Old/New Testament

Caring for Your Brother’s Property

22 “If you see your brother Israelite’s ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it; make sure you return it to your brother. ² If your brother does not live near you or you don’t know him, you are to bring the animal to your home to remain with you until your brother comes looking for it; then you can return it to him. ³ Do the same for his donkey, his garment, or anything your brother has lost and you have found. You must not ignore it.^{(A) 4} If you see your brother’s donkey or ox fallen down on the road, do not ignore it; help him lift it up.

Preserving Natural Distinctions

⁵ “A woman is not to wear male clothing, and a man is not to put on a woman’s garment, for everyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord your God.

⁶ “If you come across a bird’s nest with chicks or eggs, either in a tree or on the ground along the road, and the mother is sitting on the chicks or eggs, do not take the mother along with the young. ⁷ You may take the young for yourself, but be sure to let the mother go free, so that you may prosper and live long. ⁸ If you build a new house, make a railing around your roof, so that you don’t bring bloodguilt on your house if someone falls from it. ⁹ Do not plant your vineyard with two types of seed; otherwise, the entire harvest, both the crop you plant and the produce of the vineyard, will be defiled. ¹⁰ Do not plow with an ox and a donkey together. ¹¹ Do not wear clothes made of both wool and linen.^{(B) 12} Make tassels on the four corners of the outer garment you wear.^(C)

Violations of Proper Sexual Conduct

¹³ “If a man marries a woman, has sexual relations with her, and comes to hate her, ¹⁴ and accuses her of shameful conduct, and gives her a bad name, saying, ‘I married this woman and was intimate with her, but I didn’t find any evidence of her virginity,’ ¹⁵ the young woman’s father and mother will take the evidence of her virginity and bring it to the city elders at the city gate.^{(D) 16} The young woman’s father will say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, but he hates her. ¹⁷ He has accused her of shameful conduct, saying, “I didn’t find any evidence of your daughter’s virginity,” but here is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ They will spread out the cloth before the city elders. ¹⁸ Then the elders of that city will take the man and punish him.^{(E) 19} They will also fine him a hundred silver shekels and give them to the young woman’s father, because that man gave an Israelite virgin a bad name. She will remain his wife; he cannot divorce her as long as he lives. ²⁰ But if this accusation is true and no evidence of the young woman’s virginity is found, ²¹ they will bring the woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city will stone her to death. For she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous while living in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from you.

²² “If a man is discovered having sexual relations with another man’s wife, both the man who had sex with the woman and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel. ²³ If there is a young woman who is a virgin engaged to a man, and another man encounters her in the city and sleeps with her, ²⁴ take the two of them out to the gate of that city and stone them to death—the young woman because she did not cry out in the city and the man because he has violated his neighbor’s fiancée. You must purge the evil from you. ²⁵ But if the man encounters an engaged woman in the open country, and he seizes and rapes her, only the man who raped her must die. ²⁶ Do nothing to the young woman, because she is not guilty of an offense deserving death. This case is just like one in which a man attacks his neighbor and murders him. ²⁷ When he found her in the field, the engaged woman cried out, but there was no one to rescue her. ²⁸ If a man encounters a young woman, a virgin who is not engaged, takes hold of her and rapes her, and they are discovered, ²⁹ the man who raped her is to give the young woman’s father fifty silver shekels, and she will become his wife because he violated her.^(F) He cannot divorce her as long as he lives.

³⁰ “A man is not to marry his father’s wife; he must not violate his father’s marriage bed.^[a](G)

Exclusion and Inclusion

23 “No man whose testicles have been crushed or whose penis has been cut off may enter the Lord’s assembly. ² No one of illegitimate birth may enter the Lord’s assembly; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, may enter the Lord’s assembly. ³ No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the Lord’s assembly;^(H) none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, may ever enter the Lord’s assembly. ⁴ This is because they did not meet you with food and water on the journey after you came out of Egypt, and because Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim was hired to curse you.^{(I) 5} Yet the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, but he turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God loves^(J) you.^{(K) 6} Never pursue their welfare or prosperity as long as you live. ⁷ Do not despise an Edomite, because he is your brother. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you were a resident alien in his land. ⁸ The children born to them in the third generation may enter the Lord’s assembly.

Cleanliness of the Camp

⁹ “When you are encamped against your enemies, be careful to avoid anything offensive. ¹⁰ If there is a man among you who is unclean because of a bodily emission during the night, he must go outside the camp; he may not come anywhere inside the camp. ¹¹ When evening approaches, he is to wash with water, and when the sun sets he may come inside the camp.^{(L) 12} You are to have a place outside the camp and go there to relieve yourself. ¹³ You are to have a digging tool in your equipment; when you relieve yourself, dig a hole with it and cover up your excrement. ¹⁴ For the Lord your God walks throughout your camp to protect you and deliver your enemies to you; so your encampments must be holy. He must not see anything indecent among you or he will turn away from you.

Fugitive Slaves

¹⁵ “Do not return a slave to his master when he has escaped from his master to you. ¹⁶ Let him live among you wherever he wants within your city gates. Do not mistreat him.

Cult Prostitution Forbidden

¹⁷ “No Israelite woman is to be a cult prostitute, and no Israelite man is to be a cult prostitute. ¹⁸ Do not bring a female prostitute’s wages or a male prostitute’s^[b] earnings into the house of the Lord your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the Lord your God.

Interest on Loans

¹⁹ “Do not charge your brother interest on silver, food, or anything that can earn interest. ²⁰ You may charge a foreigner interest, but you must not charge your brother Israelite interest, so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you do^[c] in the land you are entering to possess.^(M)

Keeping Vows

²¹ “If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to keep it, because he will require it of you, and it will be counted against you as sin. ²² But if you refrain from making a vow, it will not be counted against you as sin. ²³ Be careful to do whatever comes from your lips, because you have freely vowed what you promised to the Lord your God.^(N)

Neighbor’s Crops

²⁴ “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat as many grapes as you want until you are full, but do not put any in your container. ²⁵ When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck heads of grain with your hand, but do not put a sickle to your neighbor’s grain.

Marriage and Divorce Laws

24 “If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, he may write her a divorce certificate, hand it to her, and send her away from his house.^{(O) 2} If after leaving his house she goes and becomes another man’s wife, ³ and the second man hates her, writes her a divorce certificate, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house or if he dies, ⁴ the first husband who sent her away may not marry her again after she has been defiled, because that would be detestable to the Lord. You must not bring guilt on the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.^(P)

⁵ “When a man takes a bride, he must not go out with the army or be liable for any duty. He is free to stay at home for one year, so that he can bring joy to the wife he has married.

Safeguarding Life

⁶ “Do not take a pair of grindstones or even the upper millstone as security for a debt, because that is like taking a life as security.

⁷ “If a man is discovered kidnapping^(Q) one of his Israelite brothers, whether he treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from you.

⁸ “Be careful with a person who has a case of serious skin disease, following carefully everything the Levitical priests instruct you to do. Be careful to do as I have commanded them. ⁹ Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on the journey after you left Egypt.^(R)

Consideration for People in Need

¹⁰ “When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not enter his house to collect what he offers as security. ¹¹ Stand outside while the man you are making the loan to brings the security out to you. ¹² If he is a poor man, do not sleep with the garment he has given as security. ¹³ Be sure to return it^[d] to him at sunset. Then he will sleep in it and bless you, and this will be counted as righteousness to you before the Lord your God.^(S)

¹⁴ “Do not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether one of your Israelite brothers or one of the resident aliens in a town^[e] in your land. ¹⁵ You are to pay him his wages each day before the sun sets, because he is poor and depends on them.^(T) Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be held guilty.

¹⁶ “Fathers are not to be put to death for their children, and children are not to be put to death for their fathers; each person will be put to death for his own sin.^{(U) 17} Do not deny justice to a resident alien or fatherless child, and do not take a widow’s garment as security. ¹⁸ Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed^(V) you from there. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.^(W)

¹⁹ “When you reap the harvest in your field, and you forget a sheaf in the field, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.^{(X) 20} When you knock down the fruit from your olive tree, do not go over the branches again. What remains will be for the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow. ²¹ When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left. What remains will be for the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow. ²² Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.^(Y)

The Plot to Kill Jesus

14 It^(A) was two days before the Passover^(B) and the Festival^(C) of Unleavened Bread.^(D) The chief priests and the scribes^(E) were looking for a cunning^(F) way to arrest Jesus and kill him.^{(G) 2} “Not during the festival,” they said, “so that there won’t be a riot among the people.”

The Anointing at Bethany

³ While^(H) he was in Bethany^(I) at the house of Simon the leper,^[a](J) as he was reclining at the table,^(K) a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured it on his head.^{(L) 4} But some were expressing indignation to one another: “Why has this perfume been wasted? ⁵ For this perfume might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii^[b](M) and given to the poor.”^(N) And they began to scold her.

⁶ Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a noble thing^(O) for me. ⁷ You always have the poor^(P) with you, and you can do what is good for them whenever you want, but you do not always have me.^{(Q) 8} She has done what she could; she has anointed my body^(R) in advance for burial.^{(S) 9} Truly I tell you,^(T) wherever the gospel^(U) is proclaimed in the whole world,^(V) what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

¹⁰ Then^(W) Judas Iscariot,^(X) one of the Twelve,^(Y) went to the chief priests^(Z) to betray Jesus^(AA) to them. ¹¹ And when they heard this, they were glad and promised to give him money.^(AB) So he started looking for a good opportunity to betray^(AC) him.

Preparation for Passover

¹² On^(AD) the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrifice the Passover lamb,^(AE) his disciples^(AF) asked him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare the Passover so that you may eat it?”

¹³ So he sent two of his disciples and told them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. ¹⁴ Wherever he enters, tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher^(AG) says, “Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ ¹⁵ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there.” ¹⁶ So the disciples^(AH) went out, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

Betrayal at the Passover

¹⁷ When^(AI) evening came, he arrived with the Twelve.^{(AJ) 18} While they were reclining and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”

¹⁹ They began to be distressed and to say to him one by one, “Surely not I?”

²⁰ He said to them, “It is one of the Twelve—the one who is dipping bread in the bowl with me. ²¹ For the Son of Man^(AK) will go just as it is written^(AL) about him,^(AM) but woe^(AN) to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for him if he had not been born.”

The First Lord’s Supper

²² As^(AO) they were eating, he took bread,^(AP) blessed and broke^(AQ) it, gave it to them,^(AR) and said, “Take it; this is my body.”^{(AS) 23} Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks,^(AT) he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. ²⁴ He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant,^[c](AU) which is poured out^(AV) for many.^{(AW) 25} Truly I tell you,^(AX) I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine^(AY) until that day when I drink it new^[d](AZ) in the kingdom of God.”^(BA)

²⁶ After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.^(BB)