Deuteronomy 21-23

21st Century King James Version

21 “If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him,

² then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure the distance unto the cities which are round about him that is slain.

³ And it shall be that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer which hath not been worked and which hath not drawn in the yoke;

⁴ and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley.

⁵ And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister unto Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried.

⁶ And all the elders of that city who are next unto the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley.

⁷ And they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.

⁸ Be merciful, O Lord, unto Thy people Israel, whom Thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto Thy people of Israel’s charge.’ And the blood shall be forgiven them.

⁹ So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord.

¹⁰ “When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands and thou hast taken them captive,

¹¹ and seest among the captives a beautiful woman and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her for thy wife,

¹² then thou shalt bring her home to thine house. And she shall shave her head and pare her nails;

¹³ and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house and bewail her father and her mother a full month. And after that thou shalt go in unto her and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.

¹⁴ And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will, but thou shalt not sell her at all for money; thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.

¹⁵ “If a man have two wives, one beloved and another hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated, and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated,

¹⁶ then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, who is indeed the firstborn.

¹⁷ But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated as the firstborn by giving him a double portion of all that he hath, for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

¹⁸ “If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them,

¹⁹ then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city and unto the gate of his place.

²⁰ And they shall say unto the elders of his city, ‘This, our son, is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’

²¹ And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, so that he die. So shalt thou put evil away from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.

²² “And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he is to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree,

²³ his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day (for he that is hanged is accursed of God), that thy land be not defiled which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

22 “Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them. Thou shalt in any case bring them back unto thy brother.

² And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again.

³ In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment and with all lost things of thy brother’s, which he hath lost and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise; thou mayest not hide thyself.

⁴ Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them; thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.

⁵ “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for all who do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.

⁶ “If a bird’s nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree or on the ground, whether there be young ones or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young;

⁷ but thou shalt in any wise let the dam go and take the young to thee, that it may be well with thee and that thou mayest prolong thy days.

⁸ “When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a parapet for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house if any man fall from thence.

⁹ “Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds, lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown and the fruit of thy vineyard be defiled.

¹⁰ “Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.

¹¹ “Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together.

¹² “Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture wherewith thou coverest thyself.

¹³ “If any man take a wife and go in unto her, and hate her,

¹⁴ and give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her and say, ‘I took this woman, and when I came to her I found her not a maid,’

¹⁵ then shall the father of the damsel and her mother take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel’s virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate.

¹⁶ And the damsel’s father shall say unto the elders, ‘I gave my daughter unto this man for a wife, and he hateth her;

¹⁷ and lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, “I found not thy daughter a maid,” and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city.

¹⁸ And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him;

¹⁹ and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought an evil name upon a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.

²⁰ But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel,

²¹ then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die, because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house; so shalt thou put evil away from among you.

²² “If a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman and the woman; so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.

²³ “If a damsel who is a virgin be betrothed unto a husband, and a man find her in the city and lie with her,

²⁴ then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones, that they die — the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city, and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbor’s wife; so thou shalt put away evil from among you.

²⁵ “But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her and lie with her, then the man only that lay with her shall die.

²⁶ But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death. For as when a man riseth against his neighbor and slayeth him, even so is this matter;

²⁷ for he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.

²⁸ “If a man find a damsel who is a virgin who is not betrothed, and lay hold on her and lie with her, and they be found,

²⁹ then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.

³⁰ “A man shall not take his father’s wife, nor uncover his father’s skirt.

23 “He that is wounded in the stones or hath his private member cut off shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord.

² A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord.

³ An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever,

⁴ because they met you not with bread and with water in the way when ye came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor, of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee.

⁵ Nevertheless the Lord thy God would not hearken unto Balaam, but the Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy God loved thee.

⁶ Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever.

⁷ “Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother. Thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian, because thou wast a stranger in his land.

⁸ The children who are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the Lord in their third generation.

⁹ “When the host goeth forth against thine enemies, then keep thyself from every wicked thing.

¹⁰ “If there be among you any man that is not clean by reason of uncleanness that chanceth him by night, then shall he go abroad out of the camp; he shall not come within the camp.

¹¹ But it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall wash himself with water; and when the sun is down he shall come into the camp again.

¹² “Thou shalt have a place also outside the camp whither thou shalt go forth abroad.

¹³ And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee.

¹⁴ For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp to deliver thee and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy, that He see no unclean thing in thee and turn away from thee.

¹⁵ “Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant who has escaped from his master unto thee.

¹⁶ He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates where it is good for him. Thou shalt not oppress him.

¹⁷ “There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.

¹⁸ Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore or the price of a dog into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow, for even both these are abomination unto the Lord thy God.

¹⁹ “Thou shalt not lend upon interest to thy brother, interest of money, interest of victuals, interest of any thing that is lent upon interest.

²⁰ Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon interest, but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon interest, that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

²¹ “When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, thou shalt not be slack to pay it; for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee, and it would be sin in thee.

²² But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee.

²³ That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform, even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the Lord thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth.

²⁴ “When thou comest into thy neighbor’s vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes to thy fill at thine own pleasure, but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel.

²⁵ When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbor, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand, but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbor’s standing corn.