Deuteronomy
Chapter 22
1
"You shall not see your kinsman's ox or sheep driven astray without showing concern about it; see to it that it is returned to your kinsman.
2
If this kinsman does not live near you, or you do not know who he may be, take it to your own place and keep it with you until he claims it; then give it back to him.
3
You shall do the same with his ass, or his garment, or anything else which your kinsman loses and you happen to find; you may not be unconcerned about them.
4
You shall not see your kinsman's ass or ox foundering on the road without showing concern about it; see to it that you help him lift it up.
5
"A woman shall not wear an article proper to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's dress; for anyone who does such things is an abomination to the LORD, your God.
6
"If, while walking along, you chance upon a bird's nest with young birds or eggs in it, in any tree or on the ground, and the mother bird is sitting on them, you shall not take away the mother bird along with her brood;
7
you shall let her go, although you may take her brood away. It is thus that you shall have prosperity and a long life.
8
"When you build a new house, put a parapet around the roof; otherwise, if someone falls off, you will bring bloodguilt upon your house.
9
1 "You shall not sow your vineyard with two different kinds of seed; if you do, its produce shall become forfeit, both the crop you have sown and the yield of the vineyard.
10
You shall not plow with an ox and an ass harnessed together.
11
You shall not wear cloth of two different kinds of thread, wool and linen, woven together.
12
2 "You shall put twisted cords on the four corners of the cloak that you wrap around you.
13
"If a man, after marrying a woman and having relations with her, comes to dislike her,
14
and makes monstrous charges against her and defames her by saying, 'I married this woman, but when I first had relations with her I did not find her a virgin,'
15
3 the father and mother of the girl shall take the evidence of her virginity and bring it to the elders at the city gate.
16
There the father of the girl shall say to the elders, 'I gave my daughter to this man in marriage, but he has come to dislike her,
17
and now brings monstrous charges against her, saying: I did not find your daughter a virgin. But here is the evidence of my daughter's virginity!' And they shall spread out the cloth before the elders of the city.
18
4 Then these city elders shall take the man and chastise him,
19
besides fining him one hundred silver shekels, which they shall give to the girl's father, because the man defamed a virgin in Israel. Moreover, she shall remain his wife, and he may not divorce her as long as he lives.
20
"But if this charge is true, and evidence of the girl's virginity is not found,
21
they shall bring the girl to the entrance of her father's house and there her townsmen shall stone her to death, because she committed a crime against Israel by her unchasteness in her father's house. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.
22
"If a man is discovered having relations with a woman who is married to another, both the man and the woman with whom he has had relations shall die. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.
23
5 "If within the city a man comes upon a maiden who is betrothed, and has relations with her,
24
you shall bring them both out to the gate of the city and there stone them to death: the girl because she did not cry out for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor's wife. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.
25
"If, however, it is in the open fields that a man comes upon such a betrothed maiden, seizes her and has relations with her, the man alone shall die.
26
You shall do nothing to the maiden, since she is not guilty of a capital offense. This case is like that of a man who rises up against his neighbor and murders him:
27
it was in the open fields that he came upon her, and though the betrothed maiden may have cried out for help, there was no one to come to her aid.
28
"If a man comes upon a maiden that is not betrothed, takes her and has relations with her, and their deed is discovered,
29
the man who had relations with her shall pay the girl's father fifty silver shekels and take her as his wife, because he has deflowered her. Moreover, he may not divorce her as long as he lives.
Table of Contents Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Footnotes

1 [9] Become forfeit: to the sanctuary; cf Lev 19:19; Joshua 6:19.

2 [12] Twisted cords: referred to as "tassels" on "violet cords" in Numbers 15:38. See note there.

3 [15] The evidence of her virginity: the bridal garment or sheet stained with a little blood from the first nuptial relations.

4 [18] Chastise him: flog him, as prescribed in Deut 25:1-3.

5 [23] A maiden who is betrothed: a girl who is married but not yet brought to her husband's home and whose marriage is therefore still unconsummated.


New American Bible Copyright © 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

USCCB Home Page New American Bible Home Page





__________________________________

New American Bible
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
3211 4th Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20017-1194 (202) 541-3000
December 09, 2002 Copyright © by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops