a man lies with his ^(U)uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness. They shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. ²¹ If a man takes his ^(V)brother’s wife, it is an ^[k]unclean thing. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They shall be childless.

²² ‘You shall therefore keep all My ^(W)statutes and all My judgments, and perform them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell ^(X)may not vomit you out. ^23 (Y)And you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, and ^(Z)therefore I abhor them. ²⁴ But ^(AA)I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, ^(AB)who has separated you from the peoples. ^25 (AC)You shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, ^(AD)and you shall not make yourselves ^[l]abominable by beast or by bird, or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as ^[m]unclean. ²⁶ And you shall be holy to Me, ^(AE)for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.

^27 (AF)‘A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.’ ”

The Law Concerning Servants^(A)

21 “Now these are the ^[a]judgments which you shall ^(B)set before them: ^2 (C)If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing. ³ If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. ⁴ If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. ^5 (D)But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ ⁶ then his master shall bring him to the ^(E)judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.

⁷ “And if a man ^(F)sells his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. ⁸ If she ^[b]does not please her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her. ⁹ And if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters. ¹⁰ If he takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, ^(G)and her marriage rights. ¹¹ And if he does not do these three for her, then she shall go out free, without paying money.

The Law Concerning Violence

^12 (H)“He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. ¹³ However, ^(I)if he did not lie in wait, but God ^(J)delivered him into his hand, then ^(K)I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

¹⁴ “But if a man acts with ^(L)premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, ^(M)you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.

¹⁵ “And he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

^16 (N)“He who kidnaps a man and ^(O)sells him, or if he is ^(P)found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.

¹⁷ “And ^(Q)he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

¹⁸ “If men contend with each other, and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but is confined to his bed, ¹⁹ if he rises again and walks about outside ^(R)with his staff, then he who struck him shall be ^[c]acquitted. He shall only pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for him to be thoroughly healed.

²⁰ “And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. ²¹ Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his ^(S)property.

²² “If men ^[d]fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that ^[e]she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall ^(T)pay as the judges determine. ²³ But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, ^24 (U)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

²⁶ “If a man strikes the eye of his male or female servant, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for the sake of his eye. ²⁷ And if he knocks out the tooth of his male or female servant, he shall let him go free for the sake of his tooth.

Animal Control Laws

²⁸ “If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then ^(V)the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be ^[f]acquitted. ²⁹ But if the ox ^[g]tended to thrust with its horn in times past, and it has been made known to his owner, and he has not kept it confined, so that it has killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. ³⁰ If there is imposed on him a sum of money, then he shall pay ^(W)to redeem his life, whatever is imposed on him. ³¹ Whether it has gored a son or gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him. ³² If the ox gores a male or female servant, he shall give to their master ^(X)thirty shekels of silver, and the ^(Y)ox shall be stoned.

³³ “And if a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls in it, ³⁴ the owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall give money to their owner, but the dead animal shall be his.

³⁵ “If one man’s ox hurts another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the money from it; and the dead ox they shall also divide. ³⁶ Or if it was known that the ox tended to thrust in time past, and its owner has not kept it confined, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal shall be his own.

Cities for the Levites

35 And the Lord spoke to Moses in ^(A)the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, saying: ^2 (B)“Command the children of Israel that they give the Levites cities to dwell in from the inheritance of their possession, and you shall also give the Levites ^(C)common-land around the cities. ³ They shall have the cities to dwell in; and their common-land shall be for their cattle, for their herds, and for all their animals. ⁴ The common-land of the cities which you will give the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all around. ⁵ And you shall measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, on the south side two thousand cubits, on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits. The city shall be in the middle. This shall belong to them as common-land for the cities.

⁶ “Now among the cities which you will give to the Levites you shall appoint ^(D)six cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. And to these you shall add forty-two cities. ⁷ So all the cities you will give to the Levites shall be ^(E)forty-eight; these you shall give with their common-land. ⁸ And the cities which you will give shall be ^(F)from the possession of the children of Israel; ^(G)from the larger tribe you shall give many, from the smaller you shall give few. Each shall give some of its cities to the Levites, in proportion to the inheritance that each receives.”

Cities of Refuge^(H)

⁹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ^(I)‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ¹¹ then ^(J)you shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person accidentally may flee there. ^12 (K)They shall be cities of refuge for you from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment. ¹³ And of the cities which you give, you shall have ^(L)six cities of refuge. ^14 (M)You shall appoint three cities on this side of the Jordan, and three cities you shall appoint in the land of Canaan, which will be cities of refuge. ¹⁵ These six cities shall be for refuge for the children of Israel, ^(N)for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills a person accidentally may flee there.

^16 (O)‘But if he strikes him with an iron implement, so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. ¹⁷ And if he strikes him with a stone in the hand, by which one could die, and he does die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. ¹⁸ Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon, by which one could die, and he does die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. ^19 (P)The^[a] avenger of blood himself shall put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. ^20 (Q)If he pushes him out of hatred or, ^(R)while lying in wait, hurls something at him so that he dies, ²¹ or in enmity he strikes him with his hand so that he dies, the one who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

²² ‘However, if he pushes him suddenly ^(S)without enmity, or throws anything at him without lying in wait, ²³ or uses a stone, by which a man could die, throwing it at him without seeing him, so that he dies, while he was not his enemy or seeking his harm, ²⁴ then ^(T)the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments. ²⁵ So the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where he had fled, and ^(U)he shall remain there until the death of the high priest ^(V)who was anointed with the holy oil. ²⁶ But if the manslayer at any time goes outside the limits of the city of refuge where he fled, ²⁷ and the avenger of blood finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of ^[b]blood, ²⁸ because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession.

²⁹ ‘And these things shall be ^(W)a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. ³⁰ Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the ^(X)testimony of witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty. ³¹ Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. ³² And you shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the priest. ³³ So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood ^(Y)defiles the land, and no ^[c]atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except ^(Z)by the blood of him who shed it. ³⁴ Therefore ^(AA)do not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell; for ^(AB)I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel.’ ”

Submit to Government

13 Let every soul be ^(A)subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. ² Therefore whoever resists ^(B)the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will ^[a]bring judgment on themselves. ³ For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? ^(C)Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. ⁴ For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. ⁵ Therefore ^(D)you must be subject, not only because of wrath ^(E)but also for conscience’ sake. ⁶ For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. ^7 (F)Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

Love Your Neighbor^(G)

⁸ Owe no one anything except to love one another, for ^(H)he who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹ For the commandments, ^(I)“You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” ^[b]“You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ^(J)“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore ^(K)love is the fulfillment of the law.

Put on Christ

¹¹ And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time ^(L)to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. ¹² The night is far spent, the day is at hand. ^(M)Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and ^(N)let us put on the armor of light. ^13 (O)Let us walk ^[c]properly, as in the day, ^(P)not in revelry and drunkenness, ^(Q)not in lewdness and lust, ^(R)not in strife and envy. ¹⁴ But ^(S)put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and ^(T)make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.