Deuteronomy 22

1 'Thou dost not see the ox of thy brother or his sheep driven away, and hast hidden thyself from them, thou dost certainly turn them back to thy brother;

“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].

2 and if thy brother [is] not near unto thee, and thou hast not known him, then thou hast removed it unto the midst of thy house, and it hath been with thee till thy brother seek it, and thou hast given it back to him;

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.

3 and so thou dost to his ass, and so thou dost to his garment, and so thou dost to any lost thing of thy brother's, which is lost by him, and thou hast found it; thou art not able to hide thyself.

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.

4 'Thou dost not see the ass of thy brother, or his ox, falling in the way, and hast hid thyself from them; thou dost certainly raise [them] up with him.

“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].

5 'The habiliments of a man are not on a woman, nor doth a man put on the garment of a woman, for the abomination of Jehovah thy God [is] any one doing these.

“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.

6 'When a bird's nest cometh before thee in the way, in any tree, or on the earth, brood or eggs, and the mother sitting on the brood or on the eggs, thou dost not take the mother with the young ones;

“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].

7 thou dost certainly send away the mother, and the young ones dost take to thyself, so that it is well with thee, and thou hast prolonged days.

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.

8 'When thou buildest a new house, then thou hast made a parapet to thy roof, and thou dost not put blood on thy house when one falleth from it.

“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).

9 'Thou dost not sow thy vineyard [with] divers things, lest the fulness of the seed which thou dost sow, and the increase of the vineyard, be separated.

“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].

10 'Thou dost not plow with an ox and with an ass together.

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

11 'Thou dost not put on a mixed cloth, wool and linen together.

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

12 'Fringes thou dost make to thee on the four skirts of thy covering with which thou dost cover [thyself].

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

13 'When a man taketh a wife, and hath gone in unto her, and hated her,

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

14 and laid against her actions of words, and brought out against her an evil name, and said, This woman I have taken, and I draw near unto her, and I have not found in her tokens of virginity:

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

15 'Then hath the father of the damsel — and her mother — taken and brought out the tokens of virginity of the damsel unto the elders of the city in the gate,

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.

16 and the father of the damsel hath said unto the elders, My daughter I have given to this man for a wife, and he doth hate her;

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.

17 and lo, he hath laid actions of words, saying, I have not found to thy daughter tokens of virginity — and these [are] the tokens of the virginity of my daughter! and they have spread out the garment before the elders of the city.

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.

18 'And the elders of that city have taken the man, and chastise him,

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

19 and fined him a hundred silverlings, and given to the father of the damsel, because he hath brought out an evil name on a virgin of Israel, and she is to him for a wife, he is not able to send her away all his days.

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.

20 'And if this thing hath been truth — tokens of virginity have not been found for the damsel —

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

21 then they have brought out the damsel unto the opening of her father's house, and stoned her have the men of her city with stones, and she hath died, for she hath done folly in Israel, to go a-whoring [in] her father's house; and thou hast put away the evil thing out of thy midst.

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.

22 'When a man is found lying with a woman, married to a husband, then they have died even both of them, the man who is lying with the woman, also the woman; and thou hast put away the evil thing out of Israel.

“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.

23 'When there is a damsel, a virgin, betrothed to a man, and a man hath found her in a city, and lain with her;

“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.

24 then ye have brought them both out unto the gate of that city, and stoned them with stones, and they have died: — the damsel, because that she hath not cried, [being] in a city; and the man, because that he hath humbled his neighbour's wife; and thou hast put away the evil thing out of thy midst.

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.

25 'And if in a field the man find the damsel who is betrothed, and the man hath laid hold on her, and lain with her, then hath the man who hath lain with her died alone;

“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.

26 and to the damsel thou dost not do anything, the damsel hath no deadly sin; for as a man riseth against his neighbour and hath murdered him — the life, so [is] this thing;

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,

27 for in a field he found her, she hath cried — the damsel who is betrothed — and she hath no saviour.

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.

28 'When a man findeth a damsel, a virgin who is not betrothed, and hath caught her, and lain with her, and they have been found,

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

29 then hath the man who is lying with her given to the father of the damsel fifty silverlings, and to him she is for a wife; because that he hath humbled her, he is not able to send her away all his days.

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.

30 'A man doth not take his father's wife, nor uncover his father's skirt.

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