Beginning

21 2 Inquisition for murder. 11 Of the woman taken in war. 15 The birthright cannot be changed for affection. 18 The disobedient child. 23 The body may not hang all night.

¹ If one be found ^[a]slain in the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it is not known who hath slain him,

² Then thine Elders and thy Judges shall come forth, and measure unto the cities that are round about him that is slain:

³ And let the Elders of that city, which is next unto the slain man, take out of the drove an heifer that hath not been put to labor, nor hath drawn in the yoke.

⁴ And let the Elders of that city bring the heifer unto a ^[b]stony ^[c]valley, which is neither eared, nor sown, and strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley.

⁵ Also the Priests the sons of Levi (whom the Lord thy God hath 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 tried.

⁶ And all the Elders of that city that came near to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:

⁷ And shall testify, and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.

^8 [d]O Lord, be merciful unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay no innocent blood to the charge of thy people Israel, and the blood shall be forgiven them.

⁹ So shalt thou take away the cry of innocent blood from thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord.

¹⁰ ¶ When thou shalt go to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God shall deliver them into thine hands, and thou shalt take them captives,

¹¹ And shalt see among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, and wouldest take her to thy wife,

¹² Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house, ^[e]and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails,

¹³ And she shall put off the garment that she was taken in, and she shall remain in thine house, ^[f]and bewail her father and her mother a month long: and after that shalt thou go in unto her, and marry her, and she shall be thy ^[g]wife.

¹⁴ And if thou have no favor unto her, then thou mayest let her go whither she will, but thou shalt not sell her for money, nor make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.

¹⁵ ¶ If a man have two wives, one loved and another ^[h]hated, and they have born him children, both the loved and also the hated: if the firstborn be the son of the hated,

¹⁶ Then when the time cometh, that he appointeth his sons to be heirs of that which he hath, he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn ^[i]before the son of the hated, which is the firstborn:

¹⁷ But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, and give him ^[j]double portion for all that he hath: for he is the first of his strength, and to ^[k]him belongeth the right of firstborn.

¹⁸ ¶ If any man have a son that is stubborn and disobedient, which will not hearken unto the voice of his father, nor the voice of his ^[l]mother, and they have chastened him, and he would not obey them,

¹⁹ Then shall his father and his mother take him, and bring him out unto the Elders of his city, and unto the gate of the place where he dwelleth,

²⁰ And shall say unto the Elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and disobedient, and he will not obey our admonition: he is a rioter, and a drunkard.

²¹ Then all the men of his city shall ^[m]stone him with stones unto death: so thou shalt take away evil from among you, that all Israel may hear it, and fear.

²² ¶ If a man also have committed a trespass worthy of death, and is put to death, and thou hangest him on a tree,

²³ His body shall not remain ^[n]all night upon the tree, but thou shalt bury him the same day: for the ^(A)curse of God is on him that is hanged. Defile not therefore thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to inherit.

22 2 He commandeth to have care of our neighbor’s goods. 5 The woman may not wear man’s apparel, nor man the woman’s. 6 Of the dam and her young birds. 8 Why they should have battlements. 9 Not to mix divers kinds together. 13 Of the wife not being found a virgin. 23 The punishment of adultery.

¹ Thou ^(B)shalt not see thy brother’s ox nor his sheep go astray, and ^[o]withdraw thyself from them, but shalt bring them again unto thy brother.

² And if thy brother be not ^[p]near unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it into thine house, and it shall remain with thee, until thy brother seek after it, then shalt thou deliver it to him again:

³ In like manner shalt thou do with his ^[q]ass, and so shalt thou do with his raiment, and shalt so do with all lost things of thy brother, which he hath lost: if thou hast found them, thou shalt not withdraw thyself from them.

⁴ ¶ Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ass nor his ox fall down by the way, and withdraw thyself from them, but shalt lift them up with him.

⁵ The ^[r]woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto the man, neither shalt a man put on woman’s raiment: for all that do so, are abomination unto the Lord thy God.

⁶ ¶ If thou find a bird’s nest in the way, in any tree, or on the ground whether they be young or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, ^[s]thou shalt not take the dam with the young,

⁷ But shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee, that thou mayest prosper and prolong thy days.

⁸ ¶ When thou buildest a new house, thou shalt make a battlement on thy roof, that thou lay not blood upon thine house, if any man fall thence.

⁹ ¶ Thou shalt not ^[t]sow thy vineyard with divers kinds of seeds, lest thou defile the increase of the seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of the vineyard.

¹⁰ ¶ Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.

¹¹ ¶ Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together.

¹² ¶ ^(C)Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.

¹³ ¶ If a man take a wife, and when he hath lain with her, hate her,

¹⁴ And lay ^[u]slanderous things unto her charge, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this wife, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid,

¹⁵ Then shall the father of the maid and her mother take and bring the signs of the maid’s virginity unto the Elders of the city to the gate.

¹⁶ And the maid’s father shall say unto the Elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife and he hateth her:

¹⁷ And lo, he layeth slanderous things unto her charge, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid: lo, these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity: and they shall spread the ^[v]vesture before the Elders of the city.

¹⁸ Then the Elders of the city shall take that man and chastise him,

¹⁹ And shall condemn him in an hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father ^[w]of the maid, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a maid of Israel: and she shall be his wife, and he may not put her away all his life.

²⁰ But if this thing be true, that the maid be not found a virgin,

²¹ Then shall they bring forth the maid to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones to death: for she hath wrought folly in Israel, by playing the whore in her father’s house: so thou shalt put evil away from among you.

²² ¶ ^(D)If a man be found lying with a woman married to a man, then they shall die even both twain: to wit, the man that lay with the wife, and the wife: so thou shalt put away evil from Israel.

²³ ¶ If a maid be betrothed unto a husband, and a man find her in the town and lie with her,

²⁴ Then shall ye bring them both out unto the gates of the same city, and shall stone them with stones to death: the maid because she cried not, being in the city, and the man, because he hath ^[x]humbled his neighbor’s wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.

²⁵ ¶ But if a man find a betrothed maid in the field and force her, and lie with her, then the man that lay with her, shall die alone:

²⁶ And unto the maid thou shalt do nothing, because there is in the maid no ^[y]cause of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbor and woundeth him to death, so ^[z]is this matter.

²⁷ For he found her in the fields: the betrothed maid cried, and there was no man to succor her.

²⁸ ¶ ^(E)If a man find a maid that is not betrothed, and take her, and lie with her, and they be found,

²⁹ Then the man that lay with her, shall give unto the maid’s father fifty shekels of silver: and she shall be his wife, because he hath humbled her: he can not put her away all his life.

³⁰ ¶ No man shall ^[aa]take his father’s wife, nor shall uncover his father’s skirt.

23 1 What men ought not to be admitted to office. 9 What they ought to avoid when they go to war. 15 Of the fugitive servant. 17 To flee all kinds of whoredom. 19 Of usury. 21 Of vows. 24 Of the neighbor’s vine and corn.

¹ None that is hurt by bursting, or that hath his privy member cut off, ^[ab]shall enter into the Congregation of the Lord.

^2 [ac]A bastard shall not enter into the Congregation of the Lord: even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the Congregation of the Lord.

^3 (F)The Ammonites and the Moabites shall not enter into the Congregation of the Lord: even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the Congregation of the Lord forever,

⁴ Because they ^[ad]met you not with bread and water in the way, when ye came out of Egypt, and ^(G)because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor, of Pethor in Aram-naharaim, to curse thee.

⁵ Nevertheless, the Lord thy God would not hearken unto Balaam, but the Lord thy God turned the curse to a blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy God loved thee.

⁶ Thou ^[ae]shall not seek their peace, nor their prosperity all thy days forever.

⁷ ¶ Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite: for he is thy brother, neither shalt thou abhor an Egyptian, because thou wast a stranger in his land.

⁸ The children that are begotten ^[af]of them in their third generation, shall enter into the Congregation of the Lord.

⁹ ¶ When thou goest out with the host against thine enemies, keep thee then from all wickedness.

¹⁰ ¶ If there be among you any that is unclean by that which cometh to him by night, he shall go out of the host, and shall not enter into the host,

¹¹ But at even he shall wash himself with water, and when the sun is down, he shall enter into the host.

¹² ¶ Thou shalt have a place also without the host, whither thou shalt ^[ag]resort,

¹³ And thou shalt have a paddle among thy weapons, and when thou wouldest sit down without, thou shalt dig therewith, and returning, thou shalt ^[ah]cover thine excrements.

¹⁴ For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp to deliver thee, and to give thee thine enemies before thee: therefore thine host shall be holy, that he see no filthy thing in thee, and turn away from thee.

¹⁵ ¶ Thou shalt not ^[ai]deliver the servant unto his master, which is escaped from his master unto thee.

¹⁶ He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in what place he shall choose, in one of thy ^[aj]cities where it liketh him best: thou shalt not vex him.

¹⁷ ¶ There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a whore keeper of the sons of Israel.

¹⁸ ¶ Thou shalt neither bring the ^[ak]hire of a whore, nor the price of a dog into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the Lord thy God.

¹⁹ ¶ ^(H)Thou shalt not give to usury to thy brother: as usury of money, usury of meat, usury of anything that is put to usury.

²⁰ Unto a ^[al]stranger thou mayest lend upon usury, but thou shalt not lend upon usury unto thy brother, that the Lord thy God may ^[am]bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to, in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

²¹ ¶ When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, thou shalt not be slack to pay it: for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee, and so it should be sin unto thee.

²² But when thou abstainest from vowing, it shall be no sin unto thee.

²³ That which is gone out of thy lips, thou shalt ^[an]keep and perform, as thou hast vowed it willingly unto the Lord thy God: for thou hast spoken it with thy mouth.

²⁴ ¶ When thou comest unto ^[ao]thy neighbor’s vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes at thy pleasure, as much as thou wilt: but thou shalt put none in thy ^[ap]vessel.

²⁵ When thou comest unto thy neighbor’s corn, ^(I)thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand, but thou shalt not move a sickle to thy neighbor’s corn.