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 someone's cow or sheep wandering around, don't just ignore it. Make sure you take it back to its owner.

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 its owner doesn't live near you, or if you don't know who it is, take the animal home with you and keep it until the owner comes looking, then you can return it.

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 for whatever else you find that someone has lost—a donkey, a cloak, anything. Don't just ignore it.

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 someone's donkey or cow that has fallen down on the road, don't just ignore it. Help lift it up.

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.

A woman must not wear men's clothing, and a man must not wear women's clothing. Anyone who does this offends 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 you happen to find a bird's nest with chicks or eggs, whether it's in a tree or on the ground beside the road, and the mother is sitting on the chicks or eggs, don't take the mother 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.

You may take the young, but make sure you let the mother go, so that you will do well and have a good long life.

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).

When you build a new house, be sure to install a railing around your roof, so that you won't be held guilty if someone dies falling from it.

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].

Don't plant your vineyard with another kind of crop. Otherwise everything you produce—the crop you planted and the fruit of your vineyard—must be dedicated to the Lord.

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

Don't harness an ox and a donkey together when you plow.

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

Don't wear clothes made of wool and linen woven together.

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

Put tassels on the hem of the cloak you use to cover yourself.

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 a man marries a woman and sleeps with her, but ends up hating her,

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

and accuses her of being immoral, giving her a bad name, saying, “I married this woman and slept with her, but I found out she wasn't 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.

The woman's parents are to bring the proof of her virginity to the elders at the town gate,

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 the father will explain to them, “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he has ended up hating 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.

Now he has accused her of being immoral, saying, ‘I found out that your daughter wasn't a virgin.’ But here's the proof of her virginity.” The parents shall spread out the sheet in front of the town elders.

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

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

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 shall also fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give the money to the young woman's father, because this man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. She is to remain his wife; he is not allowed to divorce her as long as he lives.

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 the accusation is true, and there's no proof of the woman's virginity,

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.

she is to be taken to the door of her father's house, and there the men of her town are to stone her to death. She has done something disgraceful in Israel by acting immorally in her father's house. You must eliminate the 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 found sleeping with someone else's wife, both the man and the woman must die. You must eliminate 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 man meets a girl, a virgin engaged to another man, and sleeps with her there in the town,

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 must take both of them to the town gate and stone them to death. The young woman is guilty because she did not cry out for help in the town, and the man is guilty because he has brought shame on someone else's fiancée. You must eliminate the 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.

However, if the man happens to meet a woman who is engaged out in the countryside, and he attacks her and rapes her, only the man has to die.

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,

Don't do anything to the woman, because she has not committed a sin punishable by death. (This is the same kind of situation as when a man attacks someone else and murders them.)

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.

When the man raped the woman who was engaged out in the countryside, she shouted out, but there wasn't anyone there to rescue her.

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 happens to meet a virgin who is not engaged, and he grabs her and rapes her, and someone sees them,

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.

the man must pay the woman's father fifty shekels of silver, and he must marry her because he has brought shame on her. He is not allowed to divorce her as long as he lives.

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

A man must not marry his father's wife, so that he won't bring shame on his father.