(KJV) Deuteronomy 221

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⥃Various Laws

[1] Thou shalt2 not see thy brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself3 from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again 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 restore4 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 thing 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 surely5 help him to lift [them] up again.

[5] The woman shall not6 wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so [are] abomination7 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 they be] young ones8, or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not9 take the dam with the young: [7] [But] thou shalt10 in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may11 be well with thee, and [that] thou mayest12 prolong [thy] days.

[8] [¶]When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt13 make a battlement for thy roof14, that thou bring15 not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence.

[9] [¶]Thou shalt not sow16 thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed17 which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled.

[10] [¶]Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.1819

[11] [¶]Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, [as] of woollen and linen together.20

[12] [¶]Thou shalt make thee fringes21 upon the four quarters22 of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest [thyself].

⥃Marriage Violations

[13] If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her,23 [14] And give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid:24 [15] Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth [the tokens of] the damsel’s virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate: [16] And the damsel’s father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her; [17] And, lo, he hath given occasions of speech [against her], saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these [are the tokens of] my daughter’s virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. [18] And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him; [19] And they shall amerce him in an hundred [shekels] of silver, and give [them] unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put25 her away all his days. [20] But if this thing be true, [and the tokens of] virginity be not found for the damsel: [21] Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her26 with stones that she die: because she hath wrought27 folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house: so shalt thou28 put evil away from among you.

[22] [¶]If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, [both] the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.29

[23] [¶]If a damsel [that is] a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;30 [24] Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone31 them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, [being] in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled32 his neighbour’s wife: so thou shalt put33 away evil from among you.

[25] [¶]But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her34, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die: [26] But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; [there is] in the damsel no sin35 [worthy] of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so [is] this matter: [27] For he found her in the field, [and] the betrothed damsel cried36, and [there was] none to save her.

[28] [¶]If a man find a damsel [that is] a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;37 [29] Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty [shekels] of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled38 her, he may not put her away all his days.

[30] [¶]A man shall39 not take his father’s wife, nor discover40 his father’s skirt.

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  1. Deut 22:1, Of humanity towards brethren; Deut 22:5, The sex is to be distinguished by apparel; Deut 22:6, The dam is not to be taken with her young ones; Deut 22:8, The house must have battlements; Deut 22:9, Confusion is to be avoided; Deut 22:12, Fringes upon the vesture; Deut 22:13, The punishment of him that slanders his wife; Deut 22:22, Of adultery; Deut 22:23, of rape; Deut 22:28, of fornication; Deut 22:30, of incest. ↩

  2. Exod 23:4; Ezek 34:4, Ezek 34:16; Matt 10:6, Matt 15:24, Matt 18:12-13; Luke 15:4-6; Jas 5:19-20; 1Pet 2:25 ↩

  3. Deut 22:3-4; Lev 20:4; Prov 24:11, Prov 28:27; Isa 8:17, Isa 58:7; Luke 10:31-32 ↩

  4. Matt 7:12; 1Thess 4:6 ↩

  5. Exod 23:4-5; Matt 5:44; Luke 10:29-37; Rom 15:1; 2Cor 12:15; Gal 6:1-2; 1Thess 5:14; Heb 12:12-13 ↩

  6. 1Cor 11:4-15 ↩

  7. Deut 18:12 ↩

  8. Luke 12:6 ↩

  9. Gen 8:17, Gen 32:11; Lev 22:28; Prov 12:10; Hos 10:14 ↩

  10. The extirpation of any species of birds, whether edible or birds of prey, is often attended with serious consequences, and is always productive of evil; to prevent which was the object of this law. Palestine is situated in a climate producing poisonous snakes and scorpions, and between deserts and mountains, from which it would be inundated by them, as well as with immense swarms of flies, locusts, and mice, if the birds which feed upon them were extirpated. In a moral point of view, it may have been intended to inculcate a spirit of mercy and kindness, and to prevent the exercise of cruelty even towards a sparrow; for he who is guilty of such cruelty will, if circumstances be favourable, be cruel to his fellow-creatures. ↩

  11. Deut 4:40 ↩

  12. Prov 22:4 ↩

  13. The eastern houses being built with flat roofs, which were used for various purposed, as walking, sleeping, etc., it was therefore necessary to have a sort of battlement, or balustrade, to prevent accidents, by people falling off. Exod 21:28-36, Exod 22:6; Rom 14:13; 1Cor 10:32; Phil 1:10; 1Thess 5:22 ↩

  14. 2Sam 11:2; Isa 22:1; Jer 19:13; Matt 10:27; Mark 2:4; Acts 10:9 ↩

  15. Ezek 3:18, Ezek 3:20, Ezek 32:2-9; Matt 18:6-7; Acts 20:26-27 ↩

  16. Lev 19:19; Matt 6:24, Matt 9:16; Rom 11:6; 2Cor 1:12, 2Cor 11:3; Jas 1:6-8, Jas 3:10 ↩

  17. Heb. fulness of thy seed ↩

  18. Two different species cannot associate comfortably together, nor pull pleasantly either in cart or plough; and the ass being lower than the ox, when yoked, he must bear the principal part of the weight. ↩

  19. 2Cor 6:14-16 ↩

  20. Lev 19:19 ↩

  21. Num 15:38-39; Matt 23:5 ↩

  22. Heb. wings ↩

  23. Gen 29:21, Gen 29:23, Gen 29:31; Judg 15:1-2; Eph 5:28-29 ↩

  24. Deut 22:19; Exod 20:16, Exod 23:1; Prov 18:8, Prov 18:21; 1Tim 5:14 ↩

  25. Deut 22:29, Deut 24:1-4; Matt 19:8-9 ↩

  26. Deut 22:22, Deut 22:24, Deut 13:10, Deut 17:5, Deut 21:21; Lev 24:16, Lev 24:23; Num 15:35-36 ↩

  27. Gen 34:7; Lev 21:9; Judg 20:6, Judg 20:10; 2Sam 13:12-13 ↩

  28. Deut 13:5, Deut 17:7, Deut 19:19 ↩

  29. Lev 20:10; Num 5:22-27; Ezek 23:45-47; John 8:4-5; Heb 13:4 ↩

  30. Deut 20:7; Matt 1:18-19 ↩

  31. In these laws, the betrothed damsel was considered as the wife of the man to whom she was engaged, though they had not come together; and therefore the crime was adjudged adultery. But a charitable supposition is admitted in the damsel's favour, in case she was found in a solitary place. ↩

  32. Deut 21:14; Gen 29:21; Matt 1:20, Matt 1:24 ↩

  33. Deut 22:21-22, Deut 22:24, Deut 13:5; 1Cor 5:2, 1Cor 5:13 ↩

  34. or, take strong hold of her, 2Sam 13:14 ↩

  35. Deut 21:22 ↩

  36. 1Cor 13:7 ↩

  37. Exod 22:16-17 ↩

  38. Deut 22:19, Deut 22:24, Deut 21:14 ↩

  39. This is to be understood as referring to the case of a stepmother. A man in his old age may have married a young woman, and on his dying, his son by another, or a former wife, may desire to espouse her; which is here forbidden. Deut 27:20; Lev 18:8, Lev 20:11; 1Cor 5:1, 1Cor 5:13 ↩

  40. Ruth 3:9; Ezek 16:8 ↩