Chapter 22

Property Rights

1 “1If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for the ox and afour sheep for the sheep.

2 “1If the athief is 2caught while breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there will be no bloodguiltiness on his account.

3 “But if the sun has risen on him, there will be bloodguiltiness on his account. He shall surely make restitution; if he owns nothing, then he shall be asold for his theft.

4 “If what he stole is actually found alive in his 1possession, whether an ox or a donkey or a sheep, ahe shall pay double.

5 “If a man lets a field or vineyard be grazed bare and lets his animal loose so that it grazes in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard.

6 “If a fire breaks out and spreads to thorn bushes, so that stacked grain or the standing grain or the field itself is consumed, he who started the fire shall surely make restitution.

7 “aIf a man gives his neighbor money or goods to keep for him and it is stolen from the man’s house, if the thief is 1caught, he shall pay double.

8 “If the thief is not 1caught, then the owner of the house shall 2appear before 3athe judges, to determine whether he 4laid his hands on his neighbor’s property.

9 “For every 1breach of trust, whether it is for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for clothing, or for any lost thing about which one says, ‘This is it,’ the 2case of both parties shall come before 3athe judges; he whom 3the judges condemn shall pay double to his neighbor.

10 “If a man gives his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep for him, and it dies or is hurt or is driven away while no one is looking,

11 an aoath before the Lord shall be made by the two of them 1that he has not 2laid hands on his neighbor’s property; and its owner shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution.

12 “But if it is actually stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner.

13 “If it is all torn to pieces, let him bring it as evidence; he shall not make restitution for what has been torn to pieces.

14 “If a man 1borrows anything from his neighbor, and it is injured or dies while its owner is not with it, he shall make full restitution.

15 “If its owner is with it, he shall not make restitution; if it is hired, it came for its hire.

Sundry Laws

16 “aIf a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged, and lies with her, he must pay a dowry for her to be his wife.

17 “If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he shall 1pay money equal to the adowry for virgins.

18 “You shall not allow a asorceress to live.

19 “aWhoever lies with an animal shall surely be put to death.

20 “aHe who sacrifices to 1any god, other than to the Lord alone, shall be 2utterly destroyed.

21 “aYou shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

22 “aYou shall not afflict any widow or orphan.

23 “If you afflict him at all, and aif he does cry out to Me, bI will surely hear his cry;

24 and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, aand your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

25 “aIf you lend money to My people, to the poor 1among you, you are not to 2act as a creditor to him; you shall not 3charge him binterest.

26 “If you ever take your neighbor’s cloak aas a pledge, you are to return it to him before the sun sets,

27 for that is his only covering; it is his cloak for his 1body. What else shall he sleep in? And it shall come about that awhen he cries out to Me, I will hear him, for bI am gracious.

28 “You shall not 1acurse God, bnor curse a ruler of your people.

29 “aYou shall not delay the offering from 1your harvest and your vintage. bThe firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me.

30 “aYou shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep. It shall be with its mother seven days; bon the eighth day you shall give it to Me.

31 “aYou shall be holy men to Me, therefore byou shall not eat any flesh torn to pieces in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.

Chapter 23

Sundry Laws

1 “aYou shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a bmalicious witness.

2 “You shall not follow 1the masses in doing evil, nor shall you 2testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after 1a multitude in order to apervert justice;

3 anor shall you 1be partial to a poor man in his dispute.

4 “aIf you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him.

5 “aIf you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him.

6 “aYou shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute.

7 “aKeep far from a false charge, and bdo not kill the innocent or the righteous, for cI will not acquit the guilty.

8 “aYou shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and 1subverts the cause of the just.

9 “aYou shall not oppress a 1stranger, since you yourselves know the 2feelings of a 1stranger, for you also were 1strangers in the land of Egypt.

The Sabbath and Land

10 “aYou shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield,

11 but on the seventh year you shall let it 1rest and lie fallow, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the beast of the field may eat. You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

12 “aSix days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as 1your stranger, may refresh themselves.

13 “Now aconcerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; and bdo not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard 1from your mouth.

Three National Feasts

14 “aThree times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me.

15 “You shall observe athe Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the bmonth Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And 1cnone shall appear before Me empty-handed.

16 “Also you shall observe athe Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year bwhen you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field.

17 “aThree times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord 1God.

18 “aYou shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; bnor is the fat of My 1feast to remain overnight until morning.

19 “You shall bring athe choice first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God.

“bYou are not to boil a young goat in the milk of its mother.

Conquest of the Land

20 “Behold, I am going to send aan angel before you to guard you along the way and bto bring you into the place which I have prepared.

21 “Be on your guard before him and obey his voice; ado not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since bMy name is in him.

22 “But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then aI will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

23 “aFor My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them.

24 “aYou shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; bbut you shall utterly overthrow them and break their csacred pillars in pieces.

25 “aBut you shall serve the Lord your God, 1and He will bless your bread and your water; and bI will remove sickness from your midst.

26 “There shall be no one miscarrying or abarren in your land; bI will fulfill the number of your days.

27 “I will asend My terror ahead of you, and bthrow into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will cmake all your enemies turn their backs to you.

28 “I will send ahornets ahead of you so that they will bdrive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you.

29 “aI will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.

30 “I will drive them out before you alittle by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land.

31 “aI will fix your boundary from the 1Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; bfor I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will cdrive them out before you.

32 “aYou shall 1make no covenant with them bor with their gods.

33 “aThey shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, bit will surely be a snare to you.”

Chapter 24

People Affirm Their Covenant with God

1 Then He said to Moses, “aCome up to the Lord, you and Aaron, bNadab and Abihu and cseventy of the elders of Israel, and you shall worship at a distance.

2 “Moses alone, however, shall come near to the Lord, but they shall not come near, nor shall the people come up with him.”

3 Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the Lord and all the 1ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “aAll the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!”

4 aMoses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Then he arose early in the morning, and built an baltar 1at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.

5 He sent young men of the sons of Israel, aand they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the Lord.

6 aMoses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.

7 Then he took athe book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “bAll that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!”

8 So aMoses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold bthe blood of the covenant, which the Lord has 1made with you 2in accordance with all these words.”

9 Then Moses went up 1with Aaron, aNadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,

10 and athey saw the God of Israel; and under His feet 1bthere appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, 2as clear as the sky itself.

11 Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and athey saw God, and they ate and drank.

12 Now the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and 1remain there, and aI will give you the stone tablets 2with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction.”

13 So Moses arose 1with aJoshua his 2servant, and Moses went up to bthe mountain of God.

14 But to the elders he said, “aWait here for us until we return to you. And behold, bAaron and Hur are with you; whoever 1has a legal matter, let him approach them.”

15 Then Moses went up to the mountain, and athe cloud covered the mountain.

16 aThe glory of the Lord 1rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He bcalled to Moses from the midst of the cloud.

17 aAnd to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a bconsuming fire on the mountain top.

18 Moses entered the midst of the cloud 1as he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain aforty days and forty nights.