Deuteronomy 22:1-7

1 Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox, either sheep, erring, and shalt pass thereby, but thou shalt bring it again to thy brother. (Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox, or sheep, go astray, and pass by it, but thou shalt bring it back to thy brother, that is, thy kinsman.)

2 And if thy brother is not nigh, neither thou knowest him, thou shalt lead those beasts into thine house (thou shalt bring those beasts back to thy house), and those shall be with thee, as long as thy brother seeketh them, and till he receive them (back again).

3 In like manner thou shalt do of thy brother's ass, and of his cloth, and of each thing of thy brother, that was lost; if thou findest it, be thou not negligent, as of an alien thing. (In like manner thou shalt do with thy brother's donkey, and his cloak, and with anything else of thy brother's, that was lost; if thou findest it, be thou not negligent, that is, do not just pass by it.)

4 If thou seest that the ass, either the ox, of thy brother hath fallen in the way, thou shalt not despise (it), but thou shalt raise (it up) with him. (If thou seest that thy brother's donkey, or his ox, hath fallen down along the way, thou shalt not just ignore it, but thou shalt help him lift it up again.)

5 A woman shall not be clothed in a man's cloak, neither a man shall use a woman's cloak; for he that doeth these things is abominable before God.

6 If thou goest in the way, and findest a bird's nest in a tree, either in the earth, and findest the mother sitting on the birds, either [the] eggs, thou shalt not hold the mother with the children, (If thou goest on the way, and findest a bird's nest in a tree, or on the ground, and findest the mother bird sitting on her young, or the eggs, thou shalt not take hold of both the mother bird and her children,)

7 but thou shalt suffer the mother [to] go, and shalt hold the sons taken, that it be well to thee, and that thou live in long time. (but thou shalt allow the mother bird to go free, and shalt only take her children, so that it be well with thee, and that thou live a long time.)

Deuteronomy 22:1-7 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.