Bible in 90 Days

Remember the Lord

8 Carefully obey every command I give you today. Then you will live and grow in number. And you will enter and own the land the Lord promised your ancestors. ² Remember how the Lord your God has led you in the desert for these 40 years. He took away your pride. He tested you. He wanted to know what was in your heart. He wanted to know if you would obey his commands. ³ He took away your pride. He let you get hungry. Then he fed you with manna. Manna was something neither you nor your ancestors had ever seen. This was to teach you that a person does not live only by eating bread. But a person lives by everything the Lord says. ⁴ During these 40 years, your clothes did not wear out. And your feet did not swell. ⁵ Know in your heart that the Lord your God corrects you. He corrects you as a father does his son.

⁶ Obey the commands of the Lord your God. Live as he has commanded you and respect him. ⁷ The Lord your God is bringing you into a good land. The land has rivers and pools of water. Springs flow in the valleys and hills. ⁸ The land has wheat and barley, vines, fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey. ⁹ It is a land where you will have plenty of food. You will have everything you need there. The rocks are iron. You can dig copper out of the hills.

¹⁰ You will have all you want to eat. Then praise the Lord your God. He has given you a good land. ¹¹ Be careful not to forget the Lord your God. Do not fail to obey his commands, laws and rules. I am giving them to you today. ¹² You will eat all you want. You will build nice houses and live in them. ¹³ Your herds of cattle and flocks of sheep will grow large. Your silver and gold will grow. You will have more of everything. ¹⁴ Then your heart will become proud. You will forget the Lord your God. He brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you were slaves. ¹⁵ He led you through the large and terrible desert. It was dry and had no water. It had poisonous snakes and stinging insects. He gave you water from a solid rock. ¹⁶ He gave you manna to eat in the desert. Manna was something your ancestors had never seen. He did this to take away your pride and to test you. He did it so things would go well for you in the end. ¹⁷ You might say to yourself, “I am rich because of my own strength and power.” ¹⁸ But remember the Lord your God! It is he who gives you the power to become rich. He keeps the agreement he promised to your ancestors. So it is today.

¹⁹ Never forget the Lord your God. Do not follow other gods. Do not worship them. Do not bow down to them. If you do, I warn you today that you will be destroyed. ²⁰ The Lord destroyed the other nations for you. And you can be destroyed the same way if you do not obey the Lord your God.

The Lord Will Be with Israel

9 Listen, Israel. You will soon cross the Jordan River. You will go in to force out nations that are bigger and stronger than you. They have large cities with walls up to the sky. ² The people there are Anakites. They are strong and tall. You know about them. You have heard it said: “No one can stop the Anakites.” ³ But today remember that the Lord your God goes in before you. He will destroy them like a fire that burns things up. He will defeat them ahead of you. And you will force them out. You will destroy them quickly. It will happen just as the Lord has said.

⁴ The Lord your God will force those nations out ahead of you. After that, don’t say to yourself, “The Lord brought me here. I own this land because I am so good.” No! It is because these nations are evil. That is why the Lord will force them out ahead of you. ⁵ You are going in to own the land. But it is not because you are good and honest. It is because these nations are evil. That is why the Lord your God will force them out ahead of you. The Lord will keep his promise to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. ⁶ The Lord your God is giving you this good land to own. But know this: It is not because you are good. You are a stubborn people.

Remember the Lord’s Anger

⁷ Remember this. Do not forget it. You made the Lord your God angry in the desert. You would not obey the Lord from the day you left Egypt until you arrived here. ⁸ At Mount Sinai you made the Lord angry. He was angry enough to destroy you. ⁹ I went up on the mountain to receive the stone tablets. The tablets were the agreement the Lord had made with you. I stayed on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights. I did not eat bread or drink water. ¹⁰ The Lord gave me two stone tablets. God had written on them with his own finger. On them were all the commands of the Lord. He gave them to you on the mountain out of the fire. This was on the day you were gathered there.

¹¹ Then the 40 days and 40 nights were over. And the Lord gave me the two stone tablets. Those tablets had the agreement on them. ¹² Then the Lord told me, “Get up. Go down quickly from here. The people you brought out from Egypt are ruining themselves. They have quickly turned away from what I commanded. They have made an idol for themselves.”

¹³ The Lord said to me, “I have watched these people. They are very stubborn! ¹⁴ Get away. I will destroy them. I will make the whole world forget who they are. Then I will make another nation from you. It will be bigger and stronger than they are.”

¹⁵ So I turned and came down the mountain. The mountain was burning with fire. And the two stone tablets with the agreement were in my hands. ¹⁶ When I looked, I saw you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had made an idol in the shape of a calf. You had quickly turned away from what the Lord had told you to do. ¹⁷ So I took the two stone tablets and threw them down. I broke them into pieces right in front of you.

¹⁸ Then I again bowed facedown on the ground before the Lord. I did this for 40 days and 40 nights. I did not eat bread or drink water. You had sinned by doing what the Lord said was evil. You made him angry. ¹⁹ I was afraid of the Lord’s anger and rage. He was angry enough with you to destroy you. But the Lord listened to me again. ²⁰ And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him. But then I prayed for Aaron, too. ²¹ I took that sinful calf idol you had made. And I burned it in the fire. I crushed it into a powder like dust. And I threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.

²² You also made the Lord angry at Taberah, Massah and Kibroth Hattaavah.

²³ Then the Lord sent you away from Kadesh Barnea. He said, “Go up and take the land I have given you.” But you would not obey the command of the Lord your God. You did not trust him or obey him. ²⁴ You have refused to obey the Lord as long as I have known you.

²⁵ The Lord had said he would destroy you. So I threw myself down in front of him for those 40 days and 40 nights. ²⁶ I prayed to the Lord. I said, “Lord God, do not destroy your people. They are your own people. You freed them and brought them out of Egypt by your great power and strength. ²⁷ Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Don’t look at how stubborn these people are. Don’t look at their sin and evil. ²⁸ Otherwise, Egypt will say, ‘The Lord was not able to take his people into the land he promised them. He hated them. So he took them into the desert to kill them.’ ²⁹ But they are your people, Lord. They are your own people. You brought them out of Egypt with your great power and strength.”

New Stone Tablets

10 At that time the Lord said to me, “Cut two stone tablets like the first ones. Then come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden ark. ² I will write on the tablets the same words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Put the new tablets in the ark.”

³ So I made the ark out of acacia wood. And I cut out two stone tablets like the first ones. Then I went up on the mountain. I had the two tablets in my hands. ⁴ The Lord wrote the same things on these tablets he had written before. He wrote the Ten Commandments. He had told them to you on the mountain from the fire. This was on the day you were gathered there. And the Lord gave them to me. ⁵ Then I turned and came down the mountain. I put the tablets in the ark I had made. That is what the Lord had commanded. The tablets are still there in the ark.

⁶ (The people of Israel went from the wells of the Jaakanites to Moserah. There Aaron died and was buried. Aaron’s son Eleazar became priest in Aaron’s place. ⁷ From Moserah they went to Gudgodah. From Gudgodah they went to Jotbathah, a place with streams of water. ⁸ At that time the Lord chose the tribe of Levi. They were to carry the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord. They were to serve the Lord. They were to bless the people in the Lord’s name. They still do this today. ⁹ That is why the Levites did not receive any land to own. Instead, they received the Lord himself as their gift. This is what the Lord your God told them.)

¹⁰ I stayed on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights just like the first time. And the Lord listened to me this time also. He did not want to destroy you. ¹¹ The Lord said to me, “Go. Lead the people. They will go in and take the land I promised their ancestors.”

What the Lord Wants You to Do

¹² Now, Israel, this is what the Lord wants you to do. Respect the Lord your God. Do what he has told you to do. Love him. Serve the Lord your God with your whole being. ¹³ And obey the Lord’s commands and laws. I am giving them to you today for your own good.

¹⁴ The Lord owns the world and everything in it. The heavens, even the highest heavens, are his. ¹⁵ But the Lord cared for and loved your ancestors. And he chose you, their descendants. He chose you over all the other nations. And it is this way today. ¹⁶ Give yourselves to serving the Lord. Do not be stubborn any longer. ¹⁷ The Lord your God is God of all gods. He is the Lord of all lords. He is the great God. He is strong and wonderful. He does not take sides. And he will not be talked into doing evil. ¹⁸ He helps orphans and widows. He loves foreigners. He gives them food and clothes. ¹⁹ You also must love foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt. ²⁰ Respect the Lord your God and serve him. Be loyal to him. Make your promises in his name. ²¹ You should praise him. He is your God. He has done great and wonderful things for you. You have seen them with your own eyes. ²² There were only 70 of your ancestors when they went down to Egypt. Now the Lord your God has made you as many as the stars in the sky.

Great Things Israel Saw

11 Love the Lord your God. Obey his orders, rules, laws and commands. ² Remember today it was not your children who saw and felt the correction of the Lord your God. They did not see his majesty, his power and his strength. ³ They did not see his signs and the things he did in Egypt to the king and his whole country. ⁴ They did not see what he did to the Egyptian army, its horses and chariots. He drowned them in the Red Sea when they were chasing you. The Lord ruined them forever. ⁵ They did not see what he did for you in the desert until you arrived here. ⁶ They did not see what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite. The ground opened up and swallowed them, their families and their tents. And it swallowed up everyone who stood with them in Israel. ⁷ It was you who saw all these great things the Lord has done.

⁸ So obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will be strong. Then you can go in and take the land you are going to own. ⁹ Then you will live a long time in that land. The Lord promised to give it to your ancestors and their descendants. It is a land where much food grows. ¹⁰ The land you are going to take is not like Egypt, where you were. There you had to plant your seed. Then you had to water it, like a vegetable garden, by using your feet. ¹¹ But you will soon cross the Jordan River and take the land. It is a land of hills and valleys. It drinks rain from heaven. ¹² It is a land the Lord your God loves. His eyes are on it continually. He watches it from the beginning of the year to the end.

¹³ Carefully obey the commands I am giving you today. Love the Lord your God. Serve him with your whole being. ¹⁴ Then he will send rain on your land at the right time, in the fall and spring. You will be able to gather your grain, new wine and oil. ¹⁵ He will put grass in the fields for your cattle. You will have plenty to eat.

¹⁶ Be careful. Don’t be fooled. Don’t turn away and serve other gods. Don’t worship them. ¹⁷ If you do, the Lord will become angry with you. He will shut the heavens so it will not rain. Then the land will not grow crops. And you will soon die in the good land the Lord is giving you. ¹⁸ Remember my words in your hearts and souls. Write them down and tie them to your hands as a sign. Tie them on your foreheads to remind you. ¹⁹ Teach them well to your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and walk along the road. Talk about them when you lie down and when you get up. ²⁰ Write them on your doors and gates. ²¹ Then both you and your children will live a long time in the land. This is the land the Lord promised your ancestors. You will live there for as long as the skies are above the earth.

²² Be careful to obey every command I am giving you to follow. Love the Lord your God. Do what he has told you to do. And be loyal to him. ²³ Then the Lord will force all those nations out of the land ahead of you. And you will take the land from nations that are bigger and stronger than you. ²⁴ Everywhere you step will be yours. Your land will go from the desert to Lebanon. And it will go from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea. ²⁵ No one will be able to stop you. The Lord your God will do what he promised. He will make the people afraid everywhere you go.

²⁶ See, today I am letting you choose a blessing or a curse. ²⁷ You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God. I am giving them to you today. ²⁸ But you will be cursed if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God. So do not disobey the commands I am giving you today. Do not worship other gods you do not know. ²⁹ The Lord your God will bring you into the land you will own. Then you are to announce the blessings from Mount Gerizim. Announce the curses from Mount Ebal. ³⁰ These mountains are on the other side of the Jordan River. They are west, toward the sunset. They are near the great trees of Moreh. They are in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Jordan Valley opposite Gilgal. ³¹ You will soon cross the Jordan River. You will enter and take the land the Lord your God is giving you. You will take it over and live there. ³² Then be careful to obey all the commands and laws I am giving you today.

The Place for Worship

12 These are the commands and laws you must carefully obey in the land the Lord your God is giving you. Obey them as long as you live in the land. ² You will inherit the lands of these nations. You must completely destroy all the places where they serve their gods. These places are on high mountains and hills and under every green tree. ³ Tear down their altars. Smash their holy stone pillars. Burn their Asherah idols. Cut down their idols. Destroy their names from those places.

⁴ Don’t worship the Lord your God that way. ⁵ But look for the place the Lord your God will choose. He will choose a place among your tribes where he is to be worshiped. Go there. ⁶ Bring to that place your burnt offerings and sacrifices. Bring a tenth of what you gain and your special gifts. Bring what you have promised and the special gifts you want to give the Lord. And bring the first animals born to your herds and flocks.

⁷ There you will be together with the Lord your God. There you and your families will eat. And you will enjoy all the good things for which you have worked. The Lord your God has blessed you.

⁸ Do not worship the way we have been doing today. Each person does what he thinks is right. ⁹ You have not yet come to a resting place. The Lord your God will give you your own land. ¹⁰ But you will soon cross the Jordan River. And you will live in the land the Lord your God is giving you to own. And he will give you rest from all your enemies. You will live in safety. ¹¹ Then the Lord your God will choose a place where he is to be worshiped. To that place you must bring everything I tell you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your offerings of a tenth of what you gain, your special gifts and all your best things you promised to the Lord. ¹² There rejoice before the Lord your God. Everyone should rejoice: you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns, who have no land of their own. ¹³ Be careful. Don’t sacrifice your burnt offerings just anywhere you please. ¹⁴ Offer them only in the place the Lord will choose. He will choose a place in one of your tribes. And there you must do everything I am commanding you.

¹⁵ But you may kill your animals in any of your towns. And you may eat as much of the meat as you want. Eat it as if it were a deer or a gazelle. This is the blessing the Lord your God is giving you. Anyone, clean or unclean, may eat this meat. ¹⁶ But do not eat the blood. Pour it out on the ground like water. ¹⁷ Do not eat in your own towns what belongs to the Lord: one-tenth of your grain, new wine or oil; the first animals born to your herds or flocks; whatever you have promised to give; the special gifts you want to give to the Lord, or any other gifts. ¹⁸ Eat these things when you are together with the Lord. Eat them in the place the Lord your God chooses to be worshiped. Everyone must do this: you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns. Rejoice in the Lord’s presence about the things you have worked for. ¹⁹ Be careful not to forget the Levites as long as you live in the land.

²⁰ The Lord your God will enlarge your country as he has promised. And you will want some meat. You will say, “I want some meat.” Eat as much meat as you want. ²¹ The Lord your God will choose a place where he is to be worshiped. But it may be too far away from you. If it is, you may kill animals from your herds and flocks. The Lord has given them to you. I have commanded that you may do this. You may eat as much of them as you want in your own towns. ²² Eat them as you would eat gazelle or deer meat. Both clean and unclean people may eat this meat. ²³ But be sure you don’t eat the blood. The life is in the blood. Don’t eat the life with the meat. ²⁴ Don’t eat the blood. Pour it out on the ground like water. ²⁵ Don’t eat it. Then things will go well for you and your children. You will be doing what the Lord says is right.

²⁶ Take your holy things and the things you have promised to give. And go to the place the Lord will choose. ²⁷ Present your burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord your God. Offer both the meat and the blood. The blood of your sacrifices should be poured beside the altar. But you may eat the meat. ²⁸ Be careful to obey all the rules I am giving you. Then things will always go well for you and your children. You will be doing what the Lord your God says is good and right.

²⁹ You will enter the land and take it away from the nations there. The Lord your God will destroy those nations ahead of you. You will force them out and live in their land. ³⁰ They will be destroyed for you. Be careful not to be trapped by asking about their gods. Don’t say, “How do these nations worship? I will do the same.” ³¹ Don’t worship the Lord your God that way. The Lord hates the evil ways they worship their gods. They even burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices to their gods!

³² Be sure to do everything I have commanded you. Do not add anything to it. And do not take anything away from it.

False Prophets

13 A prophet or someone who tells the future with dreams might come to you. He might say he will show you a miracle or a sign. ² The miracle or sign might even happen. Then he might say, “Let’s serve other gods.” (These are gods you have not known.) “And let’s worship them.” ³ But you must not listen to that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you. He is finding out if you love him with your whole being. ⁴ Serve only the Lord your God. Respect him. Keep his commands and obey him. Serve him and be loyal to him. ⁵ That prophet or dreamer must be killed. He said you should turn against the Lord your God. The Lord brought you out of Egypt. He saved you from the land where you were slaves. That prophet tried to turn you from doing what the Lord your God commanded you to do. You must get rid of the evil among you.

⁶ Some relative might try to lead you to serve other gods. It might be your brother, your son or daughter or the wife you love. Or it might be a close friend. He might say, “Let’s go and worship other gods.” (These are gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known. ⁷ They are gods of the people who live around you. Some are nearby, and some are far away. They are from one end of the land to the other.) ⁸ Do not give in to him. Do not listen. Do not feel sorry for him. Do not let him go free or protect him. ⁹ You must put him to death. You must be the first one to start to kill him. Then everyone else must join in. ¹⁰ You must throw stones at him until he dies. He tried to turn you away from the Lord your God. The Lord brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you were slaves. ¹¹ Then everyone in Israel will hear about this. And they will be afraid. No one among you will ever do such an evil thing again.

Cities to Destroy

¹² The Lord your God is giving you cities in which to live. You might hear something about one of them. Someone might say ¹³ that evil men have moved in among you. And they might lead the people of that city away from God. They might say, “Let’s go and worship other gods.” (These are gods you have not known.) ¹⁴ Then you must ask about it. Look into the matter and check carefully. It might be true. It may be proved that a terrible thing has happened among you. ¹⁵ If it has, then you must kill with a sword everyone who lives in that city. Destroy the city completely. Kill everyone in it, as well as the animals, with a sword. ¹⁶ Gather up everything those people owned. Put it in the middle of the city square. Then completely burn the city and everything they owned. It will be a burnt offering to the Lord your God. That city should never be rebuilt. Let it be ruined forever. ¹⁷ Don’t keep any of the things found in that city for yourselves. Then the Lord will not be angry anymore. He will give you mercy. He will feel sorry for you. And he will make your nation grow larger. He promised this to your ancestors. ¹⁸ You will have obeyed the Lord your God. You will be keeping all his commands. I am giving them to you today. And you will be doing what the Lord says is right.

God’s Special People

14 You are the children of the Lord your God. When someone dies, do not cut yourselves or shave your heads to show your sadness. ² You are holy people. You belong to the Lord your God. He has chosen you from all the people on earth to be his very own.

³ Do not eat anything the Lord hates. ⁴ These are the animals you may eat: ox, sheep, goats, ⁵ deer, gazelle, roe deer, wild goats, ibex, antelope and mountain sheep. ⁶ You may eat any animal that has a split hoof and chews the cud. ⁷ But you may not eat camels, rabbits or rock badgers. These animals chew the cud, but their feet are not divided. So they are unclean for you. ⁸ Pigs are also unclean for you. They have split hooves, but they do not chew the cud. Do not eat their meat or touch their dead bodies.

⁹ There are many things that live in the water. You may eat anything that has fins and scales. ¹⁰ But do not eat anything that does not have fins and scales. It is unclean for you.

¹¹ You may eat any clean bird. ¹² But do not eat these birds: eagles, vultures, black vultures, ¹³ red kites, falcons, any kind of kite, ¹⁴ any kind of raven, ¹⁵ horned owls, screech owls, seagulls, any kind of hawk, ¹⁶ little owls, great owls, white owls, ¹⁷ desert owls, ospreys, cormorants, ¹⁸ storks, any kind of heron, the hoopoes or bats.

¹⁹ All insects with wings are unclean for you. Do not eat them. ²⁰ Other things with wings are clean. You may eat them.

²¹ Do not eat anything you find that is already dead. You may give it to a foreigner living in your town. He may eat it. Or you may sell it to a foreigner. But you are holy people. You belong to the Lord your God.

Do not cook a baby goat in its mother’s milk.

Giving One-Tenth

²² Be sure to save one-tenth of all your crops each year. ²³ Take it to the place the Lord your God will choose where he is to be worshiped. There you will be together with the Lord. There eat the tenth of your grain, new wine and oil. And eat the animals born first to your herds and flocks. Then you will learn to respect the Lord your God always. ²⁴ But the place the Lord will choose to be worshiped might be too far away. And he may have blessed you so much you cannot carry a tenth. ²⁵ If so, exchange your one-tenth for silver. Then take the silver with you to the place the Lord your God shall choose. ²⁶ Use the silver to buy anything you wish. You may buy cattle, sheep, wine, beer or anything you wish. Then you and your family will eat and celebrate there before the Lord your God. ²⁷ Do not forget the Levites in your town. They have no land of their own among you.

²⁸ At the end of every third year, everyone should bring one-tenth of that year’s crop. Store it in your towns. ²⁹ This is for the Levites so they may eat and be full. (They have no land of their own among you.) It is also for strangers, orphans and widows who live in your towns. All of them may eat and be full. Then the Lord your God will bless you and all the work you do.

The Special Seventh Year

15 At the end of every seven years, you must forget about collecting what people owe you. ² This is how you must do it: Everyone who has loaned money must forget the loan. He must not make his neighbor or brother pay it back. This is the Lord’s time for canceling what people owe. ³ You may make a foreigner pay what he owes you. But you must not collect what your brother owes you. ⁴ But there should be no poor people among you. The Lord your God will richly bless you in the land he is giving you to own. ⁵ He will bless you if you obey him completely. But you must be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. ⁶ The Lord your God will bless you as he promised. You will lend to other nations. But you will not need to borrow from them. You will rule over many nations. But none will rule over you.

⁷ There might be a poor man among you. He might be in one of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you. Do not be selfish or greedy toward your poor brother. ⁸ But give freely to him. Freely lend him whatever he needs. ⁹ Beware of evil thoughts. Don’t think, “The seventh year is near. It’s the year to forget what people owe.” You might be mean to your needy brother. You might not give him anything. Then he will complain to the Lord about you. And the Lord will find you guilty of sin. ¹⁰ Give freely to the poor person. Do not wish that you didn’t have to give. The Lord your God will bless your work and everything you touch. ¹¹ There will always be poor people in the land. So I command you to give freely to your brothers. Give freely to the poor and needy in your land.

Letting Slaves Go Free

¹² One of your own people might sell himself to you as a slave. It may be a Hebrew man or woman. That person will serve you for six years. The seventh year you must let him go free. ¹³ And when you let him go, don’t send him away without anything. ¹⁴ Give him some of your sheep, your grain and your wine. Give to him as the Lord has given to you. ¹⁵ Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. And the Lord your God saved you. That is why I am commanding this to you today.

¹⁶ But your slave might say to you, “I don’t want to leave you.” He might love you and your family. He might have a good life with you. ¹⁷ If he does this, stick an awl^[a] through his ear into the door. He will be your slave for life. Also do this to a woman slave.

¹⁸ Do not think of it as a hard thing when you let your slave go free. After all, he served you six years. You paid him only half what a hired person would cost. The Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

Rules About Firstborn Animals

¹⁹ Save all the first male animals born to your herds and flocks. They are for the Lord your God. Do not work the first calf born to your oxen. And do not cut off the wool from the first lamb born to your sheep. ²⁰ Each year you and your family are to eat these animals. Eat them in the presence of the Lord your God. Eat them in the place he will choose to be worshiped. ²¹ An animal might have something wrong with it. It might be crippled or blind. It might have some other thing wrong with it. Do not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. ²² But you may eat that animal in your own town. Both clean and unclean people may eat it. It would be like eating a gazelle or a deer. ²³ But don’t eat its blood. Pour it out on the ground like water.

The Passover

16 Celebrate the Passover of the Lord your God during the month of Abib. It was during Abib that he brought you out of Egypt at night. ² Offer a sacrifice for the Passover to the Lord your God. It should be an animal from your flock or herd. Offer it at the place the Lord will choose to be worshiped. ³ Do not eat it with bread made with yeast. But for seven days eat bread made without yeast. This is the bread of suffering because you left Egypt in a hurry. So all your life you will remember the time you left Egypt. ⁴ There must be no yeast anywhere in your land for seven days. Offer the sacrifice on the evening of the first day. Eat all the meat before morning. Do not leave it overnight.

⁵ Do not offer the Passover sacrifice in just any town the Lord your God gives you. ⁶ Offer it in the place he will choose to be worshiped. Offer it in the evening as the sun goes down. That is when you left Egypt. ⁷ Roast the meat. Then eat it at the place the Lord your God will choose. The next morning go back to your tents. ⁸ Eat bread made without yeast for six days. On the seventh day have a special meeting for the Lord your God. Do not work that day.

Feast of Weeks

⁹ Count seven weeks from the time you begin to harvest the grain. ¹⁰ Then celebrate the Feast of Weeks for the Lord your God. Bring him an offering as a special gift to him. Give to him just as he has blessed you. ¹¹ Rejoice before the Lord your God. Rejoice at the place he will choose to be worshiped. Everybody should rejoice: you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites in your town, the strangers, orphans and widows living among you. ¹² Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. And carefully obey all these laws.

Feast of Shelters

¹³ Celebrate the Feast of Shelters for seven days. Do it after you have gathered your harvest from the threshing floor and winepress. ¹⁴ Everybody should rejoice at your Feast: you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites and strangers who live in your towns, orphans and widows in your towns. ¹⁵ Celebrate the Feast to the Lord your God for seven days. Celebrate it at the place he will choose. The Lord your God will bless all your harvest. He will bless all the work you do. And you will be completely happy.

¹⁶ All your men must come before the Lord three times a year. They must come to the place he will choose. They must come at these times: the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Shelters. No man should come before the Lord without a gift. ¹⁷ Each of you must bring a gift. It should show how much the Lord your God has blessed you.

Judges for the People

¹⁸ Appoint judges and officers for your tribes. Appoint them in every town the Lord your God is giving you. And they must judge the people fairly. ¹⁹ Do not judge unfairly or take sides. Do not let people pay you to make wrong decisions. That kind of payment makes wise people seem blind. And it changes the words of good people. ²⁰ Always do what is right. Then you will live and own the land the Lord your God is giving you.

God Hates Idols

²¹ Do not set up a wooden Asherah idol next to the altar you build for the Lord your God. ²² And do not set up holy stone pillars. The Lord your God hates them.

17 An ox or sheep might have something wrong with it. Do not offer it as a sacrifice to the Lord your God. He would hate that.

² A man or woman might be found doing something evil in one of the towns the Lord gave you. That man or woman is breaking his agreement. ³ That person may have served other gods. He may have bowed down to them, to the sun or moon or stars of the sky. I have commanded that should not be done. ⁴ If someone has told you about it, you must look into the matter. It might be true. A terrible thing may have happened in Israel. ⁵ If it is true, take the man or woman who has done the evil thing to the city gate. Throw stones at that person until he dies. ⁶ There must be two or three witnesses that he did it. Then the person should be put to death. But if there is only one witness, the person should not be put to death. ⁷ The witnesses must be the first to throw stones at the person. Then everyone else will follow. You must get rid of the evil among you.

Courts of Law

⁸ Some cases that come before you may be too difficult to judge. It may be a case of murder, quarreling or attack. Take these cases to the place the Lord your God will choose. ⁹ Go to the priests who are Levites. And go to the judge who is on duty at that time. Ask them about the case, and they will decide. ¹⁰ You must follow the decision they give you. They will be at the place the Lord your God will choose. Be careful to do everything they tell you. ¹¹ Follow the teachings they give you. Do whatever they decide. Do exactly what they tell you. ¹² The person who does not show respect for the judge or priest must be put to death. They are there serving the Lord your God. You must get rid of that evil from Israel. ¹³ Then everyone will hear about this. And they will be afraid. They will not show disrespect anymore.

Choosing a King

¹⁴ You will enter the land the Lord your God is giving you. You will take it as your own and live in it. Then you will say, “Let’s appoint a king over us like the nations all around us.” ¹⁵ Be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses. He must be one of your own people. Do not appoint a foreigner as your king. He is not a fellow Israelite. ¹⁶ The king must not have too many horses for himself. He must not send people to Egypt to get more horses. The Lord has told you, “Don’t return that way again.” ¹⁷ The king must not have many wives. If he does, his heart will be led away from God. He must not have too much silver and gold.

¹⁸ When he becomes king, he should write a copy of the teachings on a scroll for himself. He should copy it from the priests and Levites. ¹⁹ He should keep it with him all the time. He should read from it every day of his life. Then he will learn to respect the Lord his God. And he will obey all the teachings and commands. ²⁰ He should not think he is better than his brothers. He must not stop obeying the law in any way. Then he and his descendants will rule the kingdom for a long time.

Shares for Priests and Levites

18 The priests are from the tribe of Levi. That tribe will not receive a share of the land with the Israelites. They will eat the offerings made to the Lord by fire. That is their share. ² They will not inherit any of the land like their brothers. They will inherit the Lord himself. This is what he promised them.

³ When you offer a bull or sheep as a sacrifice, you must share with the priests. Give them the shoulder, the cheeks and the inner organs. ⁴ Give them the first of your grain, new wine and oil. Give them the first wool you cut from your sheep. ⁵ The Lord your God has chosen the priests and their descendants out of all your tribes. They are to stand and serve the Lord always.

⁶ A Levite might move from one of your towns anywhere in Israel where he lives. He is sincere and comes to the place the Lord will choose. ⁷ He may serve the Lord his God. He will be like his fellow Levites who serve there before the Lord. ⁸ They all will have an equal share of the food. This is separate from what he has received from the sale of family possessions.

Do Not Follow Other Nations

⁹ You will enter the land the Lord your God is giving you. But don’t learn to do the terrible things the other nations do. ¹⁰ Don’t let anyone among you offer his son or daughter as a sacrifice in the fire. Don’t let anyone use magic or witchcraft. No one should try to explain the meaning of signs. ¹¹ Don’t let anyone try to control others with magic. Don’t let them be mediums or try to talk with the spirits of dead people. ¹² The Lord hates anyone who does these things. The other nations do these things. That is why the Lord your God will force them out of the land ahead of you. ¹³ You must be innocent in the presence of the Lord your God.

The Lord’s Special Prophet

¹⁴ The nations you will force out listen to people who use magic and witchcraft. But the Lord your God will not let you do those things. ¹⁵ The Lord your God will give you a prophet like me. He will be one of your own people. Listen to him. ¹⁶ This is what you asked the Lord your God to do. You were gathered at Mount Sinai. You said, “Don’t make us listen to the voice of the Lord our God again. Don’t make us look at this terrible fire anymore. We will die.”

¹⁷ So the Lord said to me, “What they have said is good. ¹⁸ So I will give them a prophet like you. He will be one of their own people. I will tell him what to say. And he will tell them everything I command. ¹⁹ This prophet will speak for me. Anyone who does not listen when he speaks will answer to me. ²⁰ But a prophet might say something I did not tell him to say. And he might say he is speaking for me. Or a prophet might speak in the name of other gods. That prophet must be killed.”

²¹ You might be thinking, “How can we know if a message is not from the Lord?” ²² What a prophet says in the name of the Lord might not happen. If it doesn’t, it is not the Lord’s message. That prophet was speaking his own ideas. Don’t be afraid of him.

Cities of Safety

19 The Lord your God is giving you land that belongs to other nations. He will destroy those nations. You will force them out and live in their cities and houses. ² Then choose three cities. They must be in the middle of the land the Lord your God is giving you to own. ³ Build roads to those cities. And divide the land the Lord is giving you into three parts. Then someone who kills another person may run to these cities.

⁴ This is the rule for someone who kills another person. He may run to one of these cities to save his life. But he must have killed his neighbor without meaning to kill him. He did not hate his neighbor. ⁵ A man might go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood. The man swings his ax to cut down a tree. But the ax head flies off the handle. It hits his neighbor and kills him. The man who killed him may run to one of these cities to save his life. ⁶ Otherwise, the dead man’s relative who has the duty of punishing a murderer might be angry and chase him. And the relative might catch him if the city is far away. The relative might kill the man. But the man should not be killed because he did not mean to kill his neighbor. ⁷ This is why I command you to choose these three cities.

^8-9 Carefully obey all these laws I’m giving you today. Love the Lord your God. Always do what he wants you to do. Then the Lord your God will enlarge your land as he promised your ancestors. He will give you the whole land he promised to them. After that, choose three more cities of safety. ¹⁰ This is so that innocent people will not be killed in your land. The Lord your God is giving it to you to own. By doing this you will not be guilty of murder.

¹¹ But a person might hate his neighbor. And he might hide and wait for him. He might attack and kill him and then run to one of these cities for safety. ¹² The elders of his own city should send for him. They should bring him back from the city of safety. And they should hand him over to the relative who has the duty of punishing the murderer. ¹³ Give him no mercy. You must remove from Israel the guilt of murdering innocent people. Then things will go well for you.

¹⁴ Do not move the stone that marks the border of your neighbor’s land. People long ago set them in place. They mark what you inherit in the land the Lord your God is giving you to own.

Rules About Witnesses

¹⁵ One witness is not enough to accuse a man of a crime or sin. A case must be proved by two or three witnesses.

¹⁶ A witness might lie and accuse a person of a crime. ¹⁷ The two people who are arguing must stand before the Lord. They must stand before the priests and judges who are on duty. ¹⁸ The judges must check the matter carefully. The witness might be a liar. He might be lying about his fellow Israelite. ¹⁹ If so, he must be punished as he wanted his brother punished. You must get rid of the evil among you. ²⁰ The rest of the people will hear about this and be afraid. No one among you will ever do such an evil thing again. ²¹ Give him no mercy. A life must be paid for a life. It must be an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot.

Laws for War

20 When you go to war against your enemies, you might see horses and chariots. Their army might be bigger than yours. But don’t be afraid of them. The Lord your God will be with you. He brought you out of Egypt. ² The priest must come and speak to the army before you go into battle. ³ He should say, “Listen, Israel! Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Don’t lose your courage or be afraid. Don’t panic or be frightened. ⁴ The Lord your God goes with you. He will fight for you against your enemies. And he will save you.”

⁵ The officers should say to the army, “Has anyone built a new house but not given it to God? He may go home. He might die in battle. Then someone else would get to give his house to God. ⁶ Has anyone planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy it? He may go home. He might die in battle. Then someone else would enjoy his vineyard. ⁷ Is any man engaged to a woman and not yet married to her? He may go home. He might die in battle. Then someone else would marry her.” ⁸ Then the officers should also say, “Is anyone here afraid? Has anyone lost his courage? He may go home. Then he will not cause others to lose their courage, too.” ⁹ When the officers finish speaking to the army, they should appoint commanders to lead it.

¹⁰ You will march up to attack a city. First, make them an offer of peace. ¹¹ They might accept your offer and open their gates to you. If that happens, all the people of that city will become your slaves. They will work for you. ¹² But they might not make peace with you. They might fight you in battle. Then you should surround that city. ¹³ The Lord your God will give you the city. Then kill all the men with your swords. ¹⁴ You may take everything else in the city for yourselves. Take the women and children and animals. And you may use these things the Lord your God gives you from your enemies. ¹⁵ Do this to all the cities that are far away. They do not belong to the nations nearby.

¹⁶ But leave nothing alive in the cities of the land. This is the land the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁷ Completely destroy these people: the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. The Lord your God has commanded you to do this. ¹⁸ Otherwise, they will teach you what they do for their gods. And if you do these terrible things, you will sin against the Lord your God.

¹⁹ You might surround and attack a city for a long time, trying to capture it. But do not destroy its trees with an ax. You can eat the fruit from the trees. Do not cut them down. These trees are not the enemy. So don’t make war against them. ²⁰ But you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees. You may use them to build devices to attack the city walls. You may do this until the city is captured.

A Person Found Murdered

21 Someone might be found murdered. He might be lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to own. And no one knows who killed him. ² Your elders and judges should go to where he was found. And they should measure how far it is to the nearby cities. ³ The elders of the city nearest the body are responsible. They must take a young cow that has never worked or worn a yoke. ⁴ And they must lead her down to a valley. It must never have been plowed or planted. It must have a stream flowing through it. There they must break the young cow’s neck. ⁵ The priests should come forward. They are the sons of Levi. They have been chosen by the Lord your God. They are to serve and give blessings in the Lord’s name. And they are to decide cases of quarreling and attacks. ⁶ Then all the elders of the city nearest the murdered man should wash their hands. They should do it over the young cow whose neck was broken in the valley. ⁷ They should declare: “We did not kill this man. And we did not see it happen. ⁸ Lord, remove this sin of your people Israel. You have saved them. Don’t blame your people, the Israelites, for this innocent man’s murder.” And so the murder will be paid for. ⁹ Then you will have removed from yourselves the guilt of murdering an innocent person. You will be doing what the Lord says is right.

Captive Women as Wives

¹⁰ You will go to war against your enemies. The Lord will help you defeat them. You will take them captive. ¹¹ You might see a beautiful woman among the captives. And you might be attracted to her. You may take her as your wife. ¹² Bring her into your home. She must shave her head and cut her nails. ¹³ She must change out of the clothes she was wearing when you captured her. And she must live in your house and cry for her parents for a month. After that, you may marry her. You will be her husband, and she will be your wife. ¹⁴ But you might not be pleased with her. Then let her go anywhere she wants. You must not sell her for money. You must not make her a slave. You have taken away her honor.

The Oldest Son

¹⁵ A man may have two wives. He might love one wife but not the other. Both wives might have sons by him. But the older son might be the son of the wife he does not love. ¹⁶ Someday that man must will his property to his sons. But he must not give the son of the wife he loves what belongs to the older son. The older son is the son of the wife the man does not love. ¹⁷ He must agree to give the older son two shares of everything he owns. The older son is from the wife he does not love. That son was the first to prove his father could have children. So he has the rights that belong to the older son.

Sons Who Refuse to Obey

¹⁸ A man might have a son who is stubborn. The son turns against his father and mother and doesn’t obey them. He will not listen when they correct him. ¹⁹ His parents must take him to the elders at the city gate. ²⁰ They will say to the leaders, “Our son is stubborn and turns against us. He will not obey us. He eats too much. And he is always drunk.” ²¹ Then all the men in his town must throw stones at him until he dies. Get rid of the evil among you. All the people of Israel will hear about this and be afraid.

Other Laws

²² A man might be guilty of a sin worthy of death. He must be put to death and his body displayed on a tree. ²³ But don’t leave his body hanging on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day. Anyone whose body is displayed on a tree is cursed by God. You must not ruin the land the Lord your God is giving you to own.

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.^[b] 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.