Deuteronomy 22-24

Contemporary English Version

Helping Others

Moses said to Israel:

22 ^(A) If you see a cow or sheep wandering around lost, take the animal back to its owner. ² If the owner lives too far away, or if you don't know who the owner is, take the animal home with you and take care of it. The owner will come looking for the animal, and then you can give it back. ³ That's what you should do if you find anything that belongs to someone else. Do whatever you can to help, whether you find a cow or sheep or donkey or some clothing.

⁴ Oxen and donkeys that carry heavy loads can stumble and fall, and be unable to get up by themselves. So as you walk along the road, help anyone who is trying to get an ox or donkey back on its feet.

Don't Pretend To Be the Opposite Sex

Moses said to Israel:

⁵ Women must not pretend to be men, and men must not pretend to be women.^[a] The Lord your God is disgusted with people who do that.

Don't Take a Mother Bird

Moses said to Israel:

^6-7 As you walk along the road, you might see a bird's nest in a tree or on the ground. If the mother bird is in the nest with either her eggs or her baby birds, you are allowed to take the baby birds or the eggs, but not the mother bird. Let her go free, and the Lord will bless you with a long and successful life.

Put a Wall around Your Flat Roof

⁸ If you build a house, make sure to put a low wall around the edge of the flat roof.^[b] Then if someone falls off the roof and is killed, it won't be your fault.

Laws against Mixing Different Things

Moses said to Israel:

^9 (B) If you plant a vineyard, don't plant any other fruit tree or crop in it. If you do plant something else there, you must bring to the place of worship everything you harvest from the vineyard.

¹⁰ Don't hitch an ox and a donkey to your plow at the same time.

¹¹ When you weave cloth for clothing, you can use thread made of flax^[c] or wool, but not both together. ^12 (C) And when you make a coat, sew a tassel on each of the four corners.

When a Husband Accuses His Wife

Moses said to Israel:

¹³ Suppose a man starts hating his wife soon after they are married. ¹⁴ He might tell ugly lies about her, and say, “I married this woman, but when we slept together, I found out she wasn't a virgin.”

¹⁵ If this happens, the bride's father and mother must go to the town gate to show the town leaders the proof that the woman was a virgin. ¹⁶ Her father will say, “I let my daughter marry this man, but he started hating her ¹⁷ and accusing her of not being a virgin. But he is wrong, because here is proof that she was a virgin!” Then the bride's parents will show them the bed sheet from the woman's wedding night.

¹⁸ The town leaders will beat the man with a whip ¹⁹ because he accused his bride of not being a virgin. He will have to pay her father 100 pieces of silver and will never be allowed to divorce her.

²⁰ But if the man was right and there is no proof that his bride was a virgin, ²¹ the men of the town will take the woman to the door of her father's house and stone her to death.

This woman brought evil into your community by sleeping with someone before she got married, and you must get rid of that evil by killing her.

Laws about Illegal Sex

Moses said:

²² People of Israel, if a man is caught having sex with someone else's wife, you must put them both to death. That way, you will get rid of the evil they have done in Israel.

^23-24 If a man is caught in town having sex with an engaged woman who isn't screaming for help, they both must be put to death. The man is guilty of having sex with a married woman.^[d] And the woman is guilty because she didn't call for help, even though she was inside a town and people were nearby. Take them both to the town gate and stone them to death. You must get rid of the evil they brought into your community.

^25 (D) If an engaged woman is raped out in the country, only the man will be put to death. ²⁶ Do not punish the woman at all; she has done nothing wrong, and certainly nothing deserving death. This crime is like murder, ²⁷ because the woman was alone out in the country when the man attacked her. She screamed, but there was no one to help her.

^28 (E) Suppose a woman isn't engaged to be married, and a man forces her to have sex with him. If he is caught, ²⁹ they will be forced to get married. He must give her father 50 pieces of silver as a bride-price and^[e] can never divorce her.

^30 (F) A man must not marry a woman who was married to his father. This would be a disgrace to his father.

Who Cannot Become One of the Lord's People

Moses said to Israel:

23 If a man's private parts have been crushed or cut off,^[f] he cannot fully belong to the Lord's people.

² No one born outside of a legal marriage, or any of their descendants for ten generations, can fully belong to the Lord's people.

^3 (G) No Ammonites or Moabites, or any of their descendants for ten generations, can become part of Israel, the Lord's people. ^4 (H) This is because when you came out of Egypt, they refused to provide you with food and water. And besides, they hired Balaam^[g] to put a curse on you. ^5 (I) But the Lord your God loves you, so he refused to listen to Balaam and turned Balaam's curse into a blessing. ⁶ Don't even think of signing a peace treaty with Moab or Ammon.

⁷ But Edomites are your relatives, and you lived as foreigners in the country of Egypt. Now you must be kind to Edomites and Egyptians ⁸ and let their great-grandchildren become part of Israel, the Lord's people.

Keep the Army Camp Acceptable

Moses said to Israel:

⁹ When you men go off to fight your enemies, make sure your camp is acceptable to the Lord.

¹⁰ For example, if something happens at night that makes a man unclean and unfit for worship, he^[h] must go outside the camp and stay there ¹¹ until late afternoon. Then he must take a bath, and at sunset he can go back into camp.

¹² Set up a place outside the camp to be used as a toilet area. ¹³ And make sure that you have a small shovel in your equipment. When you go out to the toilet area, use the shovel to dig a hole. Then, after you relieve yourself, bury the waste in the hole. ¹⁴ You must keep your camp clean of filthy and disgusting things. The Lord is always present in your camp, ready to rescue you and give you victory over your enemies. But if he sees something disgusting in your camp, he may turn around and leave.

Runaway Slaves from Other Countries

Moses said:

¹⁵ When runaway slaves from other countries come to Israel and ask for protection, you must not hand them back to their owners. ¹⁶ Instead, you must let them choose which one of your towns they want to live in. Don't be cruel to runaway slaves.

Temple Prostitutes

Moses said:

^17 (J) People of Israel, don't any of you ever be temple prostitutes.^{[i] 18} The Lord your God is disgusted with men and women who are prostitutes of any kind, and he will not accept a gift from them, even if it had been promised to him.

Interest on Loans

Moses said:

^19 (K) When you lend money, food, or anything else to another Israelite, you are not allowed to charge interest. ²⁰ You can charge a foreigner interest. But if you charge other Israelites interest, the Lord your God will not let you be successful in the land you are about to take.

Sacred Promises to the Lord

Moses said:

^21 (L) People of Israel, if you make a sacred promise to give a gift to the Lord, then do it as soon as you can. If the Lord has to come looking for the gift you promised, you will be guilty of breaking that promise. ²² On the other hand, if you never make a sacred promise, you can't be guilty of breaking it. ²³ You must keep whatever promises you make to the Lord. After all, you are the one who chose to make the promises.

Eating Someone Else's Produce

²⁴ If you go into a vineyard that belongs to someone else, you are allowed to eat as many grapes as you want while you are there. But don't take any with you when you leave. ²⁵ In the same way, if you are in a grain field that belongs to someone else, you can pick heads of grain and eat the kernels. But don't cut down the stalks of grain and take them with you.

A Law about Divorce

Moses said to Israel:

24 ^(M) Suppose a woman was divorced by her first husband because he found something disgraceful about her.^[j] He wrote out divorce papers, gave them to her, and sent her away. ² Later she married another man, ³ who then either divorced her in the same way or died. ⁴ Since she has slept with her second husband, she cannot marry her first husband again. Their marriage would pollute the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and he would be disgusted.

Newlyweds

Moses said to Israel:

⁵ If a man and a woman have been married less than one year, he must not be sent off to war or sent away to do forced labor. He must be allowed to stay home for a year and be happy with his wife.

Loans

Moses said to Israel:

⁶ When you lend money to people, you are allowed to keep something of theirs as a guarantee that they will pay back the loan. But don't take one or both of their millstones, or else they may starve. They need these stones for grinding grain into flour to make bread.

Kidnapping

Moses said to Israel:

^7 (N) If you are guilty of kidnapping Israelites and forcing them into slavery, you will be put to death to remove this evil from the community.

Skin Diseases

Moses said to Israel:

^8 (O) I have told the priests^[k] what to do if any of you have leprosy,^[l] so do exactly what they say. ^9 (P) And remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam^[m] after you left Egypt.

Loans

Moses said to Israel:

^10 (Q) When you lend money to people, you are allowed to keep something of theirs as a guarantee that the money will be paid back. But you must not go into their house to get it. ¹¹ Wait outside, and they will bring out the item you have agreed on.

¹² Suppose someone is so poor that a coat is the only thing that can be offered as a guarantee on a loan. Don't keep the coat overnight. ¹³ Instead, give it back before sunset, so the owner can keep warm and sleep and ask the Lord to bless you. Then the Lord your God will notice that you have done the right thing.

Poor People's Wages

Moses said:

^14 (R) If you hire poor people to work for you, don't hold back their pay,^[n] whether they are Israelites or foreigners who live in your town. ¹⁵ Pay them their wages at the end of each day, because they live in poverty and need the money to survive. If you don't pay them on time, they will complain about you to the Lord, and he will punish you.

The Death Penalty

Moses said to Israel:

^16 (S) Parents must not be put to death for crimes committed by their children, and children must not be put to death for crimes committed by their parents. Don't put anyone to death for someone else's crime.

Don't Mistreat the Powerless

Moses said to Israel:

^17 (T) Make sure that orphans and foreigners are treated fairly. And if you lend money to a widow and want to keep something of hers to guarantee that she will pay you back, don't take any of her clothes. ¹⁸ You were slaves in Egypt until the Lord your God rescued you. That's why I am giving you these laws.

Leave Some of Your Harvest for the Poor

Moses said to Israel:

^19 (U) If you forget to bring in a stack of harvested grain, don't go back in the field to get it. Leave it for the poor, including foreigners, orphans, and widows, and the Lord will make you successful in everything you do.

²⁰ When you harvest your olives, don't try to get them all for yourself, but leave some for the poor. ²¹ And when you pick your grapes, go over the vines only once, then let the poor have what is left. ²² You lived in poverty as slaves in Egypt until the Lord your God rescued you. That's why I am giving you these laws.