Deuteronomy 21-25

Names of God Bible

When a Murder Is Committed, but the Murderer Can’t Be Found

21 This is what you must do if you find a murder victim lying in a field in the land that Yahweh your Elohim is giving you. If no one knows who committed the murder, ² your leaders and judges must go and measure the distance from the body to each of the neighboring cities. ³ When it has been determined which city is nearest the body, the leaders from that city must choose a heifer that has never been put to work and never worn a yoke.^{[a] 4} The leaders of that city will bring the heifer down to a river, to a location where the land hasn’t been plowed or planted. At the river they must break the heifer’s neck. ⁵ The priests, the descendants of Levi, must come forward. Yahweh your Elohim has chosen them to serve him as priests and to bless people in Yahweh’s name. Their decision is final in all cases involving a disagreement or an assault. ⁶ All the leaders from the city which was nearest the murder victim must wash their hands over the dead heifer. ⁷ Then they must make this formal statement: “We didn’t commit this murder, and we didn’t witness it. ⁸ Yahweh, make peace with your people Israel, whom you freed. Don’t let the guilt of this unsolved murder remain among your people Israel.” Then there will be peace with the Lord despite the murder. ⁹ This is how you will get rid of the guilt of an unsolved murder by doing what Yahweh considers right.

Laws about Marriage and Family

¹⁰ When you go to war with your enemies and Yahweh your Elohim hands them over to you, you may take them captive. ¹¹ If you see a beautiful woman among the captives and have your heart set on her, you may marry her. ¹² Bring her into your home. She must shave her head, cut her nails, ¹³ and no longer wear the clothes she was wearing when you captured her. Then she may live in your house and mourn the loss of her father and mother for one month. After that, you may sleep with her. Then you will become husband and wife.

¹⁴ But if it happens that you are no longer pleased with her, let her go wherever she wants. You must never sell her or mistreat her as if she were a slave,^[b] since you’ve already had sex with her.

¹⁵ A man might have two wives and love one but not the other. Both wives might have children, and the firstborn son might belong to the wife that the man doesn’t love. ¹⁶ When the day comes for the father to give his sons their inheritance, he can’t treat the son of the wife he loves as if that son were the firstborn. This would show a total disregard for the real firstborn (the son of the wife he doesn’t love). ¹⁷ Instead, he must recognize the son of the wife he doesn’t love as the firstborn. He must give that son a double portion of whatever he owns. That son is the very first son he had. The rights of the firstborn son are his.

¹⁸ Parents might have a stubborn and rebellious son who doesn’t obey them. Even though they punish him, he still won’t listen to them. ¹⁹ His father and mother must take him to the leaders of the city at the city gate. ²⁰ They will say to the leaders of the city, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He won’t obey us. He eats too much and is a drunk.” ²¹ All the men of the city should stone him to death. You must get rid of this evil. When all Israel hears about it, they will be afraid.

Various Laws

²² When a convicted person is put to death, ²³ never leave his dead body hung on a pole overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone whose body is hung on a pole is cursed by Elohim. The land that Yahweh your Elohim is giving you must never become unclean.^[c]

22 If you see another Israelite’s ox or sheep out where it doesn’t belong, don’t pretend that you don’t see it. Make sure you take it back. ² If the owner doesn’t live near you or you don’t know who owns it, take the animal home with you. Keep it until the owner comes looking for it. Then give it back. ³ Do the same if you find a donkey, some clothes, or anything else that another Israelite may have lost. Don’t pretend that you don’t know what to do.

⁴ If you see another Israelite’s donkey or ox lying on the road, don’t pretend that you don’t see it. Make sure you help him get it back on its feet.

⁵ A woman must never wear anything men would wear, and a man must never wear women’s clothes. Whoever does this is disgusting to Yahweh your Elohim.

⁶ Whenever you’re traveling and find a nest containing chicks or eggs, this is what you must do. If the mother bird is sitting on the nest, never take her with the chicks. ⁷ You may take the chicks, but make sure you let the mother go. Then things will go well for you, and you will live for a long time.

⁸ Whenever you build a new house, put a railing around the edge of the roof. Then you won’t be responsible for a death at your home if someone falls off the roof.

⁹ Never plant anything between the rows in your vineyard. Otherwise, you will have to give everything that grows there to the holy place. This includes the crop you planted and the grapes from the vineyard.

¹⁰ Never plow with an ox and a donkey harnessed together.

¹¹ Never wear clothes made of wool and linen woven together.

¹² Make tassels on the four corners of the shawl you wear over your clothes.

Laws about Sex and Marriage

¹³ A man might marry a woman, sleep with her, and decide he doesn’t like her. ¹⁴ Then he might make up charges against her and ruin her reputation by saying, “I married this woman. But when I slept with her, I found out she wasn’t a virgin.” ¹⁵ The girl’s father and mother must go to the city gate where the leaders of the city are and submit the evidence that their daughter was a virgin. ¹⁶ The girl’s father will tell the leaders, “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he doesn’t like her. ¹⁷ Now he has made up charges against her. He says he found out that my daughter wasn’t a virgin. But here’s the evidence!” Then the girl’s parents must spread out the cloth in front of the leaders of the city. ¹⁸ The leaders of that city must take the man and punish him. ¹⁹ They will fine him 2¼ pounds of silver and give it to the girl’s father. The husband ruined the reputation of an Israelite virgin. She will continue to be his wife, and he can never divorce her as long as he lives.

²⁰ But if the charge is true, and no evidence that the girl was a virgin can be found, ²¹ they must take the girl to the entrance of her father’s house. The men of her city must stone her to death because she has committed such a godless act in Israel: She had sex before marriage, while she was still living in her father’s house. You must get rid of this evil.

²² If a man is caught having sexual intercourse with a married woman, both that man and the woman must die. You must get rid of this evil in Israel.

²³ This is what you must do when a man has sexual intercourse with a virgin who is engaged to another man. If this happens in a city, ²⁴ take them to the gate of the city and stone them to death. The girl must die because she was in a city and didn’t scream for help. The man must die because he had sex with another man’s wife. You must get rid of this evil.

²⁵ But if a man rapes an engaged girl out in the country, then only the man must die. ²⁶ Don’t do anything to the girl. She has not committed a sin for which she deserves to die. This is like the case of someone who attacks and murders another person. ²⁷ The man found the girl out in the country. She may have screamed for help, but no one was there to rescue her.

²⁸ This is what you must do when a man rapes a virgin who isn’t engaged. When the crime is discovered, ²⁹ the man who had sexual intercourse with her must give the girl’s father 1¼ pounds of silver, and she will become his wife. Since he raped her, he can never divorce her as long as he lives.^[d]

³⁰ A man must never marry his father’s wife because this would disgrace his father.

Various Laws

23 ^[e]A man whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off may never join the assembly of Yahweh.

² A man born from an illicit union may not join the assembly of Yahweh. No descendant of his may join the assembly of Yahweh for ten generations.

³ Ammonites or Moabites may not join the assembly of Yahweh. Not one descendant of theirs may join the assembly of Yahweh for ten generations. ⁴ They cannot join because they didn’t greet you with food and water on your trip from Egypt. They even hired Balaam, son of Beor, from Pethor in Aram Naharaim, to curse you. ⁵ But Yahweh your Elohim refused to listen to Balaam. Instead, he turned Balaam’s curse into a blessing for you because Yahweh your Elohim loves you. ⁶ Never offer them peace or friendship as long as you live.

⁷ Never consider the Edomites disgusting. They’re your relatives. Never consider the Egyptians disgusting. You once were foreigners living in their country. ⁸ Their grandchildren may join the assembly of Yahweh.

⁹ When you’re at war and have set up camp to fight your enemies, stay away from anything that will make you unclean.^{[f] 10} If one of your men becomes unclean from a nocturnal emission, he must go outside the camp and stay there. ¹¹ Toward evening he must wash, and at sunset he may come back to camp.

¹² Choose a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. ¹³ You must carry a pointed stick as part of your equipment. When you go outside to squat, dig a hole with it. When you’re done, cover up your excrement. ¹⁴ Yahweh your Elohim moves around in your camp to protect you and hand your enemies over to you. So your camp must always be holy. This way, Yahweh will never see anything offensive among you and turn away from you.

¹⁵ If a slave escapes from his master and comes to you, don’t return him to his master. ¹⁶ Let him stay with you and live among your people wherever he chooses, in any of your cities that seems best to him. Never mistreat him.

¹⁷ No Israelite man or woman should ever become a temple prostitute. ¹⁸ Never bring gifts or money earned by prostitution into the house of Yahweh your Elohim as an offering you vowed to give. These earnings are disgusting to Yahweh your Elohim.

¹⁹ Never charge another Israelite any interest on money, food, or anything else that is borrowed. ²⁰ You may charge a foreigner interest, but not an Israelite. Then Yahweh your Elohim will bless you in everything you do once you’ve entered the land and taken possession of it.

²¹ If you make a vow to Yahweh your Elohim, don’t avoid keeping it. Yahweh your Elohim expects you to keep it. You would be guilty of a sin if you didn’t. ²² If you didn’t make a vow, you would not be guilty. ²³ Make sure you do what you said you would do in your vow. You freely chose to make your vow to Yahweh your Elohim.

²⁴ If you go into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat as many grapes as you like until you’re full. But never put any in your basket. ²⁵ If you go into your neighbor’s grain field, you may pick grain by hand. But never use a sickle to cut your neighbor’s grain.

Various Laws

24 This is what you must do if a husband writes out a certificate of divorce, gives it to his wife, and makes her leave his house. (He divorced her because he found out something indecent about her and she no longer pleased him.) ² She might marry another man after she leaves his house. ³ If her second husband doesn’t love her and divorces her, or if he dies, ⁴ her first husband is not allowed to marry her again. She has become unclean.^[g] This would be disgusting in Yahweh’s presence. Don’t pollute with sin the land that Yahweh your Elohim is giving you as your property.

⁵ A man who has recently been married will be free from military duty or any other public service. For one year he is free to stay at home and make his new wife happy.

⁶ Never let a family’s handmill for grinding flour—or even part of a handmill—be taken to guarantee a loan. The family wouldn’t be able to prepare food in order to stay alive.

⁷ Whoever kidnaps another Israelite must die. The kidnapper must die, whether he treated the other person like a slave^[h] or sold him. You must get rid of this evil.

⁸ Guard against outbreaks of serious skin diseases. Be very careful to do exactly as the Levitical priests instruct you. Make sure you do what I commanded them. ⁹ Remember what Yahweh your Elohim did to Miriam on your trip from Egypt.

¹⁰ When you make a loan to your neighbor, don’t go into his house to take a security deposit. ¹¹ Wait outside, and the person to whom you’re making the loan will bring the deposit out to you. ¹² If the person is poor, don’t keep the coat you took as a deposit overnight. ¹³ Make sure you bring it back to him at sunset. When he wears his coat to bed that night, he’ll bless you. You will have done the right thing in the presence of Yahweh your Elohim.

¹⁴ Don’t withhold pay from hired workers who are poor and needy, whether they are Israelites or foreigners living in one of your cities. ¹⁵ Pay them each day before sunset because they are poor and need their pay. Otherwise, they will complain to Yahweh about you, and you will be condemned for your sin.

¹⁶ Parents must never be put to death for the crimes of their children, and children must never be put to death for the crimes of their parents. Each person must be put to death for his own crime.

¹⁷ Never deprive foreigners and orphans of justice. And never take widows’ clothes to guarantee a loan. ¹⁸ Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and Yahweh your Elohim freed you from slavery. So I’m commanding you to do this.

¹⁹ This is what you must do when you’re harvesting wheat in your field. If you forget to bring in one of the bundles of wheat, don’t go back to get it. Leave it there for foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then Yahweh your Elohim will bless you in everything you do.

²⁰ When you harvest olives from your trees, never knock down all of them. Leave some for foreigners, orphans, and widows.

²¹ When you pick the grapes in your vineyard, don’t pick all of them. Leave some for foreigners, orphans, and widows. ²² Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. So I’m commanding you to do this.

Various Laws

25 This is what you must do whenever two people have a disagreement that is brought into court. The judges will hear the case and decide who’s right and who’s wrong. ² If the person who’s in the wrong deserves to be beaten, the judge will order him to lie down. Then the judge will have him beaten with as many lashes as the crime deserves. ³ Forty lashes may be given, but no more. If an Israelite were given more than that, he would be publicly humiliated.

⁴ Never muzzle an ox when it’s threshing^[i] grain.

⁵ When brothers live together and one of them dies without having a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother must marry her and sleep with her. He must do his duty as her brother-in-law. ⁶ Then the first son she has will carry the dead brother’s name so that his name won’t die out in Israel.

⁷ But if the man doesn’t want to marry his brother’s widow, she must go to the leaders of the city at the city gate. She must say, “My brother-in-law refuses to let his brother’s name continue in Israel. He doesn’t want to do his duty as my brother-in-law.” ⁸ Then the leaders of the city must summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying that he doesn’t want to marry her, ⁹ his brother’s widow must go up to him in the presence of the leaders. She must take off one of his sandals and spit in his face. She must make this formal statement: “This is what happens to a man who refuses to continue his brother’s family line.” ¹⁰ Then in Israel his family will be called the Family of the Man Without a Sandal.

¹¹ This is what you must do when two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from the man who is beating him. If she tries to stop the fight by grabbing the other man’s genitals, ¹² cut off her hand. Have no pity on her.

¹³ Never carry two sets of weights, a heavier one and a lighter one. ¹⁴ Never have two kinds of measures in your house, a larger one and a smaller one. ¹⁵ Use accurate and honest weights and measures. Then you will live for a long time in the land that Yahweh your Elohim is giving you. ¹⁶ Everyone who uses dishonest weights and measures is disgusting to Yahweh your Elohim.

¹⁷ Remember what the Amalekites did to you on your trip from Egypt. ¹⁸ They attacked you when you were tired and exhausted and killed all those who were lagging behind. They weren’t afraid of Elohim. ¹⁹ So when Yahweh your Elohim gives you peace from all your enemies around you in the land that he is giving you as your own property, don’t forget to erase every memory of the Amalekites from the earth.