Deuteronomy 22

1 If you see your brother’s ox or sheep straying, you must not ignore it; be sure to return it to your brother.

“If you see your brother’s ox or sheep wander astray, you shall not pass by. Instead, you shall lead them back to your brother.

2 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.

But if your brother is not near, or you do not know him, you shall lead them to your house, and they shall be with you until your brother seeks them and receives them.

3 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.

You shall act in a similar manner with his donkey, and his clothing, and all the belongings of your brother that have been lost. If you find it, you shall not neglect it, as if it belonged to a stranger.

4 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.

If you see that your brother’s donkey or ox has fallen along the way, you shall not disregard it. Instead, you shall lift it up with him.

5 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.

A woman shall not be clothed with manly apparel, nor shall a man make use of feminine apparel. For whoever does these things is abominable with God.

6 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.

If, as you are walking along the way, you find a bird’s nest, in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is nurturing the young or the eggs, you shall not take her with her young.

7 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.

Instead, you shall permit her to go, retaining the young that you have caught, so that it may be well with you, and you may live for a long time.

8 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.

When you build a new house, you shall make a wall around the roof. Otherwise, someone may slip and fall down violently, and so blood would be shed at your house, and you would be guilty.

9 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.

You shall not sow your vineyard with another seed, lest both the seed that you have sown and what springs forth from the vineyard be sanctified together.

10 Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.

You shall not till with an ox and a donkey at the same time.

11 Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.

You shall not wear a vestment which has been woven from both wool and linen.

12 You are to make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear.

You shall make strings along the hem, at the four corners of your cloak, which covers you.

13 Suppose a man marries a woman, has relations with her, and comes to hate her,

If a man takes a wife, and afterwards he has hatred for her,

14 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.”

and so he seeks opportunities to dismiss her, imputing a very wicked name to her by saying, ‘I received this woman as a wife, and upon entering to her, I found her not to be a virgin,’

15 Then the young woman’s father and mother shall bring the proof of her virginity to the city elders at the gate

then her father and mother shall take her, and they shall bring with them the signs of her virginity, to the elders of the city who are at the gate.

16 and say to the elders, “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he has come to hate her.

And the father shall say: ‘I gave my daughter to this man as a wife. And because he hates her,

17 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.

he accuses her with a very wicked name, by saying: “I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.” But behold, these are the signs of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread the clothing before the elders of the city.

18 Then the elders of that city shall take the man and punish him.

And the elders of that city shall apprehend that man and beat him.

19 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.

Moreover, they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver, which he will give to the father of the girl, because he has committed slander, with a very wicked name, against a virgin of Israel. And he shall have her as a wife, and he cannot dismiss her throughout all the days of his life.

20 If, however, this accusation is true, and no proof of the young woman’s virginity can be found,

But if what he has claimed is true and virginity is not found in the girl,

21 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.

then they shall throw her down, outside the doors of her father’s house, and the men of that city shall stone her to death, and she shall die. For she has acted wickedly in Israel, in that she fornicated in her father’s house. And so shall you take away the evil from your midst.

22 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.

If a man sleeps with the wife of another, then they shall both die, that is, the adulterer and the adulteress. And so shall you take away the evil from Israel.

23 If there is a virgin pledged in marriage to a man, and another man encounters her in the city and sleeps with her,

If a man has betrothed a girl who is a virgin, and if someone finds her in the city and he lies with her,

24 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.

then you shall lead them both out to the gate of that city, and they shall be stoned to death: the girl, because she did not cry out though she was in the city; the man, because he has humiliated the wife of his neighbor. And so shall you take away the evil from your midst.

25 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.

But if a man discovers, in the countryside, a girl who has been betrothed, and, apprehending her, he lies with her, then he alone shall die.

26 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.

The girl shall suffer nothing, nor is she guilty unto death. For just as a robber rises up against his brother and slays his life, so also did the girl suffer greatly.

27 When he found her in the field, the betrothed woman cried out, but there was no one to save her.

She was alone in the field. She cried out, and there was no one nearby, who might deliver her.

28 If a man encounters a virgin who is not pledged in marriage, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are discovered,

If a man finds a girl who is a virgin, who does not have a betrothal, and, taking her, he lies with her, and the matter is brought to judgment,

29 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.

then he who slept with her shall give to the father of the girl fifty shekels of silver, and he shall have her as a wife, because he has humiliated her. He cannot dismiss her, throughout all the days of his life.

30 A man is not to marry his father’s wife, so that he will not dishonor his father’s marriage bed.

No man shall take his father’s wife, nor remove her covering.”