Add parallel Print Page Options

10 One day there was a man who had an Israelite mother and Egyptian father who got into a fight with an Israelite inside the camp. 11 The first man uttered a curse and disparaged the name of the Eternal One. The people brought him to Moses to decide what must be done. (His mother was Shelomith, Dibri’s daughter. Dibri was from the Dan tribe.) 12 They kept him in custody until the Eternal One’s decision became clear to them.

13 The Eternal One told Moses what to do.

Eternal One: 14 Take the man who cursed and disparaged Me outside the camp and have everyone who was a witness to what he said place their hands on his head. Then have the entire community stone him. 15 Tell the Israelites, “Anyone who curses His God or disparages His name must bear his sin and suffer the punishment. 16 Any person who blasphemes My name must be put to death. Then you must have the entire community join in stoning him. Any person—whether native-born or an outsider—who disparages My name must be put to death.”

Read full chapter

The “law of retaliation,” as it is called, is designed to curb cruelty. It limits the kind and extent of retaliation a person can suffer when he deliberately injures another.

23 Moses told the Israelites what God had decided, so they took the man who had uttered the curse outside the camp and stoned him. The Israelites did exactly as the Eternal One had instructed Moses.

Read full chapter

Bible Gateway Recommends