Through the Bible – Day 67

₁If you see a cow or sheep wandering around lost, take the animal back to its owner. ₂If the owner lives too far away, or if you don't know who the owner is, take the animal home with you and take care of it. The owner will come looking for the animal, and then you can give it back. ₃That's what you should do if you find anything that belongs to someone else. Do whatever you can to help, whether you find a cow or sheep or donkey or some clothing.

₄Oxen and donkeys that carry heavy loads can stumble and fall, and be unable to get up by themselves. So as you walk along the road, help anyone who is trying to get an ox or donkey back on its feet.

₅Women must not pretend to be men, and men must not pretend to be women. The LORD your God is disgusted with people who do that.

_6-7As you walk along the road, you might see a bird's nest in a tree or on the ground. If the mother bird is in the nest with either her eggs or her baby birds, you are allowed to take the baby birds or the eggs, but not the mother bird. Let her go free, and the LORD will bless you with a long and successful life.

₈If you build a house, make sure to put a low wall around the edge of the flat roof. Then if someone falls off the roof and is killed, it won't be your fault.

₉If you plant a vineyard, don't plant any other fruit tree or crop in it. If you do plant something else there, you must bring to the place of worship everything you harvest from the vineyard.

₁₀Don't hitch an ox and a donkey to your plough at the same time.

₁₁When you weave cloth for clothing, you can use thread made of flax or wool, but not both together. ₁₂And when you make a coat, sew a tassel on each of the four corners.

₁₃Suppose a man starts hating his wife soon after they are married. ₁₄He might tell ugly lies about her, and say, “I married this woman, but when we slept together, I found out she wasn't a virgin.”

₁₅If this happens, the bride's father and mother must go to the town gate to show the town leaders the proof that the woman was a virgin. ₁₆Her father will say, “I let my daughter marry this man, but he started hating her ₁₇and accusing her of not being a virgin. But he is wrong, because here is proof that she was a virgin!” Then the bride's parents will show them the bed sheet from the woman's wedding night.

₁₈The town leaders will beat the man with a whip ₁₉because he accused his bride of not being a virgin. He will have to pay her father one hundred pieces of silver and will never be allowed to divorce her.

₂₀But if the man was right and there is no proof that his bride was a virgin, ₂₁the men of the town will take the woman to the door of her father's house and stone her to death.

This woman brought evil into your community by sleeping with someone before she got married, and you must get rid of that evil by killing her.

₂₂People of Israel, if a man is caught having sex with someone else's wife, you must put them both to death. That way, you will get rid of the evil they have done in Israel.

_23-24If a man is caught in town having sex with an engaged woman who isn't screaming for help, they both must be put to death. The man is guilty of having sex with a married woman. And the woman is guilty because she didn't call for help, even though she was inside a town and people were nearby. Take them both to the town gate and stone them to death. You must get rid of the evil they brought into your community.

₂₅If an engaged woman is raped out in the country, only the man will be put to death. ₂₆Do not punish the woman at all; she has done nothing wrong, and certainly nothing deserving death. This crime is like murder, ₂₇because the woman was alone out in the country when the man attacked her. She screamed, but there was no one to help her.

₂₈Suppose a woman isn't engaged to be married, and a man talks her into sleeping with him. If they are caught, ₂₉they will be forced to get married. He must give her father fifty pieces of silver as a bride price and can never divorce her.

₃₀A man must not marry a woman who was married to his father. This would be a disgrace to his father.

₁If a man's private parts have been crushed or cut off, he cannot fully belong to the LORD's people.

₂No one born outside a legal marriage, or any of their descendants for ten generations, can fully belong to the LORD's people.

₃No Ammonites or Moabites, or any of their descendants for ten generations, can become part of Israel, the LORD's people. ₄This is because when you came out of Egypt, they refused to provide you with food and water. And besides, they hired Balaam to put a curse on you. ₅But the LORD your God loves you, so he refused to listen to Balaam and turned Balaam's curse into a blessing. ₆Don't even think of signing a peace treaty with Moab or Ammon.

₇But Edomites are your relatives, and you lived as foreigners in the country of Egypt. Now you must be kind to Edomites and Egyptians ₈and let their great-grandchildren become part of Israel, the LORD's people.

₉When you men go off to fight your enemies, make sure your camp is acceptable to the LORD.

₁₀For example, if something happens at night that makes a man unclean and unfit for worship, he must go outside the camp and stay there ₁₁until late afternoon. Then he must take a bath, and at sunset he can go back into camp.

₁₂Set up a place outside the camp to be used as a toilet area. ₁₃And make sure that you have a small shovel in your equipment. When you go out to the toilet area, use the shovel to dig a hole. Then, after you relieve yourself, bury the waste in the hole. ₁₄You must keep your camp clean of filthy and disgusting things. The LORD is always present in your camp, ready to rescue you and give you victory over your enemies. But if he sees something disgusting in your camp, he may turn around and leave.

₁₅When runaway slaves from other countries come to Israel and ask for protection, you must not hand them back to their owners. ₁₆Instead, you must let them choose which one of your towns they want to live in. Don't be cruel to runaway slaves.

₁₇People of Israel, don't any of you ever be temple prostitutes. ₁₈The LORD your God is disgusted with men and women who are prostitutes of any kind, and he will not accept a gift from them, even if it had been promised to him.

₁₉When you lend money, food, or anything else to another Israelite, you are not allowed to charge interest. ₂₀You can charge a foreigner interest. But if you charge other Israelites interest, the LORD your God will not let you be successful in the land you are about to take.

₂₁People of Israel, if you make a sacred promise to give a gift to the LORD, then do it as soon as you can. If the LORD has to come looking for the gift you promised, you will be guilty of breaking that promise. ₂₂On the other hand, if you never make a sacred promise, you can't be guilty of breaking it. ₂₃You must keep whatever promises you make to the LORD. After all, you are the one who chose to make the promises.

₂₄If you go into a vineyard that belongs to someone else, you are allowed to eat as many grapes as you want while you are there. But don't take any with you when you leave. ₂₅In the same way, if you are in a grain field that belongs to someone else, you can pick heads of grain and eat the kernels. But don't cut down the stalks of grain and take them with you.

₁After Jesus left, he went to Judea and then on to the other side of the River Jordan. Once again large crowds came to him, and as usual, he taught them.

₂Some Pharisees wanted to test Jesus. So they came up to him and asked if it was right for a man to divorce his wife. ₃Jesus asked them, “What does the Law of Moses say about that?”

₄They answered, “Moses allows a man to write out divorce papers and send his wife away.”

₅Jesus replied, “Moses gave you this law because you are so heartless. ₆But in the beginning God made a man and a woman. ₇That's why a man leaves his father and mother and gets married. ₈He becomes like one person with his wife. Then they are no longer two people, but one. ₉And no one should separate a couple that God has joined together.”

₁₀When Jesus and his disciples were back in the house, they asked him about what he had said. ₁₁He told them, “A man who divorces his wife and marries someone else is unfaithful to his wife. ₁₂A woman who divorces her husband and marries again is also unfaithful.”

₁₃Some people brought their children to Jesus so that he could bless them by placing his hands on them. But his disciples told the people to stop bothering him.

₁₄When Jesus saw this, he became angry and said, “Let the children come to me! Don't try to stop them. People who are like these little children belong to the kingdom of God. ₁₅I promise you that you cannot get into God's kingdom, unless you accept it the way a child does.” ₁₆Then Jesus took the children in his arms and blessed them by placing his hands on them.

₁₇As Jesus was walking down a road, a man ran up to him. He knelt down, and asked, “Good teacher, what can I do to have eternal life?”

₁₈Jesus replied, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good. ₁₉You know the commandments. ‘Do not murder. Be faithful in marriage. Do not steal. Do not tell lies about others. Do not cheat. Respect your father and mother.’ ”

₂₀The man answered, “Teacher, I have obeyed all these commandments since I was a young man.”

₂₁Jesus looked closely at the man. He liked him and said, “There's one thing you still need to do. Go and sell everything you own. Give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come with me.”

₂₂When the man heard Jesus say this, he went away gloomy and sad because he was very rich.

₂₃Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “It's hard for rich people to get into God's kingdom!” ₂₄The disciples were shocked to hear this. So Jesus told them again, “It's terribly hard to get into God's kingdom! ₂₅In fact, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into God's kingdom.”

₂₆Jesus' disciples were even more amazed. They asked each other, “How can anyone ever be saved?”

₂₇Jesus looked at them and said, “There are some things that people cannot do, but God can do anything.”

₂₈Peter replied, “Remember, we left everything to be your followers!”

₂₉Jesus told him: