Through the Bible – Day 29

₁If you steal an ox and slaughter or sell it, you must replace it with five oxen; if you steal a sheep and slaughter it or sell it, you must replace it with four sheep. _2-4But if you cannot afford to replace the animals, you must be sold as a slave to pay for what you have stolen. If you steal an ox, donkey, or sheep, and are caught with it still alive, you must pay the owner double.

If you happen to kill a burglar who breaks into your home after dark, you are not guilty. But if you kill someone who breaks in during the day, you are guilty of murder.

₅If you allow any of your animals to stray from your property and graze in someone else's field or vineyard, you must repay the damage from the best part of your own harvest of grapes and grain.

₆If you carelessly let a fire spread from your property to someone else's, you must pay the owner for any crops or fields destroyed by the fire.

₇Suppose a neighbour asks you to keep some silver or other valuables, and they are stolen from your house. If the thief is caught, the thief must repay double. ₈But if the thief isn't caught, some judges will decide if you are the guilty one.

₉Suppose two people claim to own the same ox or donkey or sheep or piece of clothing. Then the judges must decide the case, and the guilty person will pay the owner double.

₁₀Suppose a neighbour who is going to be away asks you to keep a donkey or an ox or a sheep or some other animal, and it dies or gets injured or is stolen while no one is looking. ₁₁If you swear with me as your witness that you did not harm the animal, you do not have to replace it. Your word is enough. ₁₂But if the animal was stolen while in your care, you must replace it. ₁₃If the animal was attacked and killed by a wild animal, and you can show the remains of the dead animal to its owner, you do not have to replace it.

₁₄Suppose you borrow an animal from a neighbour, and it gets injured or dies while the neighbour isn't around. Then you must replace it. ₁₅But if something happens to the animal while the owner is present, you do not have to replace it. If you had leased the animal, the money you paid the owner will cover any harm done to it.

₁₆Suppose a young woman has never been married and isn't engaged. If a man talks her into having sex, he must pay the bride price and marry her. ₁₇But if her father refuses to let her marry the man, the bride price must still be paid.

₁₈Death is the punishment for witchcraft.

₁₉Death is the punishment for having sex with an animal.

₂₀Death is the punishment for offering sacrifices to any god except me.

₂₁Do not ill-treat or abuse foreigners who live among you. Remember, you were foreigners in Egypt.

₂₂Do not ill-treat widows or orphans. ₂₃If you do, they will beg for my help, and I will come to their rescue. ₂₄In fact, I will get so angry that I will kill your men and make widows of their wives and orphans of their children.

₂₅Don't charge interest when you lend money to any of my people who are in need. ₂₆Before sunset you must return any coat taken as security for a loan, ₂₇because that is the only cover the poor have when they sleep at night. I am a merciful God, and when they call out to me, I will come to help them.

₂₈Don't speak evil of me or of the ruler of your people.

₂₉Don't fail to give me the offerings of grain and wine that belong to me.

Dedicate to me your firstborn sons ₃₀and the firstborn of your cattle and sheep. Let the animals stay with their mothers for seven days, then on the eighth day give them to me, your God.

₃₁You are my chosen people, so don't eat the meat of any of your livestock that was killed by a wild animal. Instead, feed the meat to dogs.

₁Don't spread harmful rumours or help a criminal by giving false evidence.

₂Always tell the truth in court, even if everyone else is dishonest and stands in the way of justice. ₃And don't favour the poor, simply because they are poor.

₄If you find an ox or a donkey that has wandered off, take it back where it belongs, even if the owner is your enemy.

₅If a donkey is overloaded and falls down, you must do what you can to help, even if it belongs to someone who doesn't like you.

₆Make sure that the poor are given equal justice in court. ₇Don't bring false charges against anyone or sentence an innocent person to death. I won't forgive you if you do.

₈Don't accept bribes. Judges are blinded and justice is twisted by bribes.

₉Don't ill-treat foreigners. You were foreigners in Egypt, and you know what it is like.

₁₀Plant and harvest your crops for six years, ₁₁but let the land rest during the seventh year. The poor are to eat what they want from your fields, vineyards, and olive trees during that year, and when they have all they want from your fields, leave the rest for wild animals.

₁₂Work the first six days of the week, but rest and relax on the seventh day. This law is not only for you, but for your oxen, donkeys, and slaves, as well as for any foreigners among you.

₁₃Make certain that you obey everything I have said. Don't pray to other gods or even mention their names.

₁₄Celebrate three festivals each year in my honour.

₁₅Celebrate the Festival of Thin Bread by eating bread made without yeast, just as I have commanded. Do this at the proper time during the month of Abib, because it is the month when you left Egypt. And make certain that everyone brings the proper offerings.

₁₆Celebrate the Harvest Festival each spring when you start harvesting your wheat, and celebrate the Festival of Shelters each autumn when you pick your fruit.

₁₇Your men must come to these three festivals each year to worship me.

₁₈Do not offer bread made with yeast when you sacrifice an animal to me. And make sure that the fat of the animal is burnt that same day.

₁₉Each year bring the best part of your first harvest to the place of worship.

Don't boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

₂₀I am sending an angel to protect you and to lead you into the land I have ready for you. ₂₁Carefully obey everything the angel says, because I am giving him complete authority, and he won't tolerate rebellion. ₂₂If you faithfully obey him, I will be a fierce enemy of your enemies. ₂₃My angel will lead you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. ₂₄Don't worship their gods or follow their customs. Instead, destroy their idols and shatter their stone images.

₂₅Worship only me, the LORD your God! I will bless you with plenty of food and water and keep you strong. ₂₆Your women will give birth to healthy children, and everyone will live a long life.

₂₇I will terrify those nations and make your enemies so confused that they will run from you. ₂₈I will make the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites panic as you approach. ₂₉But I won't do all this in the first year, because the land would become poor, and wild animals would be everywhere. ₃₀Instead, I will force out your enemies little by little and give your nation time to grow strong enough to take over the land.

₃₁I will see that your borders reach from the Red Sea to the River Euphrates and from the Mediterranean Sea to the desert. I will let you defeat the people who live there, and you will force them out of the land. ₃₂But you must not make any agreements with them or with their gods. ₃₃Don't let them stay in your land. They will trap you into sinning against me and worshipping their gods.

₁About this time the disciples came to Jesus and asked him who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ₂Jesus called a child over and made the child stand near him. ₃Then he said: