Various Laws 1 UST If you see an Israelite’ s ox or sheep that has strayed away, do not act as though you did not see it. Take it back to its owner. BSB BSB: If you see your brother’s ox or sheep straying, you must not ignore it; be sure to return it to your brother.
2 UST But if the owner does not live near you, or if you do not know who he is, take the animal to your house. It can stay with you until the owner comes, searching for it. Then you must give the animal to him. BSB BSB: If your brother does not live near you, or if you do not know who he is, you are to take the animal home to remain with you until your brother comes seeking it; then you can return it to him.
3 UST You must do that same thing if you see a donkey, a piece of clothing, or anything else that someone has lost. Do not refuse to do what you should do. BSB BSB: And you shall do the same for his donkey, his cloak, or anything your brother has lost and you have found. You must not ignore it.
4 UST And if you see a fellow Israelite’ s donkey or cow that has fallen down on the road, do not act as though you did not see it. Help the owner to lift the animal up so that it can stand on its feet again. BSB BSB: If you see your brother’s donkey or ox fallen on the road, you must not ignore it; you must help him lift it up.
5 UST Women must not wear men’ s clothes, and men must not wear women’ s clothes. Yahweh our God hates people who do things like that. BSB BSB: A woman must not wear men’s clothing, and a man must not wear women’s clothing, for whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD your God.
6 UST If you happen to find a bird’ s nest in a tree or on the ground, and the mother bird is sitting in the nest on its eggs or with the baby birds, do not take both the mother bird and the babies. BSB BSB: If you come across a bird’s nest with chicks or eggs, either in a tree or on the ground along the road, and the mother is sitting on the chicks or eggs, you must not take the mother along with the young.
7 UST You may take the baby birds, but you must allow the mother bird to fly away. Do this in order that things will go well for you and that you will live for a long time. BSB BSB: You may take the young, but be sure to let the mother go, so that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.
8 UST If you build a new house, you must put a railing around the roof. In this way, you will not be guilty of having caused someone’ s death if a person falls from it and dies. BSB BSB: If you build a new house, you are to construct a railing around your roof, so that you do not bring bloodguilt on your house if someone falls from it.
9 UST Do not plant any crop in the area where your grapevines are growing. If you do, the harvest of both will become sacred. BSB BSB: Do not plant your vineyard with two types of seed; if you do, the entire harvest will be defiled—both the crop you plant and the fruit of your vineyard.
10 UST Do not hitch together an ox and a donkey for plowing your fields. BSB BSB: Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.
11 UST Do not wear clothing that is made by weaving together wool and linen. BSB BSB: Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.
12 UST Twist threads together to make tassels and sew them on the four bottom corners of your cloak. BSB BSB: You are to make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear.
Marriage Violations 13 UST Suppose a man marries a young woman and has sex with her and later decides that he does not want her anymore, BSB BSB: Suppose a man marries a woman, has relations with her, and comes to hate her,
14 UST and suppose that he says false things about her, making people think badly about her by claiming that she was not a virgin when he married her. BSB BSB: and he then accuses her of shameful conduct and gives her a bad name, saying, “I married this woman and had relations with her, but I discovered she was not a virgin.”
15 UST If that happens, the young woman’ s parents must take the sheet that was on the bed when the man and their daughter were married, which still has bloodstains on it, and show it to the elders of the city at the gate of the city. BSB BSB: Then the young woman’s father and mother shall bring the proof of her virginity to the city elders at the gate
16 UST Then the father of the young woman must say to the elders,‘I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife. But now he says that he does not want her anymore. BSB BSB: and say to the elders, “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he has come to hate her.
17 UST And he has falsely said that she was not a virgin when he married her. But look! Here is what proves that my daughter was a virgin! Look at the bloodstains on the sheet where they slept the night that they were married!’ And he will show the sheet to the city elders. BSB BSB: And now he has accused her of shameful conduct, saying, ‘I discovered that your daughter was not a virgin.’ But here is the proof of her virginity.” And they shall spread out the cloth before the city elders.
18 UST Then the elders of that city must punish that man. BSB BSB: Then the elders of that city shall take the man and punish him.
19 UST They must force him to pay 100 pieces of silver to the father of the young woman, because the man has shamed a young Israelite woman. Also, that woman will be his wife for the rest of his life. He is not allowed to divorce her. BSB BSB: They are also to fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, because this man has given a virgin of Israel a bad name. And she shall remain his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.
20 UST But if what the man said is true, and there is nothing to prove that she was a virgin when he married her, BSB BSB: If, however, this accusation is true, and no proof of the young woman’s virginity can be found,
21 UST they must take that young woman to the door of her father’ s house. Then the men of that city must execute her by throwing stones at her. They must do that because she has done something in Israel that is very disgraceful, by sleeping with some man while she was still living in her father’ s house. By executing her like that, you will make sure no one from among you does this evil action. BSB BSB: she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house, and there the men of her city will stone her to death. For she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous in her father’s house. So you must purge the evil from among you.
22 UST If someone catches a man having sex with another man’ s wife, you must execute both of them, the man and the woman. By doing that, you will make sure no one from Israel does this evil action. BSB BSB: If a man is found lying with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.
23 UST Suppose in some town a man sees a young woman who is engaged to another man and has sex with her. BSB BSB: If there is a virgin pledged in marriage to a man, and another man encounters her in the city and sleeps with her,
24 UST You must take both of them to the gate of that town. There you must execute them both by throwing stones at them. You must execute the young woman because she did not shout for help even though she was in the town. You must execute the man because he has defiled someone who was supposed to be someone else’ s wife. By doing that, you will make sure no one among you does this evil action. BSB BSB: you must take both of them out to the gate of that city and stone them to death—the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. So you must purge the evil from among you.
25 UST But suppose out in the open countryside a man meets a young woman who is engaged to be married, and he forces her to have sex with him. If that happens, you must execute only that man who forced her to have sex. BSB BSB: But if the man encounters a betrothed woman in the open country, and he overpowers her and lies with her, only the man who has done this must die.
26 UST You must not punish the young woman, because she did not do anything to die for. This case is like when one man attacks another man in the countryside and murders him, BSB BSB: Do nothing to the young woman, because she has committed no sin worthy of death. This case is just like one in which a man attacks his neighbor and murders him.
27 UST because the man who forced her to have sex with him saw her when she was in the open countryside, and even though she called out for help, there was no one there who could rescue her. BSB BSB: When he found her in the field, the betrothed woman cried out, but there was no one to save her.
28 UST If a man forces a young woman who is not engaged to be married to have sex with him, and if someone sees him while he is doing that, BSB BSB: If a man encounters a virgin who is not pledged in marriage, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are discovered,
29 UST the man who forced her to have sex with him must pay 50 pieces of silver to the young woman’ s father, and he must marry her, because he defiled her. He is not allowed to divorce her during the rest of his life. BSB BSB: then the man who lay with her must pay the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she must become his wife because he has violated her. He must not divorce her as long as he lives.
30 UST A man must not disgrace his father by having sex with any of his father’ s wives. BSB BSB: A man is not to marry his father’s wife, so that he will not dishonor his father’s marriage bed.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.