Laws about Property

22:1 1 (21:37)2 “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, he must pay back3 five head of cattle for the ox, and four sheep for the one sheep.4

22:2 “If a thief is caught5 breaking in6 and is struck so that he dies, there will be no blood guilt for him.7 22:3 If the sun has risen on him, then there is blood guilt for him. A thief8 must surely make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he will be sold for his theft. 22:4 If the stolen item should in fact be found9 alive in his possession,10 whether it be an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he must pay back double.11

22:5 “If a man grazes12 his livestock13 in a field or a vineyard, and he lets the livestock loose and they graze in the field of another man, he must make restitution from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard.

22:6 “If a fire breaks out and spreads14 to thorn bushes,15 so that stacked grain or standing grain or the whole field is consumed, the one who started16 the fire must surely make restitution.

22:7 “If a man gives his neighbor money or articles17 for safekeeping,18 and it is stolen from the man’s house, if the thief is caught,19 he must repay double. 22:8 If the thief is not caught,20 then the owner of the house will be brought before the judges21 to see22 whether he has laid23 his hand on his neighbor’s goods. 22:9 In all cases of illegal possessions,24 whether for an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any kind of lost item, about which someone says ‘This belongs to me,’25 the matter of the two of them will come before the judges,26 and the one whom27 the judges declare guilty28 must repay double to his neighbor. 22:10 If a man gives his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep, and it dies or is hurt29 or is carried away30 without anyone seeing it,31 22:11 then there will be an oath to the Lord32 between the two of them, that he has not laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods, and its owner will accept this, and he will not have to pay. 22:12 But if it was stolen33 from him,34 he will pay its owner. 22:13 If it is torn in pieces, then he will bring it for evidence,35 and he will not have to pay for what was torn.

22:14 “If a man borrows an animal36 from his neighbor, and it is hurt or dies when its owner was not with it, the man who borrowed it37 will surely pay. 22:15 If its owner was with it, he will not have to pay; if it was hired, what was paid for the hire covers it.38