Deuteronomy 22

1 Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely bring them again unto thy brother.2 And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it home to thy house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him.3 And so shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his garment; and so shalt thou do with every lost thing of thy brother’s, which he hath lost, and thou hast found: thou mayest not hide thyself.4 Thou shalt not see thy brother’s ass or his ox fallen down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.

5 A woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto Jehovah thy God.

6 If a bird’s nest chance to be before thee in the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young:7 thou shalt surely let the dam go, but the young thou mayest take unto thyself; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days.

8 When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thy house, if any man fall from thence.

9 Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole fruit be forfeited, the seed which thou hast sown, and the increase of the vineyard.10 Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.11 Thou shalt not wear a mingled stuff, wool and linen together.

12 Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four borders of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.

13 If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her,14 and lay shameful things to her charge, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came nigh to her, I found not in her the tokens of virginity;15 then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel’s virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate;16 and the damsel’s father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her;17 and, lo, he hath laid shameful things to her charge, saying, I found not in thy daughter the tokens of virginity; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity. And they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city.18 And the elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him;19 and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.20 But if this thing be true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the damsel;21 then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the harlot in her father’s house: so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee.

22 If a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die, the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away the evil from Israel.

23 If there be a damsel that is a virgin betrothed unto a husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;24 then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them to death with stones; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbor’s wife: so thou shalt put away the evil from the midst of thee.

25 But if the man find the damsel that is betrothed in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her; then the man only that lay with her shall die:26 but unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbor, and slayeth him, even so is this matter;27 for he found her in the field, the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.

28 If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, that is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;29 then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he hath humbled her; he may not put her away all his days.

30 A man shall not take his father’s wife, and shall not uncover his father’s skirt.

Deuteronomy 22

Laws Concerning Preservation of Life

1 When you seet your neighbor’st ox or sheep going astray, do not ignore it;t you must return it without failt to your neighbor.2 If the ownert does not livet near you or you do not know who the owner is,t then you must corral the animalt at your house and let it stay with you until the owner looks for it; then you must return it to him.3 You shall do the same to his donkey, his clothes, or anything else your neighbort has lost and you have found; you must not refuse to get involved.t

4 When you seet your neighbor’s donkey or ox fallen along the road, do not ignore it;t instead, you must be suret to help him get the animal on its feet again.t

5 A woman must not wear men’s clothing,t nor should a man dress up in women’s clothing, for anyone who does this is offensivet to the Lord your God.
6 If you happen to notice a bird’s nest along the road, whether in a tree or on the ground, and there are chicks or eggs with the mother bird sitting on them,t you must not take the mother from the young.t

7 You must be suret to let the mother go, but you may take the young for yourself. Do this so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.

8 If you build a new house, you must construct a guard railt around your roof to avoid being culpablet in the event someone should fall from it.

Illustrations of the Principle of Purity

9 You must not plant your vineyard with two kinds of seed; otherwise the entire yield, both of the seed you plant and the produce of the vineyard, will be defiled.t10 You must not plow with an ox and a donkey harnessed together.11 You must not wear clothing made with wool and linen meshed together.t

12 You shall make yourselves tasselst for the four corners of the clothing you wear.

Purity in the Marriage Relationship

13 Suppose a man marries a woman, has sexual relations with her,t and then rejectst her,14 accusing her of improprietyt and defaming her reputationt by saying, “I married this woman but when I had sexual relationst with her I discovered she was not a virgin!”15 Then the father and mother of the young woman must produce the evidence of virginitys for the elders of the city at the gate.16 The young woman’s father must say to the elders, “I gave my daughter to this man and he has rejectedt her.17 Moreover, he has raised accusations of impropriety by saying, ‘I discovered your daughter was not a virgin,’ but this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity!” The cloth must then be spread outt before the city’s elders.18 The elders of that city must then seize the man and punisht him.

19 They will fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, for the man who made the accusationt ruined the reputationt of an Israelite virgin. She will then become his wife and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.
20 But if the accusation is true and the young woman was not a virgin,

21 the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thingt in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purget evil from among you.

22 If a man is caught having sexual relations witht a married womant both the man who had relations with the woman and the woman herself must die; in this way you will purget evil from Israel.
23 If a virgin is engaged to a man and another man meetst her in the city and has sexual relations witht her,24 you must bring the two of them to the gate of that city and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry out though in the city and the man because he violatedt his neighbor’s fiancée;t in this way you will purget evil from among you.25 But if the man came acrosst the engaged woman in the field and overpowered her and rapedt her, then only the rapistt must die.26 You must not do anything to the young woman – she has done nothing deserving of death. This case is the same as when someone attacks another persont and murders him,

27 for the mant met her in the field and the engaged woman cried out, but there was no one to rescue her.
28 Suppose a man comes across a virgin who is not engaged and overpowers and rapest her and they are discovered.

29 The man who has raped her must pay her father fifty shekels of silver and she must become his wife because he has violated her; he may never divorce her as long as he lives.

30 s A man may not marryt his father’s formers wife and in this way dishonor his father.t