Chronological
Laws Concerning Unsolved Murder
21 If a homicide victim[a] should be found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you,[b] and no one knows who killed[c] him, 2 your elders and judges must go out and measure how far it is to the cities in the vicinity of the corpse.[d] 3 Then the elders of the city nearest to the corpse[e] must take from the herd a heifer that has not been worked—that has never pulled with the yoke— 4 and bring the heifer down to a wadi with flowing water,[f] to a valley that is neither plowed nor sown.[g] There at the wadi they are to break the heifer’s neck. 5 Then the Levitical priests[h] will approach (for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name,[i] and to decide[j] every judicial verdict[k]) , 6 and all the elders of that city nearest the corpse[l] must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley.[m] 7 Then they must proclaim, “Our hands have not spilled this blood, nor have we[n] witnessed the crime.[o] 8 Do not blame[p] your people Israel whom you redeemed, O Lord, and do not hold them accountable for the bloodshed of an innocent person.”[q] Then atonement will be made for the bloodshed. 9 In this manner you will purge the guilt of innocent blood from among you, for you must do what is right before[r] the Lord.
Laws Concerning Female Captives
10 When you go out to do battle with your enemies and the Lord your God allows you to prevail[s] and you take prisoners, 11 if you should see among them[t] an attractive woman whom you wish to take as a wife, 12 you may bring her back to your house. She must shave her head,[u] trim her nails, 13 discard the clothing she was wearing when captured,[v] and stay[w] in your house, lamenting for her father and mother for a full month. After that you may sleep with her[x] and become her husband and she your wife. 14 If you are not pleased with her, then you must let her go[y] where she pleases. You cannot in any case sell[z] her;[aa] you must not take advantage of[ab] her, since you have already humiliated[ac] her.
Laws Concerning Children
15 Suppose a man has two wives, one whom he loves more than the other,[ad] and they both[ae] bear him sons, with the firstborn being the child of the less-loved wife. 16 In the day he divides his inheritance[af] he must not appoint as firstborn the son of the favorite wife in place of the other wife’s[ag] son who is actually the firstborn. 17 Rather, he must acknowledge the son of the less-loved wife[ah] as firstborn and give him the double portion[ai] of all he has, for that son is the beginning of his father’s procreative power[aj]—to him should go the right of the firstborn.
18 If a person has a stubborn, rebellious son who pays no attention to his father or mother, and they discipline him to no avail,[ak] 19 his father and mother must seize him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his city. 20 They must declare to the elders[al] of his city, “Our son is stubborn and rebellious and pays no attention to what we say—he is a glutton and drunkard.” 21 Then all the men of his city must stone him to death. In this way you will purge[am] wickedness from among you, and all Israel[an] will hear about it and be afraid.
Disposition of a Criminal’s Remains
22 If a person commits a sin punishable by death and is executed, and you hang the corpse[ao] on a tree, 23 his body must not remain all night on the tree; instead you must make certain you bury[ap] him that same day, for the one who is left exposed[aq] on a tree is cursed by God.[ar] You must not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
Laws Concerning Preservation of Life
22 When you see[as] your neighbor’s[at] ox or sheep going astray, do not ignore it;[au] you must return it without fail[av] to your neighbor. 2 If the owner[aw] does not live near[ax] you or you do not know who the owner is,[ay] then you must corral the animal[az] at your house and let it stay with you until the owner looks for it; then you must return it to him. 3 You shall do the same to his donkey, his clothes, or anything else your neighbor[ba] has lost and you have found; you must not refuse to get involved.[bb] 4 When you see[bc] your neighbor’s donkey or ox fallen along the road, do not ignore it;[bd] instead, you must be sure[be] to help him get the animal on its feet again.[bf]
5 A woman must not wear men’s clothing,[bg] nor should a man dress up in women’s clothing, for anyone who does this is offensive[bh] to the Lord your God.
6 If you happen to notice a bird’s nest along the road, whether in a tree or on the ground, and there are chicks or eggs with the mother bird sitting on them,[bi] you must not take the mother from the young.[bj] 7 You must be sure[bk] to let the mother go, but you may take the young for yourself. Do this so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.
8 If you build a new house, you must construct a guardrail[bl] around your roof to avoid being culpable[bm] in the event someone should fall from it.
Illustrations of the Principle of Purity
9 You must not plant your vineyard with two kinds of seed; otherwise the entire yield, both of the seed you plant and the produce of the vineyard, will be defiled.[bn] 10 You must not plow with an ox and a donkey harnessed together. 11 You must not wear clothing made with wool and linen meshed together.[bo] 12 You shall make yourselves tassels[bp] for the four corners of the clothing you wear.
Purity in the Marriage Relationship
13 Suppose a man marries a woman, sleeps with her,[bq] and then rejects[br] her, 14 accusing her of impropriety[bs] and defaming her reputation[bt] by saying, “I married this woman but when I approached her for marital relations[bu] I discovered she was not a virgin!” 15 Then the father and mother of the young woman must produce the evidence of virginity[bv] for the elders of the city at the gate. 16 The young woman’s father must say to the elders, “I gave my daughter to this man and he has rejected[bw] her. 17 Moreover, he has raised accusations of impropriety by saying, ‘I discovered your daughter was not a virgin,’ but this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity!” The cloth must then be spread out[bx] before the city’s elders. 18 The elders of that city must then seize the man and punish[by] him. 19 They will fine him 100 shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, for the man who made the accusation[bz] ruined the reputation[ca] of an Israelite virgin. She will then become his wife, and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.
20 But if the accusation is true and the young woman was not a virgin, 21 the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thing[cb] in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge[cc] the evil from among you.
22 If a man is discovered in bed with[cd] a married woman,[ce] both the man lying in bed with the woman and the woman herself must die; in this way you will purge[cf] the evil from Israel.
23 If a virgin is engaged to a man and another man meets[cg] her in the city and goes to bed with[ch] her, 24 you must bring the two of them to the gate of that city and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry out though in the city and the man because he violated[ci] his neighbor’s fiancée;[cj] in this way you will purge[ck] evil from among you. 25 But if the man came across[cl] the engaged woman in the field and overpowered her and raped[cm] her, then only the rapist[cn] must die. 26 You must not do anything to the young woman—she has done nothing deserving of death. This case is the same as when someone attacks another person[co] and murders him, 27 for the man[cp] met her in the field and the engaged woman cried out, but there was no one to rescue her.
28 Suppose a man comes across a virgin who is not engaged and takes hold of her[cq] and sleeps with[cr] her and they are discovered. 29 The man who has slept with her must pay her father fifty shekels of silver and she must become his wife. Because he has humiliated her, he may never divorce her as long as he lives.
30 (23:1)[cs] A man may not marry[ct] his father’s former[cu] wife and in this way dishonor his father.[cv]
Purity in Public Worship
23 A man with crushed[cw] or severed genitals[cx] may not enter the assembly of the Lord.[cy] 2 A person of illegitimate birth[cz] may not enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation no one related to him may do so.[da]
3 No Ammonite or Moabite[db] may enter the assembly of the Lord; to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall ever[dc] do so,[dd] 4 for they did not meet you with food and water on the way as you came from Egypt, and furthermore, they hired[de] Balaam son of Beor of Pethor in Aram Naharaim to curse you. 5 But the Lord your God refused to listen to Balaam and changed[df] the curse to a blessing, for the Lord your God loves[dg] you. 6 You must not seek peace and prosperity for them through all the ages to come. 7 You must not hate an Edomite, for he is your relative;[dh] you must not hate an Egyptian, for you lived as a foreigner[di] in his land. 8 Children of the third generation born to them[dj] may enter the assembly of the Lord.
Purity in Personal Hygiene
9 When you go out as an army against your enemies, guard yourselves against anything impure.[dk] 10 If there is someone among you who is impure because of some nocturnal emission,[dl] he must leave the camp; he may not reenter it immediately. 11 When evening arrives he must wash himself with water, and then at sunset he may reenter the camp.
12 You are to have a place outside the camp to serve as a latrine.[dm] 13 You must have a spade among your other equipment, and when you relieve yourself[dn] outside you must dig a hole with the spade[do] and then turn and cover your excrement.[dp] 14 For the Lord your God walks about in the middle of your camp to deliver you and defeat[dq] your enemies for you. Therefore your camp should be holy, so that he does not see anything indecent[dr] among you and turn away from you.
Purity in the Treatment of the Unprivileged
15 You must not return an escaped slave to his master when he has run away to you.[ds] 16 Indeed, he may live among you in any place he chooses, in whichever of your villages[dt] he prefers; you must not oppress him.
Cultic Prostitution Banned
17 There must never be a sacred prostitute[du] among the young women[dv] of Israel nor a sacred male prostitute[dw] among the young men[dx] of Israel. 18 You must never bring the pay of a female prostitute[dy] or the wage of a male prostitute[dz] into the temple of the Lord your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both of these are abhorrent to the Lord your God.
Respect for Others’ Property
19 You must not charge interest on a loan to your fellow Israelite,[ea] whether on money, food, or anything else that has been loaned with interest. 20 You may lend with interest to a foreigner, but not to your fellow Israelite; if you keep this command the Lord your God will bless you in all you undertake in the land you are about to enter to possess. 21 When you make a vow to the Lord your God you must not delay in fulfilling it, for otherwise he[eb] will surely[ec] hold you accountable as a sinner.[ed] 22 If you refrain from making a vow, it will not be sinful. 23 Whatever you vow, you must be careful to do what you have promised, such as what you have vowed to the Lord your God as a freewill offering. 24 When you enter the vineyard of your neighbor you may eat as many grapes as you please,[ee] but you must not take away any in a container.[ef] 25 When you go into the ripe grain fields of your neighbor you may pluck off the kernels with your hand,[eg] but you must not use a sickle on your neighbor’s ripe grain.
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