Historical
Chapter 22
1 [If a thief is caught[a] in the act of housebreaking and beaten to death, there is no bloodguilt involved. 2 But if after sunrise he is thus beaten, there is bloodguilt.] He must make full restitution. If he has nothing, he shall be sold to pay for his theft. 3 If what he stole is found alive in his possession, be it an ox, a donkey or a sheep, he shall make twofold restitution.
4 When someone causes a field or a vineyard to be grazed over, by sending his cattle to graze in another’s field, he must make restitution with the best produce of his own field or vineyard. 5 If a fire breaks out, catches on to thorn bushes, and consumes shocked grain, standing grain, or the field itself, the one who started the fire must make full restitution.
Trusts and Loans. 6 When someone gives money or articles to another for safekeeping and they are stolen from the latter’s house, the thief, if caught, must make twofold restitution. 7 If the thief is not caught, the owner of the house shall be brought to God,[b] to swear that he himself did not lay hands on his neighbor’s property. 8 In every case of dishonest appropriation, whether it be about an ox, or a donkey, or a sheep, or a garment, or anything else that has disappeared, where another claims that the thing is his, the claim of both parties shall be brought before God; the one whom God convicts must make twofold restitution to the other.
9 When someone gives an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any other animal to another for safekeeping, if it dies, or is maimed or snatched away, without anyone witnessing the fact, 10 there shall be an oath before the Lord between the two of them that the guardian did not lay hands on his neighbor’s property; the owner must accept the oath, and no restitution is to be made. 11 But if the guardian has actually stolen from it, then he must make restitution to the owner. 12 If it has been killed by a wild beast, let him bring it as evidence; he need not make restitution for the mangled animal.(A)
13 When someone borrows an animal from a neighbor, if it is maimed or dies while the owner is not present, that one must make restitution. 14 But if the owner is present, that one need not make restitution. If it was hired, this was covered by the price of its hire.
Social Laws. 15 (B)When a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed, and lies with her, he shall make her his wife by paying the bride price. 16 If her father refuses to give her to him, he must still pay him the bride price for virgins.[c]
17 You shall not let a woman who practices sorcery live.(C)
18 Anyone who lies with an animal shall be put to death.(D)
19 Whoever sacrifices to any god, except to the Lord alone, shall be put under the ban.(E)
20 You shall not oppress or afflict a resident alien, for you were once aliens residing in the land of Egypt.(F) 21 You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. 22 If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely listen to their cry. 23 My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans.
24 (G)If you lend money to my people, the poor among you, you must not be like a money lender; you must not demand interest from them. 25 If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset; 26 for this is his only covering; it is the cloak for his body. What will he sleep in? If he cries out to me, I will listen; for I am compassionate.(H)
27 You shall not despise God,[d] nor curse a leader of your people.(I)
28 You shall not delay the offering of your harvest and your press. You shall give me the firstborn of your sons. 29 You must do the same with your oxen and your sheep; for seven days the firstling may stay with its mother, but on the eighth day you must give it to me.(J)
30 You shall be a people sacred to me. Flesh torn to pieces in the field you shall not eat; you must throw it to the dogs.(K)
Chapter 23
1 You shall not repeat a false report. Do not join your hand with the wicked to be a witness supporting violence.(L) 2 You shall not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When testifying in a lawsuit, you shall not follow the crowd in perverting justice. 3 You shall not favor the poor in a lawsuit.(M)
4 When you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey going astray, you must see to it that it is returned.(N) 5 When you notice the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you should not desert him; you must help him with it.
6 You shall not pervert justice for the needy among you in a lawsuit. 7 You shall keep away from anything dishonest. The innocent and the just you shall not put to death, for I will not acquit the guilty. 8 Never take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and distorts the words of the just.(O) 9 You shall not oppress a resident alien; you well know how it feels to be an alien, since you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.(P)
Religious Laws. 10 (Q)For six years you may sow your land and gather in its produce. 11 But the seventh year you shall let the land lie untilled and fallow, that the poor of your people may eat of it and their leftovers the wild animals may eat. So also shall you do in regard to your vineyard and your olive grove.
12 For six days you may do your work, but on the seventh day you must rest,(R) that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and that the son of your maidservant and the resident alien may be refreshed. 13 Give heed to all that I have told you.
You shall not mention the name of any other god; it shall not be heard from your lips.
14 (S)Three times a year you shall celebrate a pilgrim feast to me.[e] 15 You shall keep the feast of Unleavened Bread. As I have commanded you, you must eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for it was then that you came out of Egypt. No one shall appear before me[f] empty-handed. 16 You shall also keep the feast of the grain harvest with the first fruits of the crop that you sow in the field; and finally, the feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you collect your produce from the fields. 17 Three times a year shall all your men appear before the Lord God.
18 You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened;(T) nor shall the fat of my feast be kept overnight till the next day. 19 The choicest first fruits of your soil you shall bring to the house of the Lord, your God.
You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.[g]
Reward of Fidelity. 20 See, I am sending an angel(U) before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared. 21 Be attentive to him and obey him. Do not rebel against him, for he will not forgive your sin. My authority is within him.[h] 22 If you obey him and carry out all I tell you, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.
23 My angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites; and I will wipe them out. 24 Therefore, you shall not bow down to their gods and serve them, nor shall you act as they do; rather, you must demolish them and smash their sacred stones.[i](V) 25 You shall serve the Lord, your God; then he will bless your food and drink, and I will remove sickness from your midst; 26 no woman in your land will be barren or miscarry; and I will give you a full span of life.
27 I will have the terror of me precede you, so that I will throw into panic every nation you reach.(W) I will make all your enemies turn from you in flight, 28 and ahead of you I will send hornets[j] to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. 29 But I will not drive them all out before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild animals multiply against you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have grown numerous enough to take possession of the land. 31 (X)I will set your boundaries from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines,[k] and from the wilderness to the Euphrates; all who dwell in this land I will hand over to you and you shall drive them out before you. 32 You shall not make a covenant with them or their gods. 33 They must not live in your land. For if you serve their gods, this will become a snare to you.(Y)
Chapter 24
Ratification of the Covenant. 1 Moses himself was told: Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, with Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You shall bow down at a distance. 2 Moses alone is to come close to the Lord; the others shall not come close, and the people shall not come up with them.
3 When Moses came to the people and related all the words and ordinances of the Lord, they all answered with one voice, “We will do everything that the Lord has told us.”(Z) 4 Moses then wrote down all the words of the Lord and, rising early in the morning, he built at the foot of the mountain an altar and twelve sacred stones[l] for the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 (AA)Then, having sent young men of the Israelites to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice young bulls as communion offerings to the Lord, 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in large bowls; the other half he splashed on the altar. 7 Taking the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people, who answered, “All that the Lord has said, we will hear and do.” 8 Then he took the blood and splashed it on the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.”
9 Moses then went up with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel, 10 and they beheld the God of Israel. Under his feet there appeared to be sapphire tilework, as clear as the sky itself. 11 Yet he did not lay a hand on these chosen Israelites. They saw God,[m] and they ate and drank.
Moses on the Mountain. 12 The Lord said to Moses: Come up to me on the mountain and, while you are there, I will give you the stone tablets(AB) on which I have written the commandments intended for their instruction. 13 So Moses set out with Joshua, his assistant, and went up to the mountain of God. 14 He told the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are with you. Anyone with a complaint should approach them.” 15 Moses went up the mountain. Then the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the Lord settled upon Mount Sinai. The cloud covered it for six days, and on the seventh day he called to Moses from the midst of the cloud.(AC) 17 To the Israelites the glory of the Lord was seen as a consuming fire on the top of the mountain.(AD) 18 But Moses entered into the midst of the cloud and went up on the mountain. He was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.(AE)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.