Deuteronomy 22; Deuteronomy 23; Deuteronomy 24; Mark 14:1-26 (New Living Translation)

1 "If you see your neighbor's ox or sheep wandering away, don't pretend not to see it. Take it back to its owner. 2 If it does not belong to someone nearby or you don't know who the owner is, keep it until the owner comes looking for it; then return it. 3 Do the same if you find your neighbor's donkey, clothing, or anything else your neighbor loses. Don't pretend you did not see it. 4 "If you see your neighbor's ox or donkey lying on the road, do not look the other way. Go and help your neighbor get it to its feet! 5 "A woman must not wear men's clothing, and a man must not wear women's clothing. The LORD your God detests people who do this. 6 "If you find a bird's nest on the ground or in a tree and there are young ones or eggs in it with the mother sitting in the nest, do not take the mother with the young. 7 You may take the young, but let the mother go, so you may prosper and enjoy a long life. 8 "Every new house you build must have a barrier around the edge of its flat rooftop. That way you will not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your household if someone falls from the roof. 9 "Do not plant any other crop between the rows of your vineyard. If you do, you are forbidden to use either the grapes from the vineyard or the produce of the other crop. 10 "Do not plow with an ox and a donkey harnessed together. 11 "Do not wear clothing made of wool and linen woven together. 12 "You must put tassels on the four corners of your cloaks. 13 "Suppose a man marries a woman and, after sleeping with her, changes his mind about her 14 and falsely accuses her of having slept with another man. He might say, 'I discovered she was not a virgin when I married her.' 15 If the man does this, the woman's father and mother must bring the proof of her virginity to the leaders of the town. 16 Her father must tell them, 'I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife, and now he has turned against her. 17 He has accused her of shameful things, claiming that she was not a virgin when he married her. But here is the proof of my daughter's virginity.' Then they must spread the cloth before the judges. 18 The judges must then punish the man. 19 They will fine him one hundred pieces of silver, for he falsely accused a virgin of Israel. The payment will be made to the woman's father. The woman will then remain the man's wife, and he may never divorce her. 20 "But suppose the man's accusations are true, and her virginity could not be proved. 21 In such cases, the judges must take the girl to the door of her father's home, and the men of the town will stone her to death. She has committed a disgraceful crime in Israel by being promiscuous while living in her parents' home. Such evil must be cleansed from among you. 22 "If a man is discovered committing adultery, both he and the other man's wife must be killed. In this way, the evil will be cleansed from Israel. 23 "Suppose a man meets a young woman, a virgin who is engaged to be married, and he has sexual intercourse with her. If this happens within a town, 24 you must take both of them to the gates of the town and stone them to death. The woman is guilty because she did not scream for help. The man must die because he violated another man's wife. In this way, you will cleanse the land of evil. 25 "But if the man meets the engaged woman out in the country, and he rapes her, then only the man should die. 26 Do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no crime worthy of death. This case is similar to that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor. 27 Since the man raped her out in the country, it must be assumed that she screamed, but there was no one to rescue her. 28 "If a man is caught in the act of raping a young woman who is not engaged, 29 he must pay fifty pieces of silver to her father. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he will never be allowed to divorce her. 30 "A man must not have intercourse with his father's wife, for this would violate his father. 1 "If a man's testicles are crushed or his penis is cut off, he may not be included in the assembly of the LORD. 2 "Those of illegitimate birth and their descendants for ten generations may not be included in the assembly of the LORD. 3 "No Ammonites or Moabites, or any of their descendants for ten generations, may be included in the assembly of the LORD. 4 These nations did not welcome you with food and water when you came out of Egypt. Instead, they tried to hire Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to curse you. 5 (But the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam. He turned the intended curse into a blessing because the LORD your God loves you.) 6 You must never, as long as you live, try to help the Ammonites or the Moabites in any way. 7 "Do not detest the Edomites or the Egyptians, because the Edomites are your relatives, and you lived as foreigners among the Egyptians. 8 The third generation of Egyptians who came with you from Egypt may enter the assembly of the LORD. 9 "When you go to war against your enemies, stay away from everything impure. 10 "Any man who becomes ceremonially defiled because of a nocturnal emission must leave the camp and stay away all day. 11 Toward evening he must bathe himself, and at sunset he may return to the camp. 12 "Mark off an area outside the camp for a latrine. 13 Each of you must have a spade as part of your equipment. Whenever you relieve yourself, you must dig a hole with the spade and cover the excrement. 14 The camp must be holy, for the LORD your God moves around in your camp to protect you and to defeat your enemies. He must not see any shameful thing among you, or he might turn away from you. 15 "If slaves should escape from their masters and take refuge with you, do not force them to return. 16 Let them live among you in whatever town they choose, and do not oppress them. 17 "No Israelite man or woman may ever become a temple prostitute. 18 Do not bring to the house of the LORD your God any offering from the earnings of a prostitute, whether a man or a woman, for both are detestable to the LORD your God. 19 "Do not charge interest on the loans you make to a fellow Israelite, whether it is money, food, or anything else that may be loaned with interest. 20 You may charge interest to foreigners, but not to Israelites, so the LORD your God may bless you in everything you do in the land you are about to enter and occupy. 21 "When you make a vow to the LORD your God, be prompt in doing whatever you promised him. For the LORD your God demands that you promptly fulfill all your vows. If you don't, you will be guilty of sin. 22 However, it is not a sin to refrain from making a vow. 23 But once you have voluntarily made a vow, be careful to do as you have said, for you have made a vow to the LORD your God. 24 "You may eat your fill of grapes from your neighbor's vineyard, but do not take any away in a basket. 25 And you may pluck a few heads of your neighbor's grain by hand, but you may not harvest it with a sickle. 1 "Suppose a man marries a woman but later discovers something about her that is shameful. So he writes her a letter of divorce, gives it to her, and sends her away. 2 If she then leaves and marries another man 3 and the second husband also divorces her or dies, 4 the former husband may not marry her again, for she has been defiled. That would be detestable to the LORD. You must not bring guilt upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as a special possession. 5 "A newly married man must not be drafted into the army or given any other special responsibilities. He must be free to be at home for one year, bringing happiness to the wife he has married. 6 "It is wrong to take a pair of millstones, or even just the upper millstone, as a pledge, for the owner uses it to make a living. 7 "If anyone kidnaps a fellow Israelite and treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. You must cleanse the evil from among you. 8 "Watch all contagious skin diseases carefully and follow the instructions of the Levitical priests; obey the commands I have given them. 9 Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam as you were coming from Egypt. 10 "If you lend anything to your neighbor, do not enter your neighbor's house to claim the security. 11 Stand outside and the owner will bring it out to you. 12 If your neighbor is poor and has only a cloak to give as security, do not keep the cloak overnight. 13 Return the cloak to its owner by sunset so your neighbor can sleep in it and bless you. And the LORD your God will count it as a righteous act. 14 "Never take advantage of poor laborers, whether fellow Israelites or foreigners living in your towns. 15 Pay them their wages each day before sunset because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they might cry out to the LORD against you, and it would be counted against you as sin. 16 "Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor the children for the sins of their parents. Those worthy of death must be executed for their own crimes. 17 "True justice must be given to foreigners living among you and to orphans, and you must never accept a widow's garment in pledge of her debt. 18 Always remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God redeemed you. That is why I have given you this command. 19 "When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don't go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the LORD your God will bless you in all you do. 20 When you beat the olives from your olive trees, don't go over the boughs twice. Leave some of the olives for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. 21 This also applies to the grapes in your vineyard. Do not glean the vines after they are picked, but leave any remaining grapes for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. 22 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt. That is why I am giving you this command. 1 It was now two days before the Passover celebration and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The leading priests and the teachers of religious law were still looking for an opportunity to capture Jesus secretly and put him to death. 2 "But not during the Passover," they agreed, "or there will be a riot." 3 Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had leprosy. During supper, a woman came in with a beautiful jar of expensive perfume. She broke the seal and poured the perfume over his head. 4 Some of those at the table were indignant. "Why was this expensive perfume wasted?" they asked. 5 "She could have sold it for a small fortune and given the money to the poor!" And they scolded her harshly. 6 But Jesus replied, "Leave her alone. Why berate her for doing such a good thing to me? 7 You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to. But I will not be here with you much longer. 8 She has done what she could and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time. 9 I assure you, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman's deed will be talked about in her memory." 10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests to arrange to betray Jesus to them. 11 The leading priests were delighted when they heard why he had come, and they promised him a reward. So he began looking for the right time and place to betray Jesus. 12 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread (the day the Passover lambs were sacrificed), Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go to prepare the Passover supper?" 13 So Jesus sent two of them into Jerusalem to make the arrangements. "As you go into the city," he told them, "a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 At the house he enters, say to the owner, 'The Teacher asks, Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?' 15 He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is the place; go ahead and prepare our supper there." 16 So the two disciples went on ahead into the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover supper there. 17 In the evening Jesus arrived with the twelve disciples. 18 As they were sitting around the table eating, Jesus said, "The truth is, one of you will betray me, one of you who is here eating with me." 19 Greatly distressed, one by one they began to ask him, "I'm not the one, am I?" 20 He replied, "It is one of you twelve, one who is eating with me now. 21 For I, the Son of Man, must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for my betrayer. Far better for him if he had never been born!" 22 As they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread and asked God's blessing on it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, "Take it, for this is my body." 23 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And he said to them, "This is my blood, poured out for many, sealing the covenant between God and his people. 25 I solemnly declare that I will not drink wine again until that day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God." 26 Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.