Study Desk

"Three times a year all your men must come to meet with the Lord your God at the special place he will choose. They must come for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Harvest, and the Festival of Shelters. Everyone who comes to meet with the Lord must bring a gift.

You must go to the priests who are Levites and to the judge on duty at that time. They will decide what to do about that problem.

All the people will hear about this punishment and be afraid. Then they will not be stubborn anymore.

"The tribe of Levi will not get any share of land in Israel. The priests come from that tribe and they will eat the special sacrifices that are offered as gifts to the Lord . That is the share for the people from the tribe of Levi.

"You will force the other nations out of your land. They listen to people who use magic and try to tell the future. But the Lord your God will not let you do these things.

He will do this if you completely obey his commands that I give you today—if you love the Lord your God and always live the way he wants. Then, when he gives you more land, you should choose three more cities for safety. They should be added to the first three cities.

If they accept your offer and open their gates, all the people in that city will become your slaves and be forced to work for you.

"A man might have a son who is stubborn and refuses to obey. This son does not obey his father or mother. They punish the son, but he still refuses to listen to them.

They must say to the leaders of the town: ‘Our son is stubborn and refuses to obey. He does not do anything we tell him to do. He eats and he drinks too much.'

"You must not plant seeds of grain in the same fields as your grapevines. Why? Because then they become useless—both the grapes and the grain produced by the seeds you planted.

This man accused my daughter of doing wrong and said, "I did not find the proof that your daughter is a virgin." But here is the proof that my daughter was a virgin.' Then they should show the cloth to the town leaders.

They must fine him 40 ounces of silver. They will give the money to the girl's father because her husband brought shame to an Israelite girl. And the girl will continue to be the man's wife. He cannot divorce her for the rest of his life.

"An Ammonite or Moabite may not join with the men of Israel when they gather to worship the Lord . And none of their descendants, to the tenth generation, may join in the worship of the Lord .

The Ammonites and Moabites refused to give you bread and water on your trip at the time you came from Egypt. They also tried to hire Balaam, the son of Beor from the Mesopotamian city of Pethor, to curse you.

"Parents must not be put to death for something their children did. And children must not be put to death for something their parents did. People should be put to death only for a bad thing that they themselves did.

When you gather the grapes from your vineyard, you must not go back to gather the grapes you left. They will be for the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows.

"When two people have an argument, they should go to the court. The judges will decide which person is right and which is wrong.

The Amalekites did not respect God. They attacked you when you were weak and tired. They killed all your people who were slow and walking behind everyone else.

The Egyptians treated us badly. They made us slaves. They hurt us and forced us to work very hard.

"Every third year is the Year of Tithes. In that year, you must give one-tenth of your harvest to the Levites, to the foreigners living in your country, and to the widows and orphans. Then they will have plenty to eat in every city.