Beginning

21 “If one is found killed in the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess, lying in the field (it is not known who has killed him),

² “then your elders and your judges shall come forth and measure to the cities that are around him who is killed.

³ “And let the elders of that city which is next to the killed man take a heifer that has not been put to labor or drawn the yoke.

⁴ “And let the elders of that city bring the heifer to a stony valley, which is neither plowed nor sown, and break the heifer’s neck there in the valley.

⁵ “Also the priests, the sons of Levi (whom the LORD your God has chosen to minister, and to bless in the Name of the LORD) shall come forth. And by their word shall all strife and plague be settled.

⁶ “And all the elders of that city that came near the killed man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley.

⁷ “And they shall testify, and say, ‘Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen it.

⁸ ‘O LORD, be merciful to Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed. And lay no innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel.’ And the blood shall be forgiven them.

⁹ “So shall you take away the cry of innocent blood from you when you shall do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.

¹⁰ “When you shall go to war against your enemies, and the LORD your God shall deliver them into your hands, and you shall take them captives,

¹¹ “and shall see among the captives a beautiful woman, and have a desire for her, and would take her for your wife,

¹² “then you shall bring her home to your house. And she shall shave her head and trim her nails.

¹³ “And she shall change the garment that she was taken in. And she shall remain in your house and mourn her father and her mother for a month. And after that, you shall go in to her, and marry her. And she shall be your wife.

¹⁴ “And if you do not favor her, then you may let her go where she will. But you shall not sell her for money or make merchandise of her, because you have humbled her.

¹⁵ “If a man has two wives—one loved and another hated—and they have born him children (both the loved and also the hated), if the firstborn is the son of the hated,

¹⁶ “then, when the time comes that he appoints his sons to be heirs of that which he has, he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, who is the firstborn.

¹⁷ “But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated as the firstborn and give him double portion from all that he has. For he is the first of his strength, and to him belongs the right of firstborn.

¹⁸ “If any man has a son that is stubborn and disobedient, who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother. And they have chastened him. And he would not obey them.

¹⁹ “Then his father and his mother shall take him and bring him out to the elders of his city, and to the gate of the place where he dwells,

²⁰ “and shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and disobedient. He will not obey our admonition. He is a rioter and a drunkard.’

²¹ “Then all the men of his city shall stone him with stones until death. So you shall take away evil from among you, so that all Israel may hear it and fear.

²² “If a man also has committed a trespass worthy of death, and is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,

²³ “his body shall not remain upon the tree all night. But you shall bury him the same day. For the curse of God is on him who is hanged. Therefore, do not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you to inherit.”

22 “You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep go astray and withdraw yourself from them. Bring them back to your brother.

² “And if your brother is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it into your house. And it shall remain with you until your brother seeks after it. Then you shall deliver it back to him.

³ “You shall do likewise with his donkey. And so shall you do with his clothing, and with all lost things of your brother which he has lost. If you have found them, you shall not hide them.

⁴ “You shall not see your brother’s donkey, or his ox, fall down on the way and withdraw yourself from them. Lift them up with him.

⁵ “The woman shall not wear that which pertains to the man, nor shall a man put on woman’s clothing. For all who do so are abomination to the LORD your God.

⁶ “If you find a bird’s nest in the way, in any tree, or on the ground (young or eggs) and the mother sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young.

⁷ “If you must, let the mother go and take the young for yourself, so that you may prosper and prolong your days.

⁸ “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet on your roof, so that you do not shed blood upon your house if any man falls from there.

⁹ “You shall not sow your vineyard with diverse kinds of seeds, lest you defile the increase of the seed which you have sown, and the fruit of the vineyard.

¹⁰ “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.

¹¹ “You shall not wear a mixed weave, such as wool and linen together.

¹² “You shall make fringes for yourself upon the four quarters of your covering with which you cover yourself.

¹³ “If a man takes a wife, and after he has lain with her, hates her,

¹⁴ “and then says slanderous things about her, brings a bad name upon her, and says, ‘I took this wife, and when I came to her, I did not find her to be a maid’,

¹⁵ “then the father of the maid and her mother shall take and bring the signs of the maid’s virginity to the elders of the city, to the gate.

¹⁶ “And the maid’s father shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife and he hates her.

¹⁷ ‘And lo, he says slanderous things about her, saying, “I did not find your daughter to be a maid.” Lo, these are the signs of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city.

¹⁸ “Then the elders of the city shall take that man and discipline him,

¹⁹ “and shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the father of the maid, because he has brought a bad name upon a maid of Israel. And she shall be his wife. And he may not divorce her the rest of his life.

²⁰ “But if this thing is true, meaning the maid is not found to be a virgin,

²¹ “then they shall bring forth the maid to the door of her father’s house. And the men of her city shall stone her with stones until death. For she has worked folly in Israel by playing the whore in her father’s house. So you shall put evil away from among you.

²² “If a man is found lying with a woman who is married to a man, then both of them shall die, the man who lays with the wife and the wife. So you shall put away evil from Israel.

²³ “If a maid is engaged to a husband, and a man finds her in the town and lies with her,

²⁴ “then you shall bring them both out to the gates of the same city and shall stone them with stones until death, the maid because she did not cry out in the city and the man because he has humbled his neighbor’s wife. So you shall put away evil from among you.

²⁵ “But if a man finds an engaged maid in the field and forces her, and lies with her, then the man who lays with her shall die alone:

²⁶ “And you shall do nothing to the maid, because there is in the maid no cause for death. For as when a man rises against his neighbor and mortally wounds him, so is this matter.

²⁷ “For he found her in the fields, the engaged maid cried out, and there was no one to save her.

²⁸ “If a man finds a maid who is not engaged, and takes her and lies with her, and they are found,

²⁹ “then the man who lays with her shall give fifty shekels of silver to the maid’s father. And she shall be his wife, because he has humbled her. He cannot divorce her the rest of his life.

³⁰ “No man shall take his father’s wife or shall uncover his father’s extremity.”

23 “No one who is hurt by crushing, or who has had his private parts cut off, shall enter into the Congregation of the LORD.

² “A bastard shall not enter into the Congregation of the LORD. Up to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the Congregation of the LORD.

³ “The Ammonites and the Moabites shall not enter into the Congregation of the LORD. Up to their tenth generation they shall not enter into the Congregation of the LORD, forever,

⁴ “because they did not meet you with bread and water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired Balaam — the son of Beor, of Pethor in Aram-naharaim — against you, to curse you.

⁵ “Nevertheless, the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam. But the LORD your God turned the curse to a blessing for you because the LORD your God loved you.

⁶ “You shall not seek their peace, nor their prosperity all your days, forever.

⁷ “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. Nor shall you abhor an Egyptian, because you were a stranger in his land.

⁸ The children who are begotten of those in their third generation shall enter into the Congregation of the LORD.

⁹ “When you go out with the army against your enemies, then keep yourself from all wickedness.

¹⁰ “If there is anyone among you who is unclean by that which comes to him by night, he shall go out of the camp, and shall not enter the camp.

¹¹ “But at evening, he shall wash with water. And when the Sun is down, he shall enter the camp.

¹² “You shall also have a place outside the camp to which you shall go out.

¹³ “And you shall have an implement among your weapons. And when you would sit down outside, you shall dig with it. And upon returning, you shall cover your excrements.

¹⁴ “For the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give you your enemies before you. Therefore, your camp shall be holy, so that He sees no filthy thing in you, and turn away from you.

¹⁵ “You shall not deliver the servant to his master, who has escaped from his master to you.

¹⁶ “He shall dwell with you, amongxus you, in whatever place he shall choose, in one of your cities he likes best. You shall not trouble him.

¹⁷ “There shall be no whore from the daughters of Israel. Nor shall there be a whore keeper from the sons of Israel.

¹⁸ “You shall bring neither the price of a whore nor the price of a dog into the House of the LORD your God, for any vow. For both of these are abomination to the LORD your God.

¹⁹ “You shall not charge interest to your brother — on money, on meat, on anything that may be lent with interest.

²⁰ “You may lend with interest to a stranger. But you shall not lend with interest to your brother, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all that you set your hand to in the land to which you go to possess.

²¹ “When you shall vow a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not be slow to pay it. For the LORD your God will surely require it of you. And so it would be sin to you.

²² “But when you abstain from vowing, it shall be no sin to you.

²³ “That which has gone out of your lips you shall keep and perform, as you have vowed it willingly to the LORD your God. You have spoken it with your mouth.

²⁴ “When you come to your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat grapes at your pleasure, as much as you will. But you shall put none in your container.

²⁵ “When you come to your neighbor’s corn, you may pluck the ears with your hand. But you shall not move a sickle to your neighbor’s corn.”