Leviticus 24:10-23

Contemporary English Version

Punishment for Cursing the Lord

^10-11 Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri from the tribe of Dan, had married an Egyptian, and they had a son. One day their son got into a fight with an Israelite man in camp and cursed the name of the Lord. So the young man was dragged off to Moses, ¹² who had him guarded while everyone waited for the Lord to tell them what to do.

¹³ Finally, the Lord said to Moses:

¹⁴ This man has cursed me! Take him outside the camp and tell the witnesses to lay their hands on his head. Then command the whole community of Israel to stone him to death. ^15-16 And warn the others that everyone else who curses me will die in the same way, whether they are Israelites by birth or foreigners living among you.

^17 (A) Death is also the penalty for murder, ¹⁸ but the killing of an animal that belongs to someone else requires only that the animal be replaced. ¹⁹ Personal injuries to others must be dealt with in keeping with the crime— ^20 (B) a broken bone for a broken bone, an eye for an eye, or a tooth for a tooth. ²¹ It's possible to pay the owner for an animal that has been killed, but death is the penalty for murder. ^22 (C) I am the Lord your God, and I demand equal justice both for you Israelites and for those foreigners who live among you.

²³ When Moses finished speaking, the people did what the Lord had told Moses, and they stoned to death the man who had cursed the Lord.