Holman Christian Standard Bible (62 page)

22
 “If a man is discovered having sexual relations with another man's wife, both the man who had sex with the woman and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.
23
 If there is a young woman who is a virgin
•engaged
to a man, and another man encounters her in the city and has sex with her,
24
 you must take the two 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 fiancée. You must purge the evil from you.
25
 But if the man encounters an engaged woman in the open country, and he seizes and rapes her, only the man who raped her must die.
26
 Do nothing to the young woman, because she is not
•guilty
of an offense deserving death. This case is just like one in which a man attacks his neighbor and murders him.
27
 When he found her in the field, the engaged woman cried out, but there was no one to rescue her.
28
 If a man encounters a young woman, a virgin who is not engaged, takes hold of her and rapes her, and they are discovered,
29
 the man who raped her must give the young woman's father 50 silver shekels, and she must become his wife because he violated her. He cannot divorce her as long as he lives.

30
 “A man is not to marry his father's wife; he must not violate his father's marriage bed. 

Deuteronomy

Exclusion and Inclusion

23
“No man whose testicles have been crushed or whose penis has been cut off may enter the
Lord
's assembly.
2
 No one of illegitimate birth may enter the
Lord
's assembly; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, may enter the
Lord
's assembly.
3
 No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the
Lord
's assembly; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, may ever enter the
Lord
's assembly.
4
 This is because they did not meet you with food and water on the journey after you came out of Egypt, and because Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim was hired to curse you. 
5
 Yet the
Lord
your God would not listen to Balaam, but He turned the curse into a blessing for you because the
Lord
your God loves you. 
6
 Never seek their peace or prosperity as long as you live.
7
 Do not despise an Edomite, because he is your brother. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you were a foreign resident in his land.
8
 The children born to them in the third generation may enter the
Lord
's assembly.

Cleanliness of the Camp

9
 “When you are encamped against your enemies, be careful to avoid anything offensive.
10
 If there is a man among you who is
•unclean
because of a bodily emission during the night, he must go outside the camp; he may not come anywhere inside the camp.
11
 When evening approaches, he must wash with water, and when the sun sets he may come inside the camp. 
12
 You must have a place outside the camp and go there to relieve yourself.
13
 You must have a digging tool in your equipment; when you relieve yourself, dig a hole with it and cover up your excrement.
14
 For the
Lord
your God walks throughout your camp to protect you and deliver your enemies to you; so your encampments must be holy. He must not see anything improper among you or He will turn away from you.

Fugitive Slaves

15
 “Do not return a slave to his master when he has escaped from his master to you.
16
 Let him live among you wherever he wants within your gates. Do not mistreat him.

Cult Prostitution Forbidden

17
 “No Israelite woman is to be a cult prostitute, and no Israelite man is to be a cult prostitute.
18
 Do not bring a female prostitute's wages or a male prostitute's earnings into the house of the
Lord
your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the
Lord
your God.

Interest on Loans

19
 “Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or anything that can earn interest.
20
 You may charge a foreigner interest, but you must not charge your brother interest, so that the
Lord
your God may bless you in everything you do in the land you are entering to possess. 

Keeping Vows

21
 “If you make a vow to the
Lord
your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will require it of you, and it will be counted against you as sin.
22
 But if you refrain from making a vow, it will not be counted against you as sin.
23
 Be careful to do whatever comes from your lips, because you have freely vowed what you promised to the
Lord
your God. 

Neighbor's Crops

24
 “When you enter your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat as many grapes as you want until you are full, but you must not put any in your container.
25
 When you enter your neighbor's standing grain, you may pluck heads of grain with your hand, but you must not put a sickle to your neighbor's grain.

Deuteronomy

Marriage and Divorce Laws

24
“If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds something improper about her, he may write her a divorce certificate, hand it to her, and send her away from his house. 
2
 If after leaving his house she goes and becomes another man's wife,
3
 and the second man hates her, writes her a divorce certificate, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house or if he dies,
4
 the first husband who sent her away may not marry her again after she has been defiled, because that would be detestable to the
Lord
. You must not bring
•guilt
on the land the
Lord
your God is giving you as an inheritance. 

5
 “When a man takes a bride, he must not go out with the army or be liable for any duty. He is free to stay at home for one year, so that he can bring joy to the wife he has married.

Safeguarding Life

6
 “Do not take a pair of millstones or an upper millstone as security for a debt, because that is like taking a life as security.

7
 “If a man is discovered kidnapping one of his Israelite brothers, whether he treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from you.

8
 “Be careful in a case of infectious skin disease, following carefully everything the Levitical priests instruct you to do. Be careful to do as I have commanded them.
9
 Remember what the
Lord
your God did to Miriam on the journey after you left Egypt. 

Consideration for People in Need

10
 “When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not enter his house to collect what he offers as security.
11
 You must stand outside while the man you are making the loan to brings the security out to you.
12
 If he is a poor man, you must not sleep in the garment he has given as security.
13
 Be sure to return it to him at sunset. Then he will sleep in it and bless you, and this will be counted as righteousness to you before the
Lord
your God. 

14
 “Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether one of your brothers or one of the foreigners residing within a town in your land.
15
 You are to pay him his wages each day before the sun sets, because he is poor and depends on them. Otherwise he will cry out to the
Lord
against you, and you will be held guilty.

16
 “Fathers are not to be put to death for their children or children for their fathers; each person will be put to death for his own sin. 
17
 Do not deny justice to a foreigner or fatherless child, and do not take a widow's garment as security.
18
 Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the
Lord
your God redeemed you from there. Therefore I am commanding you to do this. 

19
 “When you reap the harvest in your field, and you forget a sheaf in the field, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the
Lord
your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 
20
 When you knock down the fruit from your olive tree, you must not go over the branches again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow.
21
 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you must not glean what is left. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow.
22
 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Therefore I am commanding you to do this. 

Deuteronomy

Fairness and Mercy

25
“If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court, and the judges will hear their case. They will clear the innocent and condemn the
•guilty
.
2
 If the guilty party deserves to be flogged, the judge will make him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes appropriate for his crime.
3
 He may be flogged with 40 lashes, but no more. Otherwise, if he is flogged with more lashes than these, your brother will be degraded in your sight.

4
 “Do not muzzle an ox while it treads out grain. 

Preserving the Family Line

5
 “When brothers live on the same property and one of them dies without a son, the wife of the dead man may not marry a stranger outside the family. Her brother-in-law is to take her as his wife, have sexual relations with her, and perform the duty of a brother-in-law for her.
6
 The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so his name will not be blotted out from Israel. 
7
 But if the man doesn't want to marry his sister-in-law, she must go to the elders at the city
•gate
 and say, ‘My brother-in-law refuses to preserve his brother's name in Israel. He isn't willing to perform the duty of a brother-in-law for me.'
8
 The elders of his city will summon him and speak with him. If he persists and says, ‘I don't want to marry her,'
9
 then his sister-in-law will go up to him in the sight of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. Then she will declare, ‘This is what is done to a man who will not build up his brother's house.'
10
 And his family name in Israel will be called ‘The house of the man whose sandal was removed.' 

11
 “If two men are fighting with each other, and the wife of one steps in to rescue her husband from the one striking him, and she puts out her hand and grabs his genitals,
12
 you are to cut off her hand. You must not show pity.

Honest Weights and Measures

13
 “You must not have two different weights in your bag, one heavy and one light. 
14
 You must not have two differing dry measures in your house, a larger and a smaller.
15
 You must have a full and honest weight, a full and honest dry measure, so that you may live long in the land the
Lord
your God is giving you.
16
 For everyone who does such things and acts unfairly is detestable to the
Lord
your God. 

Revenge on the Amalekites

17
 “Remember what the Amalekites did to you on the journey after you left Egypt. 
18
 They met you along the way and attacked all your stragglers from behind when you were tired and weary. They did not
•fear
God.
19
 When the
Lord
your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land the
Lord
your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven. Do not forget. 

Deuteronomy

Giving the Firstfruits

26
“When you enter the land the
Lord
your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and live in it,
2
 you must take some of the first of all the land's produce that you harvest from the land
•Yahweh
your God is giving you and put it in a container. Then go to the place where the
Lord
your God chooses to have His name dwell. 
3
 When you come before the priest who is serving at that time, you must say to him, ‘Today I acknowledge to the
Lord
your God that I have entered the land the
Lord
swore to our fathers to give us.'

4
 “Then the priest will take the container from your hand and place it before the altar of the
Lord
your God.
5
 You are to respond by saying in the presence of the
Lord
your God: