New Revised Standard NRS
The Message Bible MSG
1 You shall not watch your neighbor's ox or sheep straying away and ignore them; you shall take them back to their owner.
1
If you see your kinsman's ox or sheep wandering off loose, don't look the other way as if you didn't see it. Return it promptly.
2 If the owner does not reside near you or you do not know who the owner is, you shall bring it to your own house, and it shall remain with you until the owner claims it; then you shall return it.
2
If your fellow Israelite is not close by or you don't know whose it is, take the animal home with you and take care of it until your fellow asks about it. Then return it to him.
3 You shall do the same with a neighbor's donkey; you shall do the same with a neighbor's garment; and you shall do the same with anything else that your neighbor loses and you find. You may not withhold your help.
3
Do the same if it's his donkey or a piece of clothing or anything else your fellow Israelite loses. Don't look the other way as if you didn't see it.
4 You shall not see your neighbor's donkey or ox fallen on the road and ignore it; you shall help to lift it up.
4
If you see your fellow's donkey or ox injured along the road, don't look the other way. Help him get it up and on its way.
5 A woman shall not wear a man's apparel, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment; for whoever does such things is abhorrent to the Lord your God.
5
A woman must not wear a man's clothing, nor a man wear women's clothing. This kind of thing is an abomination to God, your God.
6 If you come on a bird's nest, in any tree or on the ground, with fledglings or eggs, with the mother sitting on the fledglings or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young.
6
When you come across a bird's nest alongside the road, whether in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, don't take the mother with the young.
7 Let the mother go, taking only the young for yourself, in order that it may go well with you and you may live long.
7
You may take the babies, but let the mother go so that you will live a good and long life.
8 When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof; otherwise you might have bloodguilt on your house, if anyone should fall from it.
8
When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof to make it safe so that someone doesn't fall off and die and your family become responsible for the death.
9 You shall not sow your vineyard with a second kind of seed, or the whole yield will have to be forfeited, both the crop that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard itself.
9
Don't plant two kinds of seed in your vineyard. If you do, you will forfeit what you've sown, the total production of the vineyard.
10 You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.
10
Don't plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.
11 You shall not wear clothes made of wool and linen woven together.
11
Don't wear clothes of mixed fabrics, wool and linen together.
12 You shall make tassels on the four corners of the cloak with which you cover yourself.
12
Make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you use to cover yourself.
13 Suppose a man marries a woman, but after going in to her, he dislikes her
13
If a man marries a woman, sleeps with her, and then turns on her,
14 and makes up charges against her, slandering her by saying, "I married this woman; but when I lay with her, I did not find evidence of her virginity."
14
calling her a slut, giving her a bad name, saying, "I married this woman, but when I slept with her I discovered she wasn't a virgin,"
15 The father of the young woman and her mother shall then submit the evidence of the young woman's virginity to the elders of the city at the gate.
15
then the father and mother of the girl are to take her with the proof of her virginity to the town leaders at the gate.
16 The father of the young woman shall say to the elders: "I gave my daughter in marriage to this man but he dislikes her;
16
The father is to tell the leaders, "I gave my daughter to this man as wife and he turned on her, rejecting her.
17 now he has made up charges against her, saying, "I did not find evidence of your daughter's virginity.' But here is the evidence of my daughter's virginity." Then they shall spread out the cloth before the elders of the town.
17
And now he has slanderously accused her, claiming that she wasn't a virgin. But look at this, here is the proof of my daughter's virginity." And then he is to spread out her blood-stained wedding garment before the leaders for their examination.
18 The elders of that town shall take the man and punish him;
18
The town leaders then are to take the husband, whip him,
19 they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver (which they shall give to the young woman's father) because he has slandered a virgin of Israel. She shall remain his wife; he shall not be permitted to divorce her as long as he lives.
19
fine him a hundred pieces of silver, and give it to the father of the girl. The man gave a virgin girl of Israel a bad name. He has to keep her as his wife and can never divorce her.
20 If, however, this charge is true, that evidence of the young woman's virginity was not found,
20
But if it turns out that the accusation is true and there is no evidence of the girl's virginity,
21 then they shall bring the young woman out to the entrance of her father's house and the men of her town shall stone her to death, because she committed a disgraceful act in Israel by prostituting herself in her father's house. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
21
the men of the town are to take her to the door of her father's house and stone her to death. She acted disgracefully in Israel. She lived like a whore while still in her parents' home. Purge the evil from among you.
22 If a man is caught lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman as well as the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.
22
If a man is found sleeping with another man's wife, both must die. Purge that evil from Israel.
23 If there is a young woman, a virgin already engaged to be married, and a man meets her in the town and lies with her,
23
If a man comes upon a virgin in town, a girl who is engaged to another man, and sleeps with her,
24 you shall bring both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry for help in the town and the man because he violated his neighbor's wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
24
take both of them to the town gate and stone them until they die - the girl because she didn't yell out for help in the town and the man because he raped her, violating the fiancŽe of his neighbor. You must purge the evil from among you.
25 But if the man meets the engaged woman in the open country, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die.
25
But if it was out in the country that the man found the engaged girl and grabbed and raped her, only the man is to die, the man who raped her.
26 You shall do nothing to the young woman; the young woman has not committed an offense punishable by death, because this case is like that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor.
26
Don't do anything to the girl; she did nothing wrong. This is similar to the case of a man who comes across his neighbor out in the country and murders him;
27 Since he found her in the open country, the engaged woman may have cried for help, but there was no one to rescue her.
27
when the engaged girl yelled out for help, there was no one around to hear or help her.
28 If a man meets a virgin who is not engaged, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are caught in the act,
28
When a man comes upon a virgin who has never been engaged and grabs and rapes her and they are found out,
29 the man who lay with her shall give fifty shekels of silver to the young woman's father, and she shall become his wife. Because he violated her he shall not be permitted to divorce her as long as he lives.
29
the man who raped her has to give her father fifty pieces of silver. He has to marry her because he took advantage of her. And he can never divorce her.
30 A man shall not marry his father's wife, thereby violating his father's rights.
30
A man may not marry his father's ex-wife - that would violate his father's rights.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.