Beginning

A Person Found Murdered

21 Someone might be found murdered. He might be lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to own. And no one knows who killed him. ² Your elders and judges should go to where he was found. And they should measure how far it is to the nearby cities. ³ The elders of the city nearest the body are responsible. They must take a young cow that has never worked or worn a yoke. ⁴ And they must lead her down to a valley. It must never have been plowed or planted. It must have a stream flowing through it. There they must break the young cow’s neck. ⁵ The priests should come forward. They are the sons of Levi. They have been chosen by the Lord your God. They are to serve and give blessings in the Lord’s name. And they are to decide cases of quarreling and attacks. ⁶ Then all the elders of the city nearest the murdered man should wash their hands. They should do it over the young cow whose neck was broken in the valley. ⁷ They should declare: “We did not kill this man. And we did not see it happen. ⁸ Lord, remove this sin of your people Israel. You have saved them. Don’t blame your people, the Israelites, for this innocent man’s murder.” And so the murder will be paid for. ⁹ Then you will have removed from yourselves the guilt of murdering an innocent person. You will be doing what the Lord says is right.

Captive Women as Wives

¹⁰ You will go to war against your enemies. The Lord will help you defeat them. You will take them captive. ¹¹ You might see a beautiful woman among the captives. And you might be attracted to her. You may take her as your wife. ¹² Bring her into your home. She must shave her head and cut her nails. ¹³ She must change out of the clothes she was wearing when you captured her. And she must live in your house and cry for her parents for a month. After that, you may marry her. You will be her husband, and she will be your wife. ¹⁴ But you might not be pleased with her. Then let her go anywhere she wants. You must not sell her for money. You must not make her a slave. You have taken away her honor.

The Oldest Son

¹⁵ A man may have two wives. He might love one wife but not the other. Both wives might have sons by him. But the older son might be the son of the wife he does not love. ¹⁶ Someday that man must will his property to his sons. But he must not give the son of the wife he loves what belongs to the older son. The older son is the son of the wife the man does not love. ¹⁷ He must agree to give the older son two shares of everything he owns. The older son is from the wife he does not love. That son was the first to prove his father could have children. So he has the rights that belong to the older son.

Sons Who Refuse to Obey

¹⁸ A man might have a son who is stubborn. The son turns against his father and mother and doesn’t obey them. He will not listen when they correct him. ¹⁹ His parents must take him to the elders at the city gate. ²⁰ They will say to the leaders, “Our son is stubborn and turns against us. He will not obey us. He eats too much. And he is always drunk.” ²¹ Then all the men in his town must throw stones at him until he dies. Get rid of the evil among you. All the people of Israel will hear about this and be afraid.

Other Laws

²² A man might be guilty of a sin worthy of death. He must be put to death and his body displayed on a tree. ²³ But don’t leave his body hanging on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day. Anyone whose body is displayed on a tree is cursed by God. You must not ruin the land the Lord your God is giving you to own.

22 You might see your fellow Israelite’s ox or sheep wandering away. Don’t ignore it. Take it back to its owner. ² The owner might not live close to you. Or you might not know who he is. Then take the animal home with you. Keep it until the owner comes looking for it. Then give it back to him. ³ Do the same thing if you find his donkey or coat or anything he lost. Don’t just ignore it.

⁴ You might see your fellow Israelite’s donkey or ox fallen on the road. Don’t ignore it. Help him get it up.

⁵ A woman must not wear men’s clothes. And a man must not wear women’s clothes. The Lord your God hates anyone who does that.

⁶ You might find a bird’s nest by the road. It might be in a tree or on the ground. And the mother bird might be sitting on the young birds or eggs. Do not take the mother bird with the young birds. ⁷ You may take the young birds. But you must let the mother bird go free. Then things will go well for you. And you will live a long time.

⁸ When you build a new house, build a wall around the roof.^[a] Then you will not be guilty of murder if someone falls off the roof.

⁹ Don’t plant two different kinds of seeds in your vineyard. Otherwise, both crops will be ruined.

¹⁰ Don’t plow with an ox and a donkey tied together.

¹¹ Don’t wear clothes made of wool and linen woven together.

¹² Tie several pieces of thread together. Then put these tassels on the four corners of your coat.

Marriage Laws

¹³ A man might marry a girl and have intimate relations with her. But he might decide that he does not like her. ¹⁴ So he might lie about her and give her a bad name. He might say, “I married this woman. But when I had intimate relations with her, I did not find that she was a virgin.” ¹⁵ Then the girl’s parents must bring proof that she was a virgin. They must bring it to the elders at the city gate. ¹⁶ The girl’s father will 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 has told lies about my daughter. He has said, ‘I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.’ But here is the proof that my daughter was a virgin.” Then her parents are to show the sheet to the city leaders. ¹⁸ Then the leaders must take the man and punish him. ¹⁹ They must make him pay about two and a half pounds of silver. The silver will go to the girl’s father. This is because the man has given an Israelite girl a bad name. The girl must continue to be the man’s wife. And he may not divorce her as long as he lives.

²⁰ But the things the husband said about his wife might be true. And there might be no proof that she was a virgin. ²¹ If so, the girl must be brought to the door of her father’s house. Then the men of the town must put her to death by throwing stones at her. She has done a disgraceful thing in Israel. She had physical relations before she was married. You must get rid of the evil among you.

²² A man might be found committing adultery with another man’s wife. Both the woman and the man who committed adultery with her must die. Get rid of this evil from Israel.

²³ A man might meet a virgin in a city and have physical relations with her. But she might be engaged to another man. ²⁴ You must take both of them to the city gate. Put them both to death by throwing stones at them. Kill the girl because she was in a city and did not scream for help. And kill the man for having physical relations with another man’s wife. You must get rid of the evil among you.

²⁵ But a man might meet a girl out in the country. He might force her to have physical relations with him. But she might be engaged to another man. Only the man who forced her to have physical relations with her must be put to death. ²⁶ Don’t do anything to the girl. She has not done a sin worthy of death. This is like the person who attacks and murders his neighbor. ²⁷ The man found the engaged girl in the country. And she screamed. But no one was there to save her.

²⁸ A man might meet a virgin who is not engaged to be married. He might force her to have physical relations with him. And people might find out about it. ²⁹ The man must pay the girl’s father about one and one-fourth pounds of silver. He must also marry the girl because he has dishonored her. And he may never divorce her for as long as he lives.

³⁰ A man must not marry his father’s wife. He must not dishonor his father in this way.

The Lord’s People

23 No man who has had part of his sex organ cut off may come into the worship meeting of the Lord’s people.

² No one born to parents who were forbidden by law to marry may come into the meeting to worship the Lord. His descendants for ten generations may not come in either.

³ No Ammonite or Moabite may come into the meeting to worship the Lord. And none of their descendants for ten generations may come in. ⁴ This is because the Ammonites and Moabites did not give you bread and water when you came out of Egypt. And they hired Balaam to put a curse on you. He was the son of Beor from Pethor in Northwest Mesopotamia. ⁵ But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam. He turned the curse into a blessing for you. The Lord your God loves you. ⁶ Don’t wish for their peace or success as long as you live.

⁷ Don’t hate Edomites. They are your relatives. Don’t hate Egyptians, because you were foreigners in their country. ⁸ The great-grandchildren of these two peoples may come into the meeting to worship the Lord.

Keeping the Camp Clean

⁹ When you are camped in time of war, keep away from unclean things. ¹⁰ A man might become unclean during the night. If he does, he must go outside the camp and not come back. ¹¹ But when evening comes, he must wash himself. At sunset he may come back into the camp.

¹² Choose a place outside the camp where people may go to relieve themselves. ¹³ Carry a stick with you. When you relieve yourself, dig a hole. Cover up your dung. ¹⁴ The Lord your God moves around through your camp. He will protect you. He will help you defeat your enemies. So the camp must be holy. The Lord must not see anything unclean among you. Then he will not leave you.

Other Laws

¹⁵ An escaped slave might come to you. Do not hand him over to his master. ¹⁶ Let the slave live with you anywhere he likes. He may live in any town he chooses. Do not mistreat him.

¹⁷ No Israelite man or woman must ever become a temple prostitute. ¹⁸ Do not bring a male or female prostitute’s pay to the Temple of the Lord your God to pay what you have promised to the Lord. The Lord your God hates prostitution.

¹⁹ You may loan your fellow Israelite money or food or anything else. But don’t make him pay back more than what you loaned him. ²⁰ You may charge a foreigner, but not a fellow Israelite. Then the Lord your God will bless everything you do. He will bless you in the land you are entering to take as your own.

²¹ You might make a promise to give something to the Lord your God. Do not be slow to pay it. The Lord your God demands it from you. Do not be guilty of sin. ²² But if you do not make the promise, you will not be guilty. ²³ You must do whatever you say you will do. You chose to make the promise to the Lord your God.

²⁴ You might go into your neighbor’s vineyard. You may eat as many grapes as you wish. But do not fill your basket with his grapes. ²⁵ You might go into your neighbor’s grainfield. You may pick grain with your hands. But you must not cut down his grain with your sickle.