Old/New Testament
Other rules
22 You may see your neighbour's cow or sheep that has become lost. If so, do not look the other way. You must catch the animal. You must take it back to your neighbour. 2 Perhaps the man does not live near you. Perhaps you do not know who the animal belongs to. If so, take the animal to your own home and keep it safe there. When the man comes to look for his animal, give it to him. 3 You must do the same thing if you find someone's donkey or clothes or anything else. You must not refuse to help.
4 Perhaps your neighbour's donkey or his cow has fallen on the road. If you see it lying there, do not look the other way. You must help the man to lift the animal so that it can stand.
5 A woman must not wear the same clothes that men wear. A man must not wear clothes that make him look like a woman. The Lord your God hates people who do this.
6 You may find a bird's nest beside the road. It may be in a tree or on the ground. If the mother bird is sitting on eggs or on young birds, you must not take the mother away from them. 7 You may take the young birds for yourself. But you must let the mother bird go free. If you do that, everything will be well with you. You will have a long life.
8 If you build a new house, you must make a wall around the edge of the flat roof. Then if someone falls off the roof and dies, you will not be guilty for his death.
9 You must not plant any other crops between the vines in your vineyard. If you do that, none of the food or the grapes will belong to you.
10 You must not tie an ox and a donkey together to pull a plough.
11 You must not mix wool and linen together to make your clothes.
12 You must fix tassels on the four corners of your coat.
Rules for marriage
13 Perhaps a man will marry a woman, and he has sex with her. Later he decides he no longer wants her to be his wife. 14 He may then tell lies against her to say that she is bad. He may say, ‘I married this woman, and I had sex with her. Then I discovered that she had already had sex before I married her.’
15 If that happens, the woman's parents must bring the cloth that she slept on with her husband. They must take it to the leaders of the town to show them. 16 The woman's father must say to the leaders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife. But now he does not like her. 17 He accuses her that she is bad. He says, “I discovered that your daughter had sex before I married her.” But look at her cloth. This shows that she had never had sex before.’ Then her parents must hold the cloth in front of the leaders of the town. 18 The leaders must then take hold of the man. They must punish him. 19 They must make the man pay 100 pieces of silver to the young woman's father. The man has told lies. He has accused a pure Israelite girl to say that she is bad. After that, she will continue to be his wife. He may never send her away as long as he lives.
20 But perhaps the husband has spoken the truth. Perhaps his new wife cannot show that she had not had sex before. 21 If so, the leaders must take her to the entrance of her father's house. The men of the town must throw stones at her there, until she dies. She has done a very bad thing that brings shame on Israel. She has had sex like a prostitute while she lived in her father's house. You must remove evil acts like this from among you.
22 You may discover a man who is having sex with another man's wife. If so, you must punish both the man and the woman with death. In this way, you will remove such evil acts from Israel.
23 Perhaps a man may meet a young woman in a town. She has already promised to marry another man, but the man has sex with her. 24 If so, you must take both of them to the gate of that town. You must throw stones at both of them there, until they die. The young woman is guilty because she did not shout aloud for help. They were in the town, so someone would have heard her. The man is guilty because he had sex with the future wife of another man. In this way, you will remove evil acts from among you.
25 But perhaps a man may meet a young woman in a field in the country. She has already promised to marry another man. But the man is stronger than her and he has sex with her. If that happens, only the man must die. 26 Do not punish the young woman. She does not deserve to die. The man's act is like a man who attacks and murders another person. 27 The man met the young woman in a field. When she shouted for help, nobody heard her because it happened in the country. There was no one there to rescue her.
28 Perhaps a man may meet a girl who has not had sex with anyone before. She has not yet promised to marry anyone. The man may be too strong and he has sex with her. 29 If that happens, the man must pay 50 pieces of silver to the girl's father. He must also marry the girl because he has had sex with her. He may never send her away as long as he lives.
30 A man must not marry a woman who was his father's wife. That would bring shame on his father.
Meetings to worship God
23 Perhaps a man has sex parts that someone has destroyed or spoiled. That man cannot join with the Lord's people when they meet together. 2 If someone was born when his parents were not properly married, he cannot join with the Lord's people. His descendants may not meet with the Lord's people to worship the Lord either. That will continue to the tenth generation of the man's descendants.
3 Ammonite and Moabite people also cannot join with the Lord's people when they come together to worship him. Even the tenth generation of their descendants can never do this. 4 The people of those nations refused to help you when you were leaving Egypt. They did not give you food or water. Also, they paid Beor's son Balaam to curse you. He came from Pethor in Mesopotamia. 5 But the Lord your God refused to listen to Balaam. He refused to curse you. Instead, he blessed you. The Lord your God did that because he loves you. 6 You must never do anything to help these two nations. Do not let them live in peace.
7 But do not hate anyone from Edom. The Edomites have the same ancestor as you. Do not hate an Egyptian person. You once lived as foreigners in Egypt. 8 The third generation of their descendants can join with the Lord's people when they meet together to worship him.
Keep the camp clean
9 Your soldiers may be living in tents while they fight against your enemies. They must keep away from anything that makes them unclean. 10 While a man is asleep, semen may come from his sex part. That makes him unclean so he must go outside the camp. He must stay there all day. 11 In the evening, he must wash himself. At sunset he can return into the camp.
12 You must choose a special place outside the camp. Use that place as your toilet. 13 Always carry a small spade with your other tools. When you go to the toilet, dig a hole with your spade. Then bury your dung in it and cover it with earth. 14 For the Lord your God moves among you in your camp. He keeps you safe from your enemies so that you win against them. So make sure that your camp is a holy place. The Lord must not see anything that would bring shame on you. Do not make him turn away from you.
15 Someone's slave may escape from his master and come to you. If that happens, do not send him back to his master. 16 He can live anywhere among you. He may choose to live in any of your towns that he likes. Do not be cruel to him.
17 No Israelite man or woman must ever become a prostitute at places where people worship their gods. 18 You must not bring the money that people pay to these prostitutes into the Lord's temple. Do not use it to offer a gift that you have promised to the Lord your God. He hates prostitutes, both men and women.
19 You may lend money or food or anything else to another Israelite. But do not ask him to give you back more than you lent to him. 20 You can ask a foreign person to pay back more, but not an Israelite. If you obey this command, the Lord your God will bless you. When you live in your new land, God will bless everything that you do.
21 If you promise to give something to the Lord your God, be careful to bring your gift soon. If you do not bring it, that is a sin. The Lord will certainly demand it from you. 22 You may choose not to promise any gift. That is not a sin. 23 But whatever you promise to do, you must be careful to do it. If you choose to promise a gift to the Lord your God, give it soon.
24 If you go into your neighbour's vineyard, you may eat some of the grapes. You may eat as many grapes as you want, but do not carry any away in a basket. 25 If you go into your neighbour's field of grain, you may eat some of it. You may pick some grain with your hands, but do not use a knife to cut it down.[a]
Rules about marriage and other things
24 Perhaps a man will marry a woman and then he discovers something that brings shame on her. So she does not please him any more. He must write a letter to say that they are no longer married. He gives the letter to his wife. Then he can send her away from his house. 2 After she has left his house, she might marry another man.
3 Later, her second husband may also not like her any more. So he also gives her a letter to finish the marriage. He sends her away from his house too. Or perhaps her second husband dies. 4 If that happens, her first husband must not marry her again. That is because she has had sex with another man. To marry her again would be a sin that the Lord hates. You must not do sins like that in the land that the Lord your God is giving to you as your new home.
5 When a man has just married, do not send him away to fight in the army. Do not make him work at jobs in other places. He should stay at home for one year. Then he can make his new wife very happy.
6 When you lend money to people, you may take something from them as a guarantee. But do not take the stones that they use to make grain into flour. Do not take either of the stones. People need both those stones to make food to stay alive. So do not take away their life.
7 A man might take hold of another Israelite and make him his slave. He might try to sell him as a slave. Anyone who does that must die. You must remove evil things from among you.
8 If you have leprosy, be very careful! Do everything that the Levite priests tell you to do. You must obey everything that I have commanded them. 9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam after you left Egypt.[b]
10 If you lend something to your neighbour you may take something from him as a guarantee.[c] But do not go into his house to take it. 11 You must wait outside the house. Then your neighbour can bring out what he has chosen to give you. 12 If the person is poor, do not take his coat and keep it with you all night. 13 You must always give his coat back to him before sunset. Then he can sleep in it to keep himself warm. He will ask God to bless you because you have been kind. The Lord your God will know that you have done the right thing.
14 Do not be cruel to any poor or helpless person who works for you. Be kind to him, whether he is an Israelite or a foreigner who lives in one of your towns. 15 You must pay him for his work every day before sunset. Remember that he is poor. He needs the money to stay alive. If you do not pay him, he may complain against you to the Lord. The Lord would say that you are guilty of a sin.
16 You must not punish fathers with death for the sins that their children do. You must not punish children with death for the sins that their fathers do. Each person must die only because of his own sins.
17 Remember to be completely fair to foreigners and to children who have no family. If you lend money to a widow, do not take her coat as a guarantee. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God rescued you from there. That is why I am commanding you to do these things.
19 At harvest time, you might forget to bring in all the crops from your fields. Do not go back to pick up all the grain. Leave it there for foreigners, widows and children who have no family. If you do that, the Lord your God will bless you in all your work.
20 When you knock the olives off your trees, shake each branch only once. Leave the olives that remain for foreigners, widows and children who have no family. 21 When you pick your grapes, pick only once from each vine. Leave the grapes that remain for foreigners, widows and children who have no family. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I am commanding you to do all these things.
The Jewish leaders want to kill Jesus
14 It was now two days before the Passover festival. It was the time when Jews eat flat bread which has no yeast in it.[a] The leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law wanted to kill Jesus. But they wanted to take hold of him secretly. So they tried to decide how they could do that. 2 They said to each other, ‘We do not want to do it during the festival. If we do that, the people will be angry. Then they may fight against us.’
A woman pours special oil on Jesus' head
3 Then Jesus went to Bethany, and he visited Simon at his house. At one time, Simon had had a bad disease of the skin. While Jesus was eating a meal there, a woman came into the house. She brought a small stone jar that contained expensive oil with a very nice smell. They used nard to make it. The woman broke the jar to open it. Then she poured the oil over Jesus' head.[b]
4 But some people became angry. They said to each other, ‘This woman should not have wasted the oil. 5 She could have sold it and she could have given the money to poor people. She could have sold it for more than 300 coins. A man would have to work for a year to get that much money.’ So they spoke angrily to the woman.
6 But Jesus said, ‘Do not speak to her like that! Do not cause trouble for her. She has done a good thing to me. 7 You will always have poor people with you. You can help them at any time that you want. But you will not always have me with you. 8 This woman did what she was able to do. She poured oil over my body. So now, my body will be ready for people to bury me. 9 I tell you this: Everywhere in the world, people will speak about God's good news. At the same time, they will also tell people about the good thing that this woman has done. And so they will remember her.’
Judas agrees to help the leaders of the priests
10 Then Judas Iscariot went to the leaders of the priests. He said that he would help them to catch Jesus. (Judas was one of Jesus' 12 apostles.) 11 The leaders of the priests were very happy about this. They promised to give Judas some money. Then Judas waited for the right moment to help them to take hold of Jesus.
Jesus eats his last meal with his 12 apostles
12 The first day of the festival when the Jews eat flat bread arrived. On this day, each family kills a young sheep for the Passover meal. Jesus' disciples said to him, ‘We will go to prepare the Passover meal for you. Where do you want us to do that?’
13 So Jesus sent two disciples to prepare the meal. ‘Go into the city,’ he said to them. ‘A man, who is carrying a jar of water, will meet you. Follow him. 14 He will go to a house. You must say to the master of that house, “The Teacher sends this message to you: ‘Where is the room for visitors? I will eat the Passover meal there with my disciples.’ ” 15 Then the man will show you a large room upstairs. The room will have in it all the things that you will need. You should prepare the Passover meal for us there.’
16 Then the two disciples left and they went into the city. They found everything as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover meal there.
17 When it was evening, Jesus arrived with the 12 apostles. 18 While they were eating the meal, Jesus said, ‘I tell you this: One of you will help the Jewish leaders to take hold of me. It is someone who is eating this meal with me.’
19 The disciples became very sad. Each one of them said to Jesus, ‘Surely you do not mean me, do you?’
20 Jesus said to them, ‘It is one of you 12 apostles. That man is eating from the same dish as I am.[c] 21 The Son of Man must die in the way that the Bible says. But it will be very bad for the man who gives me to my enemies. It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.’
The Passover meal
22 While Jesus and his disciples were eating, he took a loaf of bread. He thanked God for it. Then he broke the bread into pieces. He gave some of it to each of his disciples. ‘Take this bread and eat it,’ he said to them. ‘This is my body.’
23 Then Jesus took a cup. He thanked God for the wine in the cup. Then he gave the cup to them and they all drank from it.
24 Jesus said to them, ‘This is my blood that shows God's promise. When I die, my blood will pour out of my body. In that way God will save many people. That is the promise that God makes because of my death. 25 I tell you this: I will not drink wine again until God rules in his kingdom. Then it will be new wine.’
26 Then Jesus and his disciples sang a song to praise God. Then they went out to the Mount of Olives.[d]
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