The Daily Audio Bible

²² “If people are fighting with each other and happen to hurt a pregnant woman so badly that her unborn child dies, then, even if no other harm follows, he must be fined. He must pay the amount set by the woman’s husband and confirmed by judges. ²³ But if any harm follows, then you are to give life for life, ²⁴ eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burn for burn, wound for wound and bruise for bruise.

²⁶ “If a person hits his male or female slave’s eye and destroys it, he must let him go free in compensation for his eye. ²⁷ If he knocks out his male or female slave’s tooth, he must let him go free in compensation for his tooth.

²⁸ “If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox is to be stoned and its flesh not eaten, but the owner of the ox will have no further liability. ²⁹ However, if the ox was in the habit of goring in the past, and the owner was warned but did not confine it, so that it ended up killing a man or a woman; then the ox is to be stoned, and its owner too is to be put to death. ³⁰ However, a ransom may be imposed on him; and the death penalty will be commuted if he pays the amount imposed. ³¹ If the ox gores a son or daughter, the same rule applies. ³² If the ox gores a male or female slave, its owner must give their master twelve ounces of silver; and the ox is to be stoned to death.

³³ “If someone removes the cover from a cistern or digs one and fails to cover it, and an ox or donkey falls in, ³⁴ the owner of the cistern must make good the loss by compensating the animal’s owner; but the dead animal will be his.

³⁵ “If one person’s ox hurts another’s, so that it dies, they are to sell the live ox and divide the revenue from the sale; and they are also to divide the dead animal. ³⁶ But if it is known that the ox was in the habit of goring in the past, and the owner did not confine it; he must pay ox for ox, but the dead animal will be his.

^37 (22:1) “If someone steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, he is to pay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.

22 ⁽²⁾ “If a thief caught in the act of breaking in is beaten to death, it is not murder; ^2 (3) unless it happens after sunrise, in which case it is murder. A thief must make restitution; so if he has nothing, he himself is to be sold to make good the loss from the theft. ^3 (4) If what he stole is found alive in his possession, he is to pay double, no matter whether it is an ox, a donkey or a sheep.

(iii) ^4 (5) “If a person causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over or lets his animal loose to graze in someone else’s field, he is to make restitution from the best produce of his own field and vineyard.

^5 (6) “If a fire is started and spreads to thorns, so that stacked grain, standing grain or a field is destroyed, the person who lit it must make restitution.

^6 (7) “If a person entrusts a neighbor with money or goods, and they are stolen from the trustee’s house, then, if the thief is found, he must pay double. ^7 (8) But if the thief is not found, then the trustee must state before God that he did not take the person’s goods himself. ^8 (9) In every case of dispute over ownership, whether of an ox, a donkey, a sheep, clothing, or any missing property, where one person says, ‘This is mine,’ both parties are to come before God; and the one whom God condemns must pay the other one double.

^9 (10) “If a person trusts a neighbor to look after a donkey, ox, sheep or any animal, and it dies, is injured or is driven away unseen, ^10 (11) then the neighbor’s oath before Adonai that he has not taken the goods will settle the matter between them — the owner is to accept it without the neighbor’s making restitution. ^11 (12) But if it was stolen from the neighbor, he must make restitution to the owner. ^12 (13) If it was torn to pieces by an animal, the neighbor must bring it as evidence, and then he doesn’t need to make good the loss.

^13 (14) “If someone borrows something from his neighbor, and it gets injured or dies with the owner not present, he must make restitution. ^14 (15) If the owner was present, he need not make good the loss. If the owner hired it out, the loss is covered by the hiring fee.

^15 (16) “If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price for her to be his wife. ^16 (17) But if her father refuses to give her to him, he must pay a sum equivalent to the bride-price for virgins.

^17 (18) “You are not to permit a sorceress to live.

^18 (19) “Whoever has sexual relations with an animal must be put to death.

^19 (20) “Anyone who sacrifices to any god other than Adonai alone is to be completely destroyed.

^20 (21) “You must neither wrong nor oppress a foreigner living among you, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

^21 (22) “You are not to abuse any widow or orphan. ^22 (23) If you do abuse them in any way, and they cry to me, I will certainly heed their cry. ^23 (24) My anger will burn, and I will kill you with the sword — your own wives will be widows and your own children fatherless.

^24 (25) “If you loan money to one of my people who is poor, you are not to deal with him as would a creditor; and you are not to charge him interest. ^25 (26) If you take your neighbor’s coat as collateral, you are to restore it to him by sundown, ^26 (27) because it is his only garment — he needs it to wrap his body; what else does he have in which to sleep? Moreover, if he cries out to me, I will listen; because I am compassionate.

(iv) ^27 (28) “You are not to curse God, and you are not to curse a leader of your people.

^28 (29) “You are not to delay offering from your harvest of grain, olive oil or wine.

“The firstborn of your sons you are to give to me. ^29 (30) You are to do the same with your oxen and your sheep — it is to stay with its mother seven days, and on the eighth day you are to give it to me.

^30 (31) “You are to be my specially separated people. Therefore you are not to eat any flesh torn by wild animals in the countryside; rather, throw it out for the dogs.

23 “You are not to repeat false rumors; do not join hands with the wicked by offering perjured testimony. ² Do not follow the crowd when it does what is wrong; and don’t allow the popular view to sway you into offering testimony for any cause if the effect will be to pervert justice. ³ On the other hand, don’t favor a person’s lawsuit simply because he is poor.

⁴ “If you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey straying, you must return it to him. ⁵ If you see the donkey which belongs to someone who hates you lying down helpless under its load, you are not to pass him by but to go and help him free it.

(v) ⁶ “Do not deny anyone justice in his lawsuit simply because he is poor. ⁷ Keep away from fraud, and do not cause the death of the innocent and righteous; for I will not justify the wicked. ⁸ You are not to receive a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clearsighted and subverts the cause of the righteous.

⁹ “You are not to oppress a foreigner, for you know how a foreigner feels, since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ “For six years, you are to sow your land with seed and gather in its harvest. ¹¹ But the seventh year, you are to let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people can eat; and what they leave, the wild animals in the countryside can eat. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.

¹² “For six days, you are to work. But on the seventh day, you are to rest, so that your ox and donkey can rest, and your slave-girl’s son and the foreigner be renewed.

¹³ “Pay attention to everything I have said to you; do not invoke the names of other gods or even let them be heard crossing your lips.

24 As Yeshua left the Temple and was going away, his talmidim came and called his attention to its buildings. ² But he answered them, “You see all these? Yes! I tell you, they will be totally destroyed — not a single stone will be left standing!”

³ When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the talmidim came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that you are coming, and that the ‘olam hazeh is ending?”

⁴ Yeshua replied: “Watch out! Don’t let anyone fool you! ⁵ For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah!’ and they will lead many astray. ⁶ You will hear the noise of wars nearby and the news of wars far off; see to it that you don’t become frightened. Such things must happen, but the end is yet to come. ⁷ For peoples will fight each other, nations will fight each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various parts of the world; ⁸ all this is but the beginning of the ‘birth-pains.’ ⁹ At that time you will be arrested and handed over to be punished and put to death, and all peoples will hate you because of me. ¹⁰ At that time many will be trapped into betraying and hating each other, ¹¹ many false prophets will appear and fool many people; ¹² and many people’s love will grow cold because of increased distance from Torah. ¹³ But whoever holds out till the end will be delivered. ¹⁴ And this Good News about the Kingdom will be announced throughout the whole world as a witness to all the Goyim. It is then that the end will come.

¹⁵ “So when you see the abomination that causes devastation spoken about through the prophet Dani’el standing in the Holy Place”^[a] (let the reader understand the allusion), ¹⁶ “that will be the time for those in Y’hudah to escape to the hills. ¹⁷ If someone is on the roof, he must not go down to gather his belongings from his house; ¹⁸ if someone is in the field, he must not turn back to get his coat. ¹⁹ What a terrible time it will be for pregnant women and nursing mothers! ²⁰ Pray that you will not have to escape in winter or on Shabbat. ²¹ For there will be trouble then worse than there has ever been from the beginning of the world until now, and there will be nothing like it again!^{[b] 22} Indeed, if the length of this time had not been limited, no one would survive; but for the sake of those who have been chosen, its length will be limited.

²³ “At that time, if someone says to you, ‘Look! Here’s the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ don’t believe him. ²⁴ For there will appear false Messiahs and false prophets performing great miracles — amazing things! — so as to fool even the chosen, if possible. ²⁵ There! I have told you in advance! ²⁶ So if people say to you, ‘Listen! He’s out in the desert!’ don’t go; or, ‘Look! He’s hidden away in a secret room!’ don’t believe it. ²⁷ For when the Son of Man does come, it will be like lightning that flashes out of the east and fills the sky to the western horizon. ²⁸ Wherever there’s a dead body, that’s where you find the vultures.