Deuteronomy 22

1 “If you see some Israeli’s ox or sheep that has strayed away, do not act as though you did not see it. Take it back [to its owner].

If you see your brother's ox or his sheep wandering, do not go by without helping, but take them back to your brother.

2 But if the owner does not live near you, or if you do not know who the owner 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.

If their owner is not near, or if you are not certain who he is, then take the beast to your house and keep it till its owner comes in search of it, and then you are to give it back to him.

3 You must do the same thing if you see a donkey, or a piece of clothing, or anything else that someone has lost. Do not refuse to do what you should do.

Do the same with his ass or his robe or anything which has gone from your brother's keeping and which you have come across: do not keep it to yourself.

4 “And if you see a fellow Israeli’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].

If you see your brother's ox or his ass falling down on the road, do not go by without giving him help in lifting it up again.

5 “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.

It is not right for a woman to be dressed in man's clothing, or for a man to put on a woman's robe: whoever does such things is disgusting to the Lord your God.

6 “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 the mother bird [and kill it].

If by chance you see a place which a bird has made for itself in a tree or on the earth, with young ones or eggs, and the mother bird seated on the young ones or on the eggs, do not take the mother bird with the young:

7 You are permitted to 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.

See that you let the mother bird go, but the young ones you may take; so it will be well for you and your life will be long.

8 “If you build a new house, you must put a (railing/low wall) around the edge of the roof. If you do that, and if someone falls off the roof [and dies], (you will not be guilty of causing that person to die/his death [MTY] will not be your fault).

If you are building a house, make a railing for the roof, so that the blood of any man falling from it will not come on your house.

9 “Do not plant any crop in the area where your grapevines are growing. If you do, you are not allowed to harvest the crops that you have planted or to harvest the grapes [to make wine from them].

Do not have your vine-garden planted with two sorts of seed: or all of it may become a loss, the seed you have put in as well as the increase.

10 “Do not hitch together an ox and a donkey [for plowing your fields].

Do not do your ploughing with an ox and an ass yoked together.

11 “Do not wear clothing that is made by weaving together (wool and linen/two different kinds of thread).

Do not have clothing made of two sorts of thread, wool and linen together.

12 “[Twist threads together to] make tassels and sew/fasten them on the four bottom corners of your cloak.

On the four edges of your robe, with which your body is covered, put ornaments of twisted threads.

13 “Suppose a man marries a young woman and has sex with her and later decides that he does not want her any more,

If any man takes a wife, and having had connection with her, has no delight in her,

14 and he says false things about her, and claims that she was not a virgin when he married her.

And says evil things about her and gives her a bad name, saying, I took this woman, and when I had connection with her it was clear to me that she was not a virgin:

15 If that happens, the young woman’s parents must take the sheet that was on the bed when that 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/central meeting place in) the city.

Then let the girl's father and mother put before the responsible men of the town, in the public place, signs that the girl was a virgin:

16 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 doesn’t want her any more.

And let the girl's father say to the responsible men, I gave my daughter to this man for his wife, but he has no love for her;

17 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 elders.

And now he has put shame on her, saying that she is not a virgin; but here is the sign that she is a virgin. Then they are to put her clothing before the responsible men of the town.

18 Then the elders of that city must take that man and whip him.

Then the responsible men of the town are to give the man his punishment;

19 They shall require that he pay a fine of 100 pieces of silver and give the money to the father of the young woman, because the man caused an Israeli young woman to be disgraced. Also, that woman must continue to live with him; she is his wife. He is not allowed to divorce her during the rest of his life.

They will take from him a hundred shekels of silver, which are to be given to the father of the girl, because he has given an evil name to a virgin of Israel: she will go on being his wife, he may never put her away all his life.

20 “But if what the man said is true, and there is nothing to prove that she was a virgin when he married her,

But if what he has said is true, and she is seen to be not a virgin,

21 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 having sex with some man [while she was still living] in her father’s house. By executing her like that, you will get rid of this evil practice among you.

Then they are to make the girl come to the door of her father's house and she will be stoned to death by the men of the town, because she has done evil and put shame on Israel, by acting as a loose woman in her father's house: so you are to put away evil from among you.

22 “If a man is caught while he is having sex with another man’s wife, both of them must be executed. By doing that, you will get rid of this evil practice in Israel.

If a man is taken in the act of going in to a married woman, the two of them, the man as well as the woman, are to be put to death: so you are to put away the evil from Israel.

23 “Suppose in some town a man sees a young woman who is engaged/promised to be married to another man, and he is caught having sex with [EUP] her.

If a young virgin has given her word to be married to a man, and another man meeting her in the town, has connection with her;

24 You must take both of them to the (gate of/central meeting place in) 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. And the man must be executed because he had sex [EUP] with someone who was already engaged/promised to be married. By doing that, you will get rid of this evil practice among you.

Then you are to take the two of them to the doorway of the town, and have them stoned to death; the young virgin, because she gave no cry for help, though it was in the town, and the man, because he has put shame on his neighbour's wife: so you are to put away evil from among you.

25 “But suppose out in the open countryside a man meets a young woman who is engaged/promised to be married, and he rapes her. If that happens, only that man must be executed.

But if the man, meeting such a virgin in the open country, takes her by force, then only the man is to be put to death;

26 You must not punish the young woman, because she did not do anything for which she deserves to be executed. This case is like when one man attacks another man [in the countryside] and murders him,

Nothing is to be done to the virgin, because there is no cause of death in her: it is the same as if a man made an attack on his neighbour and put him to death:

27 because the man who raped her 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.

For he came across her in the open country, and there was no one to come to the help of the virgin in answer to her cry.

28 “If a man rapes a young woman who is not engaged/promised to be married, if someone sees him while he is doing that,

If a man sees a young virgin, who has not given her word to be married to anyone, and he takes her by force and has connection with her, and discovery is made of it;

29 that man must pay 50 pieces of silver to the young woman’s father, and he must marry her, because he forced her to have sex with him. He is not allowed to divorce her for the rest of his life.

Then the man will have to give the virgin's father fifty shekels of silver and make her his wife, because he has put shame on her; he may never put her away all his life.

30 “man must not disgrace his father by having sex with any of his father’s wives.”

A man may not take his father's wife or have sex relations with a woman who is his father's.