Urban Word Bible

Deuteronomy 22

Read Deuteronomy 22 in clear, relatable modern language.

Look Out for Your People’s Property

1 If you see your brother’s ox or sheep wandering around loose, do not ignore it. Help him out, bring it back to him.

2 If you do not know who it belongs to, take it to your place and hold it down till he come looking. Then give it back.

3 Do the same if it is his donkey, his jacket, or anything he lost. Do not act like it is not your problem.

4 If you see your brother’s donkey or ox broke down in the road, Do not keep it moving, help him get that thing up.

5 A woman is not supposed to dress like a man, And a man is not supposed to wear women’s clothes. That is detestable to the Lord.

6 If you see a bird’s nest on the ground or in a tree, And the mama bird sitting on eggs or babies, Do not take both the mama and the babies.

7 Let the mama bird go. You can take the babies, but show mercy. If you do this, you will live long and be blessed.

8 When you build a new house, put a rail or fence around the roof So nobody falls off and dies, and you do not catch a case for bloodshed.

9 Do not plant two kinds of seeds in your vineyard. If you do, you lose it all, the grapes and the other crop.

10 Do not hook up an ox and a donkey together to plow your field. They are not built the same. It is not fair.

11 Do not wear clothes made of mixed fabrics, wool and linen together. God wants you to be about purity, not mix-ups.

12 Sew tassels on the four corners of your cloak. It is a reminder to walk in God’s ways.

13 If a man marries a woman, then starts claiming he does not like her…

14 And he says, “She was not a virgin when I married her,” trying to shame her name,

15 Then the girl’s father and mother must bring proof of her virginity to the town elders.

16 Her father says, “I gave my daughter to this man, but now he talking crazy,

17 Accusing her of not being pure. But look, here is the proof.” They show the bloodstained sheet to the elders.

18 Then the town leaders whip the man as punishment.

19 He must pay her father 100 pieces of silver for slandering a good woman. And he cannot divorce her ever, he is stuck.

20 But if the charge is true and there is no proof she was a virgin…

21 Then they take her to her daddy’s house, And the men of the city stone her for bringing shame to her fam and Israel. Get rid of the evil.

22 If a man sleeps with another man’s wife, Both of them must die. Wipe that evil out.

23 If a man finds a girl who has engaged and sleeps with her in the city,

24 Both of them die. The girl did not scream for help, and the man violated somebody else’s fiancée. Kill them both.

25 But if he finds her in the field, forces her, and she does not have any way to get help.

26 Only the man dies. The woman did nothing wrong.

27 This is like someone jumping another person and killing them, She screamed, but no one heard her.

28 If a man sleeps with a virgin who is not engaged and they get caught…

29 He must pay her dad 50 pieces of silver and marry her, And he cannot ever divorce her.

30 A man cannot sleep with his father’s wife, That is just straight up wild and disrespectful. Do not uncover your dad’s bed like that.