Beginning
Property Laws
22 “A man might steal a bull or a sheep and kill or sell it. Then he must pay back five bulls for the one bull he stole. Or he must pay back four sheep for the one sheep he stole.
2-4 “The robber who is caught must pay back what he stole. He might own nothing. Then he must be sold as a slave to pay for what he stole. The stolen animal might be found alive with the robber. Then he must give the owner two animals for every animal he stole. He must pay, whether he stole a bull, donkey or sheep.
“A thief might be killed while breaking into a house at night. Then the one who killed him is not guilty of murder. But if this happens during the day, he is guilty of murder.
5 “A person might let his farm animal graze in his field or vineyard. And it might wander into another person’s field or vineyard. Then the owner of the animal must pay back the loss. The payment must come from the best of his crop.
6 “A man might start a fire that spreads through the thornbushes to his neighbor’s field. The fire might burn his neighbor’s growing grain or grain that has been stacked. Or it might burn his whole field. Then the person who started the fire must pay for what was burned.
7 “A man might give his neighbor money or other things to keep for him. Those things might be stolen from the neighbor’s house. And the thief might be caught. Then he must pay back twice as much as he stole. 8 But maybe the thief is never found. Then the owner of the house must make a promise before God. He must promise that he has not stolen his neighbor’s things.
9 “Two men might disagree about who owns something. It might be an ox, donkey, sheep or clothing. Or it might be something else that is lost. Each says, ‘This is mine.’ Each man must bring his case to God. God’s judges will decide who is guilty. Then he must pay the other man twice as much as the thing is worth.
10 “A man might ask his neighbor to keep his animal for him. This animal might be a donkey, ox, sheep or some other animal. And that animal might die, be hurt or be taken away. And no one saw what happened. 11 That neighbor must promise before the Lord that he did not harm or kill the other man’s animal. The owner of the animal must accept his promise made before God. The neighbor does not have to pay the owner for the animal. 12 But the animal might have been stolen from the neighbor. Then he must pay the owner for it. 13 Wild animals might have killed the animal. Then the neighbor must bring the body as proof. He will not have to pay for the animal that was killed.
14 “A man might borrow an animal from his neighbor. It might get hurt or die while the owner is not there. Then the one who borrowed it must pay the owner for the animal. 15 The owner might be with the animal. Then the one who borrowed it does not have to pay. If the animal was rented, the rental price covers the loss.
Laws and Relationships
16 “A man might find a woman who is not pledged to be married. She has never had physical relations with a man. He might trick her into having physical relations with him. Then he must give her family the payment to marry her. And she will be his wife. 17 But her father might refuse to allow his daughter to marry him. Then the man must still give the payment for a bride. He must pay the usual charge for a woman who is a virgin.
18 “Put to death any woman who does evil magic.
19 “Put to death anyone who has unnatural physical relations with an animal.
20 “Destroy completely any person who makes a sacrifice to any god except the Lord.
21 “Do not cheat or hurt a foreigner. Remember that you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
22 “Do not cheat a widow or an orphan. 23 If you do, they will cry out to me for help. I certainly will hear their cry. 24 And I will be very angry and kill you in war. Then your wives will become widows, and your children will become orphans.
25 “You might lend money to one of my people who is poor. Then do not treat him as a moneylender would. Charge him nothing for using your money. 26 Your neighbor might give you his coat as a promise. He is promising to pay you the money he owes you. But you must give it back to him by sunset. 27 That coat is the only cover to keep his body warm. He has nothing else to sleep in. If he cries out to me for help, I will listen because I am merciful.
28 “You must not speak against God. You must not curse a leader of your people.
29 “Do not hold back your offering from the first of your harvest. Give me the first grain that you harvest. Give me the first wine that you make. Also, you must give me your firstborn sons. 30 You must do the same with your bulls and your sheep. Let the firstborn males stay with their mothers for seven days. On the eighth day you must give them to me.
31 “You are to be my holy people. You must not eat the meat of any animal that has been killed by wild animals. Instead, give it to the dogs.
Laws About Fairness
23 “You must not tell lies. You might be a witness in court. Don’t help a bad person by telling lies.
2 “You must not do wrong just because everyone else is doing it. You might be a witness in court. Then you must not ruin a fair trial. You must not tell lies just because everyone else is. 3 A poor man might be in court. You must not take his side just because he is poor.
4 “You might see your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering away. Then you must return it to him. 5 You might see that your enemy’s donkey has fallen because its load is too heavy. You must not leave it there. You must help your enemy get the donkey back on its feet.
6 “You must not be unfair to a poor man when he is in court. 7 You must not lie when you accuse someone in court. Never allow an innocent or honest person to be put to death as punishment. This is because I will not treat guilty people as if they were innocent.
8 “You must not accept money from a person who wants you to lie in court. Such money will not let you see what is right. Such money makes good people tell lies.
9 “You must not mistreat a foreigner. You know how it feels to be a foreigner. You were foreigners in Egypt.
Laws for the Sabbath
10 “For six years you are to plant and harvest crops on your land. 11 Then during the seventh year, do not plow or plant your land. If any food grows there, allow the poor people to have it. And let the wild animals eat what is left. You should do the same with your vineyards and your orchards of olive trees.
12 “You should work six days a week. But on the seventh day you must rest. This lets your ox and your donkey rest. This also lets the slave born in your house and the foreigner be refreshed.
13 “Be sure to do all that I have said to you. You must not even say the names of other gods. The names of those gods must not come out of your mouth.
Three Yearly Feasts
14 “Three times each year you must hold a feast to honor me. 15 You must celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Do this in the way I commanded you. For seven days you must eat bread that is made without yeast. You must do this at the set time during the month of Abib. This is the month when you came out of Egypt. No one is to come to worship me without bringing an offering.
16 “You must celebrate the Feast of Harvest. Offer to God the first things you harvest. These are from the crops you planted in your fields.
“You must celebrate the Feast of Tents in the fall. Do this when you gather all the crops from your fields.
17 “So three times during every year all men must come to worship the Lord God.
18 “You must not offer animal blood along with anything that has yeast in it.
“You must not save any of the fat from the sacrifice for the next day.
19 “You must bring the best of the firstfruits of your land. Bring them to the Holy Tent[a] of the Lord your God.
“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
Promises
20 “I am sending an angel ahead of you. He will protect you as you travel. He will lead you to the place I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to the angel and obey him. Do not turn against him. He will not forgive such turning against him because my power is in him. 22 You must listen carefully to all he says. You must do everything that I tell you. If you do this, I will be an enemy to your enemies. I will fight all who fight against you. 23 My angel will go ahead of you. He will take you into the land of these people: the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites. And I will destroy them.
24 “You must not bow down to their gods or worship those gods. You must not live the way those people live. You must destroy their idols. And you must break into pieces stone pillars they use in worship. 25 You must worship the Lord your God. If you do, I will bless your bread and your water. I will take away sickness from you. 26 None of your women will have her baby die before it is born. All women will have children. I will allow you to live long lives.
27 “I will make your enemies afraid of me. I will confuse any people you fight against. I will make all your enemies run away from you. 28 I will send something like hornets ahead of you. They will force the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. 29 But I will not force all those people out in only one year. If I did, the land would become a desert. Then the wild animals would become too many for you. 30 Instead, I will force those people out of your land very slowly. I will wait until there are enough of you to take over the land.
31 “I will give you the land from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Mediterranean Sea. And I will give you the land between the desert and the Euphrates River. I will give you power over the people who now live in the land. You will force them out ahead of you. 32 You must not make an agreement with those people or with their gods. 33 You must not let them live in your land. If they live there, they will make you sin against me. If you worship their gods, you will be like someone caught in a trap.”
God and Israel Make Their Agreement
24 The Lord told Moses, “You, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and 70 of the elders of Israel must come up to me. You must worship me from a distance. 2 Then Moses alone must come near me. The other men must not come near. And the rest of the people must not come up the mountain with Moses.”
3 So Moses told the people all the Lord’s words and laws for living. Then all of the people answered out loud together. They said, “We will do all the things that the Lord has said.” 4 So Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. And he got up early the next morning. He built an altar near the bottom of the mountain. He set up 12 stones, 1 stone for each of the 12 tribes of Israel. 5 Then Moses sent young Israelite men to offer whole burnt offerings. They also sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses took the blood of these animals. He put half of it in bowls. And he sprinkled the other half of the blood on the altar. 7 Then Moses took the book with the agreement written in it. He read it so the people could hear him. And they said, “We will do everything that the Lord has said. We will obey.”
8 Then Moses took the blood from the bowls. He sprinkled it on the people. He said, “This is the blood that begins the agreement. This is the agreement which the Lord has made with you about all these things.”
9 Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and 70 of the elders of Israel went up the mountain. 10 They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was a surface. It looked as if it were paved with blue sapphire stones. And it was as clear as the sky! 11 These leaders of the Israelites saw God. But God did not destroy them. Then they ate and drank together.
Moses Gets the Stone Tablets
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up the mountain to me. Wait there, and I will give you two stone tablets. On these are the teachings and the commandments. I have written these to teach the people.”
13 So Moses and his helper Joshua set out. Moses went up Sinai, the mountain of God. 14 Moses said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you. Anyone who has a disagreement with others can take it to them.”
Moses Meets with God
15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it. 16 The greatness of the Lord came down on Mount Sinai. The cloud covered the mountain for six days. On the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from inside the cloud. 17 The Israelites could see the greatness of the Lord. It looked like a fire burning on top of the mountain. 18 Then Moses went into the cloud and went higher up the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.