Study Desk

If a Levite moves from one of your towns anywhere in Israel where he lives and comes to the place the Lord will choose, because he wants to serve the Lord there,

The Lord hates anyone who does these things. Because the other nations do these things, the Lord your God will force them out of the land ahead of you.

Otherwise, the dead person's relative who has the duty of punishing a murderer might be angry and chase him. If the city is far away, the relative might catch and kill the person, even though he should not be killed because there was no intent to kill his neighbor.

because the Lord your God goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies and to save you."

The officers should say to the army, "Has anyone built a new house but not given it to God? He may go home, because he might die in battle and someone else would get to give his house to God.

Has anyone planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy it? He may go home, because he might die in battle and someone else would enjoy his vineyard.

Is any man engaged to a woman and not yet married to her? He may go home, because he might die in battle and someone else would marry her."

The priests, the sons of Levi, should come forward, because they have been chosen by the Lord your God to serve him and to give blessings in the Lord 's name. They are the ones who decide cases of quarreling and attacks.

Then you will have removed from yourselves the guilt of murdering an innocent person, because you will be doing what the Lord says is right.

But if you are not pleased with her, you must let her go anywhere she wants. You must not sell her for money or make her a slave, because you have taken away her honor.

Then all the men in his town must throw stones at him until he dies. Get rid of the evil among you, because then all the people of Israel will hear about this and be afraid.

But don't leave his body hanging on the tree overnight; be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone whose body is displayed on a tree is cursed by God. You must not ruin the land the Lord your God is giving you as your own.

They must make him pay about two and one-half pounds of silver to the girl's father, because the man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. The girl will continue to be the man's wife, and he may not divorce her as long as he lives.

you must take both of them to the city gate and put them to death by throwing stones at them. Kill the girl, because she was in a city and did not scream for help. And kill the man for having sexual relations with another man's wife. You must get rid of the evil among you.

Don't do anything to the girl, because she has not done a sin worthy of death. This is like the person who attacks and murders a neighbor;

the man must pay the girl's father about one and one-fourth pounds of silver. He must also marry the girl, because he has dishonored her, and he may never divorce her for as long as he lives.

This is because the Ammonites and Moabites did not give you bread and water when you came out of Egypt. And they hired Balaam son of Beor, from Pethor in Northwest Mesopotamia, to put a curse on you.

But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam. He turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you.

Don't hate Edomites; they are your close relatives. Don't hate Egyptians, because you were foreigners in their country.

Do not bring a male or female prostitute's pay to the Temple of the Lord your God to pay what you have promised to the Lord , because the Lord your God hates prostitution.