Old/New Testament
22 You might see your fellow Israelite’s ox or sheep wandering away. Don’t ignore it. Take it back to its owner. 2 The owner might not live close to you. Or you might not know who he is. Then take the animal home with you. Keep it until the owner comes looking for it. Then give it back to him. 3 Do the same thing if you find his donkey or coat or anything he lost. Don’t just ignore it.
4 You might see your fellow Israelite’s donkey or ox fallen on the road. Don’t ignore it. Help him get it up.
5 A woman must not wear men’s clothes. And a man must not wear women’s clothes. The Lord your God hates anyone who does that.
6 You might find a bird’s nest by the road. It might be in a tree or on the ground. And the mother bird might be sitting on the young birds or eggs. Do not take the mother bird with the young birds. 7 You may take the young birds. But you must let the mother bird go free. Then things will go well for you. And you will live a long time.
8 When you build a new house, build a wall around the roof.[a] Then you will not be guilty of murder if someone falls off the roof.
9 Don’t plant two different kinds of seeds in your vineyard. Otherwise, both crops will be ruined.
10 Don’t plow with an ox and a donkey tied together.
11 Don’t wear clothes made of wool and linen woven together.
12 Tie several pieces of thread together. Then put these tassels on the four corners of your coat.
Marriage Laws
13 A man might marry a girl and have intimate relations with her. But he might decide that he does not like her. 14 So he might lie about her and give her a bad name. He might say, “I married this woman. But when I had intimate relations with her, I did not find that she was a virgin.” 15 Then the girl’s parents must bring proof that she was a virgin. They must bring it to the elders at the city gate. 16 The girl’s father will say to the leaders, “I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife. But now he does not want her. 17 This man has told lies about my daughter. He has said, ‘I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.’ But here is the proof that my daughter was a virgin.” Then her parents are to show the sheet to the city leaders. 18 Then the leaders must take the man and punish him. 19 They must make him pay about two and a half pounds of silver. The silver will go to the girl’s father. This is because the man has given an Israelite girl a bad name. The girl must continue to be the man’s wife. And he may not divorce her as long as he lives.
20 But the things the husband said about his wife might be true. And there might be no proof that she was a virgin. 21 If so, the girl must be brought to the door of her father’s house. Then the men of the town must put her to death by throwing stones at her. She has done a disgraceful thing in Israel. She had physical relations before she was married. You must get rid of the evil among you.
22 A man might be found committing adultery with another man’s wife. Both the woman and the man who committed adultery with her must die. Get rid of this evil from Israel.
23 A man might meet a virgin in a city and have physical relations with her. But she might be engaged to another man. 24 You must take both of them to the city gate. Put them both to death by throwing stones at them. Kill the girl because she was in a city and did not scream for help. And kill the man for having physical relations with another man’s wife. You must get rid of the evil among you.
25 But a man might meet a girl out in the country. He might force her to have physical relations with him. But she might be engaged to another man. Only the man who forced her to have physical relations with her must be put to death. 26 Don’t do anything to the girl. She has not done a sin worthy of death. This is like the person who attacks and murders his neighbor. 27 The man found the engaged girl in the country. And she screamed. But no one was there to save her.
28 A man might meet a virgin who is not engaged to be married. He might force her to have physical relations with him. And people might find out about it. 29 The man must pay the girl’s father about one and one-fourth pounds of silver. He must also marry the girl because he has dishonored her. And he may never divorce her for as long as he lives.
30 A man must not marry his father’s wife. He must not dishonor his father in this way.
The Lord’s People
23 No man who has had part of his sex organ cut off may come into the worship meeting of the Lord’s people.
2 No one born to parents who were forbidden by law to marry may come into the meeting to worship the Lord. His descendants for ten generations may not come in either.
3 No Ammonite or Moabite may come into the meeting to worship the Lord. And none of their descendants for ten generations may come in. 4 This is because the Ammonites and Moabites did not give you bread and water when you came out of Egypt. And they hired Balaam to put a curse on you. He was the son of Beor from Pethor in Northwest Mesopotamia. 5 But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam. He turned the curse into a blessing for you. The Lord your God loves you. 6 Don’t wish for their peace or success as long as you live.
7 Don’t hate Edomites. They are your relatives. Don’t hate Egyptians, because you were foreigners in their country. 8 The great-grandchildren of these two peoples may come into the meeting to worship the Lord.
Keeping the Camp Clean
9 When you are camped in time of war, keep away from unclean things. 10 A man might become unclean during the night. If he does, he must go outside the camp and not come back. 11 But when evening comes, he must wash himself. At sunset he may come back into the camp.
12 Choose a place outside the camp where people may go to relieve themselves. 13 Carry a stick with you. When you relieve yourself, dig a hole. Cover up your dung. 14 The Lord your God moves around through your camp. He will protect you. He will help you defeat your enemies. So the camp must be holy. The Lord must not see anything unclean among you. Then he will not leave you.
Other Laws
15 An escaped slave might come to you. Do not hand him over to his master. 16 Let the slave live with you anywhere he likes. He may live in any town he chooses. Do not mistreat him.
17 No Israelite man or woman must ever become a temple prostitute. 18 Do not bring a male or female prostitute’s pay to the Temple of the Lord your God to pay what you have promised to the Lord. The Lord your God hates prostitution.
19 You may loan your fellow Israelite money or food or anything else. But don’t make him pay back more than what you loaned him. 20 You may charge a foreigner, but not a fellow Israelite. Then the Lord your God will bless everything you do. He will bless you in the land you are entering to take as your own.
21 You might make a promise to give something to the Lord your God. Do not be slow to pay it. The Lord your God demands it from you. Do not be guilty of sin. 22 But if you do not make the promise, you will not be guilty. 23 You must do whatever you say you will do. You chose to make the promise to the Lord your God.
24 You might go into your neighbor’s vineyard. You may eat as many grapes as you wish. But do not fill your basket with his grapes. 25 You might go into your neighbor’s grainfield. You may pick grain with your hands. But you must not cut down his grain with your sickle.
24 A man might marry a woman. But he might decide she doesn’t please him. He has found something bad about her. He writes out divorce papers for her. He gives them to her and sends her away from his house. 2 After she leaves his house, she goes and marries another man. 3 But her second husband does not like her either. So he writes out divorce papers for her. He gives them to her and sends her away from his house. Or the second husband might die. 4 In either case, her first husband who divorced her must not marry her again. She has become unclean. The Lord would hate this. Don’t bring this sin into the land the Lord your God is giving you to own.
5 A man who has just married must not be sent to war. And he must not be given any other duty. He should be free to stay home for a year to make his new wife happy.
6 A man might owe you something. But do not take his two stones for grinding grain—not even the upper one—in place of what he owes. This is how he makes his living.
7 A man might kidnap a fellow Israelite. He might make him a slave or sell him. The kidnapper must be killed. You must get rid of the evil among you.
8 Be careful when someone has a harmful skin disease. Do exactly what the priests, the Levites, teach you. Be careful to do what I have commanded them. 9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on your way out of Egypt.
10 You might make a loan to your neighbor. But don’t go into his house to get something in place of it. 11 Stay outside. Let the man himself go in and get what he promised you. 12 A poor man might give you his coat to show he will pay the loan back. But don’t keep his coat overnight. 13 Give his coat back to him at sunset. He needs his coat to sleep in. He will thank you. And the Lord your God will see that you have done a good thing.
14 Don’t cheat a hired servant who is poor and needy. He might be a fellow Israelite. Or he might be a foreigner living in one of your towns. 15 Pay him each day before sunset. He is poor and needs the money. Otherwise, he may complain to the Lord about you. And you will be guilty of sin.
16 Fathers must not be put to death when their children do wrong. And children must not be put to death when their fathers do wrong. Each person must die for his own sin.
17 Do not be unfair to a foreigner or an orphan. Don’t take a widow’s coat in place of a loan. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. And the Lord your God saved you from there. That is why I am commanding you to do this.
19 You might be gathering your harvest in the field. You might not see a bundle of grain. Don’t go back and get it. Leave it there for foreigners, orphans and widows. Then the Lord your God can bless everything you do. 20 You may beat your olive trees to knock the olives off. But don’t beat the trees a second time. Leave what is left for foreigners, orphans and widows. 21 You may harvest the grapes in your vineyard. But don’t pick the vines a second time. Leave what is left for foreigners, orphans and widows. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I am commanding you to do this.
The Plan to Kill Jesus
14 It was now only two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The leading priests and teachers of the law were trying to find a way to use some trick to arrest Jesus and kill him. 2 But they said, “We must not do it during the feast. The people might cause a riot.”
A Woman with Perfume for Jesus
3 Jesus was in Bethany. He was at dinner in the house of Simon, who had a harmful skin disease. While Jesus was there, a woman came to him. She had an alabaster jar filled with very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. The woman opened the jar and poured the perfume on Jesus’ head.
4 Some of those who were there saw this and became angry. They complained to each other, saying, “Why waste that perfume? 5 It was worth a full year’s work. It could be sold, and the money could be given to the poor.” They spoke to the woman sharply.
6 Jesus said, “Don’t bother the woman. Why are you troubling her? She did a beautiful thing for me. 7 You will always have the poor with you. You can help them anytime you want. But you will not always have me. 8 This woman did the only thing she could do for me. She poured perfume on my body. She did this before I die to prepare me for burial. 9 I tell you the truth. The Good News will be told to people in all the world. And in every place it is preached, what this woman has done will be told. And people will remember her.”
Judas Becomes an Enemy of Jesus
10 One of the 12 followers, Judas Iscariot, went to talk to the leading priests. Judas offered to give Jesus to them. 11 The leading priests were pleased about this. They promised to pay Judas money. So he waited for the best time to give Jesus to them.
Jesus Eats the Passover Feast
12 It was now the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This was a time when the Jews always sacrificed the Passover lambs. Jesus’ followers came to him. They said, “We will go and prepare everything for the Passover Feast. Where do you want to eat the feast?”
13 Jesus sent two of his followers and said to them, “Go into the city. A man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 He will go into a house. Tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks that you show us the room where he and his followers can eat the Passover Feast.’ 15 The owner will show you a large room upstairs. This room is ready. Prepare the food for us there.”
16 So the followers left and went into the city. Everything happened as Jesus had said. So they prepared the Passover Feast.
17 In the evening, Jesus went to that house with the 12. 18 While they were all eating, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth. One of you will give me to my enemies—one of you eating with me now.”
19 The followers were very sad to hear this. Each one said to Jesus, “I am not the one, am I?”
20 Jesus answered, “The man who is against me is 1 of the 12. He is the 1 who dips his bread into the bowl with me. 21 The Son of Man must go and die. The Scriptures say this will happen. But how terrible it will be for the person who gives the Son of Man to be killed. It would be better for that person if he had never been born.”
The Lord’s Supper
22 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread. He thanked God for it and broke it. Then he gave it to his followers and said, “Take it. This bread is my body.”
23 Then Jesus took a cup. He thanked God for it and gave it to the followers. All the followers drank from the cup.
24 Then Jesus said, “This is my blood which begins the new[a] agreement that God makes with his people. This blood is poured out for many. 25 I tell you the truth. I will not drink of this fruit of the vine[b] again until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
26 They sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.