Old/New Testament
22 Suppose you see your neighbor’s ox or sheep wandering away. Then don’t act as if you didn’t see it. Instead, make sure you take it back to its owner. 2 Its owner might not live near you. Or you might not know who owns it. So take the animal home with you. Keep it until the owner comes looking for it. Then give it back to them. 3 Do the same thing if you find their donkey, coat or anything they have lost. Don’t act as if you didn’t see it.
4 Suppose you see your neighbor’s donkey or ox that has fallen down on the road. Then don’t act as if you didn’t see it. Help the owner get it up on its feet again.
5 A woman must not wear men’s clothes. And a man must not wear women’s clothes. The Lord your God hates it when anyone does this.
6 Suppose you happen to find a bird’s nest beside the road. It might be in a tree or on the ground. And suppose the mother bird is sitting on her little birds or on the eggs. Then don’t take the mother along with the little ones. 7 You can take the little ones. But make sure you let the mother go. Then things will go well with you. You will live for a long time.
8 If you build a new house, put a low wall around the edge of your roof. Then you won’t be responsible if someone falls off your roof and dies.
9 Don’t plant two kinds of seeds in your vineyard. If you do, the crops you grow there will be impure. Your grapes will also be impure.
10 Don’t let an ox and a donkey pull the same plow together.
11 Don’t wear clothes made out of wool and linen woven together.
12 Make tassels on the four corners of the coat you wear.
Breaking Marriage Laws
13 Suppose a man marries a woman and sleeps with her. But then he doesn’t like her. 14 So he tells lies about her and says she’s a bad woman. He says, “I married this woman. But when I slept with her, I discovered she wasn’t a virgin.” 15 Then the young woman’s parents must bring proof that she was a virgin. They must give the proof to the elders at the gate of the town. 16 Her father will speak to the elders. He’ll say, “I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife. But he doesn’t like her. 17 So now he has told lies about her. He has said, ‘I discovered that your daughter wasn’t a virgin.’ But here’s the proof that my daughter was a virgin.” Then her parents will show the elders of the town the cloth that has her blood on it. 18 The elders will punish the man. 19 They’ll make him weigh out two and a half pounds of silver. They’ll give it to the young woman’s father. That’s because the man has said an Israelite virgin is a bad woman. She will continue to be his wife. He must not divorce her as long as he lives.
20 But suppose the charge is true. And there isn’t any proof that the young woman was a virgin. 21 Then she must be brought to the door of her father’s house. There the people of her town will put her to death by throwing stones at her. She has done a very terrible thing in Israel. She has slept with a man before she was married. Get rid of that evil person.
22 Suppose a man is seen sleeping with another man’s wife. Then the man and the woman must both die. Get rid of those evil people.
23 Suppose a man happens to see a virgin in a town. And she has promised to marry another man. But the man who happens to see her sleeps with her. 24 Then you must take both of them to the gate of that town. You must put them to death by throwing stones at them. You must kill the young woman because she was in a town and didn’t scream for help. And you must kill the man because he slept with another man’s wife. Get rid of those evil people.
25 But suppose a man happens to see a young woman out in the country. And she has promised to marry another man. But the man who happens to see her rapes her. Then only the man who has done that will die. 26 Don’t do anything to the woman. She hasn’t committed a sin worthy of death. That case is like the case of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor. 27 The man found the young woman out in the country. And she screamed for help. But there wasn’t anyone around who could save her.
28 Suppose a man happens to see a virgin who hasn’t promised to marry another man. And the man who happens to see her rapes her. But someone discovers them. 29 Then the man must weigh out 20 ounces of silver. He must give it to her father. The man must marry the young woman, because he raped her. And he can never divorce her as long as he lives.
30 A man must not marry his stepmother. He must not bring shame on his father by sleeping with her.
Who Can Join in Worship With the Lord’s People?
23 No man whose sex organs have been crushed or cut can join in worship with the Lord’s people.
2 No one born to an unmarried woman can join in worship with the Lord’s people. That also applies to the person’s children for all time to come.
3 The people of Ammon and Moab can’t join in worship with the Lord’s people. That also applies to their children after them for all time to come. 4 The Ammonites and Moabites didn’t come to meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt. They even hired Balaam from Pethor in Aram Naharaim to put a curse on you. Balaam was the son of Beor. 5 The Lord your God wouldn’t listen to Balaam. Instead, he turned the curse into a blessing for you. He did it because he loves you. 6 So don’t make a peace treaty with the Ammonites and Moabites as long as you live.
7 Don’t hate the people of Edom. They are your relatives. Don’t hate the people of Egypt. After all, you lived as outsiders in their country. 8 The great-grandchildren of the Edomites and Egyptians can join in worship with the Lord’s people.
Keep the Camp of the Soldiers Pure and “Clean”
9 There will be times when you are at war with your enemies. And your soldiers will be in camp. Then keep away from anything that isn’t pure and “clean.” 10 Suppose semen flows from the body of one of your soldiers during the night. Then that will make him “unclean.” He must go outside the camp and stay there. 11 But as evening approaches, he must wash himself. When the sun goes down, he can return to the camp.
12 Choose a place outside the camp where you can go to the toilet. 13 Keep a shovel among your tools. When you go to the toilet, dig a hole. Then cover up your waste. 14 The Lord your God walks around in your camp. He’s there to keep you safe. He’s also there to hand your enemies over to you. So your camp must be holy. Then he won’t see anything among you that is shameful. He won’t turn away from you.
Several Other Laws
15 If a slave comes to you for safety, don’t hand them over to their master. 16 Let them live among you anywhere they want to. Let them live in any town they choose. Don’t treat them badly.
17 A man or woman in Israel must not become a temple prostitute. 18 The Lord your God hates the money that men and women get for being prostitutes. So don’t take that money into the house of the Lord to pay what you promised to give.
19 Don’t charge your own people any interest. Don’t charge them when they borrow money, food or anything else. 20 You can charge interest to people from another country. But don’t charge your own people. Then the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. He will bless you in the land you are entering to take as your own.
21 Don’t put off giving to the Lord your God everything you promise him. He will certainly require it from you. And you will be guilty of committing a sin. 22 But if you don’t make a promise, you won’t be guilty. 23 Make sure you do what you promised to do. With your own mouth you made the promise to the Lord your God. No one forced you to do it.
24 When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you can eat all the grapes you want. But don’t put any of them in your basket. 25 When you enter your neighbor’s field, you can pick heads of grain. But don’t cut down their standing grain.
24 Suppose a man marries a woman. But later he decides he doesn’t like her. He finds something shameful about her. So he gives her a letter of divorce and sends her away from his house. 2 Then after she leaves his house she becomes another man’s wife. 3 But her second husband doesn’t like her either. So he gives her a letter of divorce and sends her away from his house. Or perhaps he dies. 4 Then her first husband isn’t allowed to marry her again. The Lord would hate that. When her first husband divorced her, she became “unclean.” Don’t bring sin on the land the Lord your God is giving you as your own.
5 Suppose a man has just married his wife. Then don’t send him into battle. Don’t give him any other duty either. He’s free to stay home for one year. He needs time to make his new wife happy.
6 Someone might borrow money from you and give you two millstones to keep until you are paid back. Don’t keep them. Don’t even keep the upper one. That person needs both millstones to make a living.
7 Suppose someone is caught kidnapping another Israelite. And they sell or treat that person as a slave. Then the kidnapper must die. Get rid of that evil person.
8 What about skin diseases? Be very careful to do exactly what the priests, who are Levites, tell you to do. You must be careful to obey the commands I’ve given them. 9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on your way out of Egypt.
10 Suppose your neighbor borrows something from you. And he offers you something to keep until you get paid back. Then don’t go into their house to get it. 11 Stay outside. Let the neighbor bring it out to you. 12 The neighbor might be poor. You might be given their coat to keep until you get paid back. Don’t go to sleep while you still have it. 13 Return it before the sun goes down. They need it to sleep in and will thank you for returning it. The Lord your God will see it and know that you have done the right thing.
14 Don’t take advantage of any hired worker who is poor and needy. That applies to your own people. It also applies to outsiders living in one of your towns. 15 Give them their pay every day. They are poor and are counting on it. If you don’t pay them, they might cry out to the Lord against you. Then you will be guilty of committing a sin.
16 Parents must not be put to death because of what their children do. And children must not be put to death because of what their parents do. People must die because of their own sins.
17 Do what is right and fair for outsiders and for children whose fathers have died. Suppose a widow borrows something from you. And she offers to give you her coat until she pays you back. Don’t take it. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. Remember that the Lord your God set you free from there. That’s why I’m commanding you to do those things.
19 When you are gathering crops in your field, you might leave some grain behind by mistake. Don’t go back to get it. Leave it behind for outsiders and widows. Leave it for children whose fathers have died. Then the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. 20 When you knock olives off your trees, don’t go back over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for outsiders and widows. Leave it for children whose fathers have died. 21 When you pick grapes in your vineyard, don’t go back over the vines a second time. Leave what remains for outsiders and widows. Leave it for children whose fathers have died. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That’s why I’m commanding you to do these things.
A Woman Pours Perfume on Jesus at Bethany
14 The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were plotting to arrest Jesus secretly. They wanted to kill him. 2 “But not during the feast,” they said. “The people may stir up trouble.”
3 Jesus was in Bethany. He was at the table in the home of Simon, who had a skin disease. A woman came with a special sealed jar. It contained very expensive perfume made out of pure nard. She broke the jar open and poured the perfume on Jesus’ head.
4 Some of the people there became angry. They said to one another, “Why waste this perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s pay. The money could have been given to poor people.” So they found fault with the woman.
6 “Leave her alone,” Jesus said. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 You will always have poor people with you. You can help them any time you want to. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body to prepare me to be buried. 9 What I’m about to tell you is true. What she has done will be told anywhere the good news is preached all over the world. It will be told in memory of her.”
10 Judas Iscariot was one of the 12 disciples. He went to the chief priests to hand Jesus over to them. 11 They were delighted to hear that he would do this. They promised to give Judas money. So he watched for the right time to hand Jesus over to them.
The Last Supper
12 It was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. That was the time to sacrifice the Passover lamb. Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover meal?”
13 So he sent out two of his disciples. He told them, “Go into the city. A man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 He will enter a house. Say to its owner, ‘The Teacher asks, “Where is my guest room? Where can I eat the Passover meal with my disciples?” ’ 15 He will show you a large upstairs room. It will have furniture and will be ready. Prepare for us to eat there.”
16 The disciples left and went into the city. They found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover meal.
17 When evening came, Jesus arrived with the 12 disciples. 18 While they were at the table eating, Jesus said, “What I’m about to tell you is true. One of you who is eating with me will hand me over to my enemies.”
19 The disciples became sad. One by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”
20 “It is one of you,” Jesus replied. “It is the one who dips bread into the bowl with me. 21 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But how terrible it will be for the one who hands over the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread. He gave thanks and broke it. He handed it to his disciples and said, “Take it. This is my body.”
23 Then he took a cup. He gave thanks and handed it to them. All of them drank from it.
24 “This is my blood of the covenant,” he said to them. “It is poured out for many. 25 What I’m about to tell you is true. I won’t drink wine with you again until the day I drink it in God’s kingdom.”
26 Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.
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