Deuteronomy 22–23

¹‘Thou dost not see the ox of thy brother or his sheep driven away, and hast hidden thyself from them, thou dost certainly turn them back to thy brother; ²and if thy brother is not near unto thee, and thou hast not known him, then thou hast removed it unto the midst of thy house, and it hath been with thee till thy brother seek it, and thou hast given it back to him; ³and so thou dost to his ass, and so thou dost to his garment, and so thou dost to any lost thing of thy brother’s, which is lost by him, and thou hast found it; thou art not able to hide thyself.

⁴‘Thou dost not see the ass of thy brother, or his ox, falling in the way, and hast hid thyself from them; thou dost certainly raise them up with him.

⁵‘The habiliments of a man are not on a woman, nor doth a man put on the garment of a woman, for the abomination of Jehovah thy God is any one doing these.

⁶‘When a bird’s nest cometh before thee in the way, in any tree, or on the earth, brood or eggs, and the mother sitting on the brood or on the eggs, thou dost not take the mother with the young ones; ⁷thou dost certainly send away the mother, and the young ones dost take to thyself, so that it is well with thee, and thou hast prolonged days.

⁸‘When thou buildest a new house, then thou hast made a parapet to thy roof, and thou dost not put blood on thy house when one falleth from it.

⁹‘Thou dost not sow thy vineyard with divers things, lest the fulness of the seed which thou dost sow, and the increase of the vineyard, be separated.

¹⁰‘Thou dost not plow with an ox and with an ass together.

¹¹‘Thou dost not put on a mixed cloth, wool and linen together.

¹²‘Fringes thou dost make to thee on the four skirts of thy covering with which thou dost cover thyself.

¹³‘When a man taketh a wife, and hath gone in unto her, and hated her, ¹⁴and laid against her actions of words, and brought out against her an evil name, and said, This woman I have taken, and I draw near unto her, and I have not found in her tokens of virginity:

¹⁵‘Then hath the father of the damsel—and her mother—taken and brought out the tokens of virginity of the damsel unto the elders of the city in the gate, ¹⁶and the father of the damsel hath said unto the elders, My daughter I have given to this man for a wife, and he doth hate her; ¹⁷and lo, he hath laid actions of words, saying, I have not found to thy daughter tokens of virginity—and these are the tokens of the virginity of my daughter! and they have spread out the garment before the elders of the city.

¹⁸‘And the elders of that city have taken the man, and chastise him, ¹⁹and fined him a hundred silverlings, and given to the father of the damsel, because he hath brought out an evil name on a virgin of Israel, and she is to him for a wife, he is not able to send her away all his days.

²⁰‘And if this thing hath been truth—tokens of virginity have not been found for the damsel— ²¹then they have brought out the damsel unto the opening of her father’s house, and stoned her have the men of her city with stones, and she hath died, for she hath done folly in Israel, to go a-whoring in her father’s house; and thou hast put away the evil thing out of thy midst.

²²‘When a man is found lying with a woman, married to a husband, then they have died even both of them, the man who is lying with the woman, also the woman; and thou hast put away the evil thing out of Israel.

²³‘When there is a damsel, a virgin, betrothed to a man, and a man hath found her in a city, and lain with her; ²⁴then ye have brought them both out unto the gate of that city, and stoned them with stones, and they have died:—the damsel, because that she hath not cried, being in a city; and the man, because that he hath humbled his neighbour’s wife; and thou hast put away the evil thing out of thy midst.

²⁵‘And if in a field the man find the damsel who is betrothed, and the man hath laid hold on her, and lain with her, then hath the man who hath lain with her died alone; ²⁶and to the damsel thou dost not do anything, the damsel hath no deadly sin; for as a man riseth against his neighbour and hath murdered him—the life, so is this thing; ²⁷for in a field he found her, she hath cried—the damsel who is betrothed—and she hath no saviour.

²⁸‘When a man findeth a damsel, a virgin who is not betrothed, and hath caught her, and lain with her, and they have been found, ²⁹then hath the man who is lying with her given to the father of the damsel fifty silverlings, and to him she is for a wife; because that he hath humbled her, he is not able to send her away all his days.

³⁰‘A man doth not take his father’s wife, nor uncover his father’s skirt.

Chapter 23

¹‘One wounded, bruised, or cut in the member doth not enter into the assembly of Jehovah; ²a bastard doth not enter into the assembly of Jehovah; even a tenth generation of him doth not enter into the assembly of Jehovah.

³‘An Ammonite and a Moabite doth not enter into the assembly of Jehovah; even a tenth generation of them doth not enter into the assembly of Jehovah—to the age; ⁴because that they have not come before you with bread and with water in the way, in your coming out from Egypt, and because he hath hired against thee Balaam son of Beor, of Pethor of Aram-Naharaim, to revile thee; ⁵and Jehovah thy God hath not been willing to hearken unto Balaam, and Jehovah thy God doth turn for thee the reviling to a blessing, because Jehovah thy God hath loved thee; ⁶thou dost not seek their peace and their good all thy days—to the age.

⁷‘Thou dost not abominate an Edomite, for thy brother he is; thou dost not abominate an Egyptian, for a sojourner thou hast been in his land; ⁸sons who are begotten of them, a third generation of them, doth enter into the assembly of Jehovah.

⁹‘When a camp goeth out against thine enemies, then thou hast kept from every evil thing.

¹⁰‘When there is in thee a man who is not clean, from an accident at night—then he hath gone out unto the outside of the camp—he doth not come in unto the midst of the camp— ¹¹and it hath been, at the turning of the evening, he doth bathe with water, and at the going in of the sun he doth come in unto the midst of the camp.

¹²‘And a station thou hast at the outside of the camp, and thou hast gone out thither without, ¹³and a nail thou hast on thy staff, and it hath been, in thy sitting without, that thou hast digged with it, and turned back, and covered thy filth; ¹⁴for Jehovah thy God is walking up and down in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give thine enemies before thee, and thy camp hath been holy, and He doth not see in thee the nakedness of anything, and hath turned back from after thee.

¹⁵‘Thou dost not shut up a servant unto his lord, who is delivered unto thee from his lord; ¹⁶with thee he doth dwell, in thy midst, in the place which he chooseth within one of thy gates, where it is pleasing to him; thou dost not oppress him.

¹⁷‘There is not a whore among the daughters of Israel, nor is there a whoremonger among the sons of Israel; ¹⁸thou dost not bring a gift of a whore, or a price of a dog, into the house of Jehovah thy God, for any vow; for the abomination of Jehovah thy God are even both of them.

¹⁹‘Thou dost not lend in usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of food, usury of anything which is lent on usury. ²⁰To a stranger thou mayest lend in usury, and to thy brother thou dost not lend in usury, so that Jehovah thy God doth bless thee in every putting forth of thy hand on the land whither thou goest in to possess it.

²¹‘When thou vowest a vow to Jehovah thy God, thou dost not delay to complete it; for Jehovah thy God doth certainly require it from thee, and it hath been in thee—sin.

²²‘And when thou forbearest to vow, it is not in thee a sin. ²³The produce of thy lips thou dost keep, and hast done it, as thou hast vowed to Jehovah thy God; a free-will-offering, which thou hast spoken with thy mouth.

²⁴‘When thou comest in unto the vineyard of thy neighbour, then thou hast eaten grapes, according to thy desire, thy sufficiency; but into thy vessel thou dost not put any. ²⁵When thou comest in among the standing-corn of thy neighbour, then thou hast plucked the ears with thy hand, but a sickle thou dost not wave over the standing-corn of thy neighbour.

Chapter 24