Deuteronomy 22:1-9

1 "Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them. Thou shalt in any case bring them back unto thy brother.

2 And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again.

3 In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment and with all lost things of thy brother's, which he hath lost and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise; thou mayest not hide thyself.

4 Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them; thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.

5 "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment; for all who do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.

6 "If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree or on the ground, whether there be young ones or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young;

7 but thou shalt in any wise let the dam go and take the young to thee, that it may be well with thee and that thou mayest prolong thy days.

8 "When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a parapet for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house if any man fall from thence.

9 "Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds, lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown and the fruit of thy vineyard be defiled.

Deuteronomy 22:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 22

In this chapter are various laws, concerning care of a neighbour's cattle gone astray or in distress, and of anything lost by him, De 22:1-4, forbidding one sex to wear the apparel, of another, De 22:5 and the taking away of the dam with the young found in a bird's nest, De 22:6,7, ordering battlements to be made in a new house, De 22:8, prohibiting mixtures in sowing, ploughing, and in garments, De 22:9-11, requiring fringes on the four quarters of a garment, De 22:12, fining a man that slanders his wife, upon producing the tokens of her virginity, De 22:13-19 but if these cannot be produced, then orders are given that she be put to death, De 22:20-21, then follow other laws, punishing with death the adulterer and adulteress, and one that hath ravished a betrothed damsel, De 22:22-27, amercing a person that lies with a virgin not betrothed and she consenting, and obliging him to marry her, and not suffering him to divorce her, De 22:28-29 and another against a man's lying with his father's wife, De 22:30.