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].

You must not watch your fellow Israelite's ox or his sheep go astray and hide yourself from them; you must surely bring them back to him.

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 your fellow Israelite is not near to you, or if you do not know him, then you must bring the animal home to your house, and it must be with you until he looks for it, and then you must restore it 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.

You must do the same with his donkey; you must do the same with his garment; you must do the same with every lost thing of your fellow Israelite's, anything that he has lost and you have found; you must not hide 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].

You must not see your fellow Israelite's donkey or his ox fallen down in the road and hide yourself from them; you must surely help him to lift 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.

A woman must not wear what pertains to a man, and neither must a man put on women's clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh 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 a bird's nest happens to be in front of you on the road, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs in it, and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you must not take the mother along 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 must surely let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself. Obey this command so that it may go well with you, and that you may prolong your days.

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, then you must make a railing for your roof so that you do not bring blood on your house if anyone falls from there.

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].

You must not plant your vineyard with two kinds of seed, so that the whole harvest is not confiscated by the holy place, the seed that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard.

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

You must not plow with an ox and a donkey together.

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

You must not wear fabric made of wool and linen together.

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

You must make yourself fringes on the four corners of the cloak with which you clothe 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,

Suppose a man takes a wife, sleeps with her, and then hates her,

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

and then accuses her of shameful things and puts a bad reputation on her, and says, 'I took this woman, but when I came near to her, I found no proof of virginity in her.'

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 the father and mother of the girl must take proof of her virginity to the elders at the city 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.

The girl's father must say to the elders, 'I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, and he hates 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.

See, he has accused her of shameful things and said, “I did not find in your daughter the proof of virginity.” But here is the proof of my daughter's virginity.' Then they will spread the garment out before the elders of the city.

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

The elders of that city must take that 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.

and they must fine him one hundred shekels of silver, and give them to the father of the girl, because the man has caused a bad reputation for a virgin of Israel. She must be his wife; he may not send her away during all his days.

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 this thing is true, that the proof of virginity was not found in the girl,

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 must bring out the girl to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city must stone her to death with stones, because she has committed a disgraceful action in Israel, to act as a harlot in her father's house; and you will remove 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 a woman who is married to another man, then they must both die, the man who was sleeping with the woman and the woman herself; and you will remove the evil from among you.

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 there is a girl who is a virgin, engaged to a man, and another man finds her in the city and sleeps 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.

take both of them to the city gate, and stone them to death. You must stone the girl, because she did not cry out, even though she was in the city. You must stone the man, because he violated his neighbor's wife; and you will remove 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.

But if the man finds the engaged girl in the field, and if he seizes her and sleeps with her, then only the man who sleeps with her must 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,

But to the girl you must do nothing; there is no sin worthy of death in the girl. For this case is like when a man attacks his neighbor and kills him.

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 found her in the field; the engaged girl cried out, but there was no one to save 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 finds a girl who is a virgin but who is not engaged, and if he seizes her and sleeps with her, and if they are discovered,

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 who slept with her must give fifty shekels of silver to the girl's father, and she must become his wife, because he has humiliated her. He may not send her away during all his days.

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

A man must not take his father's wife as his own; he must not take away his father's marriage rights.