Bible verses about "self-defense" | Brenton

¹ And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and brought forth Cain and said, I have gained a man through God. ² And she again bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. ³ And it was so after some time that Cain brought of the fruits of the earth a sacrifice to the Lord. ⁴ And Abel also brought of the first born of his sheep and of his fatlings, and God looked upon Abel and his gifts, ⁵ but Cain and his sacrifices he regarded not, and Cain was exceedingly sorrowful and his countenance fell. ⁶ And the Lord God said to Cain, Why art thou become very sorrowful and why is thy countenance fallen? ⁷ Hast thou not sinned if thou hast brought it rightly, but not rightly divided it? be still, to thee shall be his submission, and thou shalt rule over him. ⁸ And Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us go out into the plain; and it came to pass that when they were in the plain Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. ⁹ And the Lord God said to Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? and he said, I know not, am I my brother's keeper? ¹⁰ And the Lord said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood cries to me out of the ground. ¹¹ And now thou art cursed from the earth which has opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. ¹² When thou tillest the earth, then it shall not continue to give its strength to thee: thou shalt be groaning and trembling on the earth. ¹³ And Cain said to the Lord God, My crime is too great for me to be forgiven. ¹⁴ If thou castest me out this day from the face of the earth, and I shall be hidden from thy presence, and I shall be groaning and trembling upon the earth, then it will be that any one that finds me shall slay me. ¹⁵ And the Lord God said to him, Not so, any one that slays Cain shall suffer seven-fold vengeance; and the Lord God set a mark upon Cain that no one that found him might slay him. ¹⁶ So Cain went forth from the presence of God and dwelt in the land of Nod over against Edem. ¹⁷ And Cain knew his wife, and having conceived she bore Enoch; and he built a city; and he named the city after the name of his son, Enoch. ¹⁸ And to Enoch was born Gaidad; and Gaidad begot Maleleel; and Maleleel begot Mathusala; and Mathusala begot Lamech. ¹⁹ And Lamech took to himself two wives; the name of the one was Ada, and the name of the second Sella. ²⁰ And Ada bore Jobel; he was the father of those that dwell in tents, feeding cattle. ²¹ And the name of his brother was Jubal; he it was who invented the psaltery and harp. ²² And Sella also bore Thobel; he was a smith, a manufacturer both of brass and iron; and the sister of Thobel was Noema. ²³ And Lamech said to his wives, Ada and Sella, Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, consider my words, because I have slain a man to my sorrow and a youth to my grief. ²⁴ Because vengeance has been exacted seven times on Cain's behalf, on Lamech's it shall be seventy times seven. ²⁵ And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore a son, and called his name Seth, saying, For God has raised up to me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. ²⁶ And Seth had a son, and he called his name Enos: he hoped to call on the name of the Lord God.

¹ And the Lord spoke all these words, saying: ² I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ³ Thou shalt have no other gods beside me. ⁴ Thou shalt not make to thyself an idol, nor likeness of anything, whatever things are in the heaven above, and whatever are in the earth beneath, and whatever are in the waters under the earth. ⁵ Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor serve them; for I am the Lord thy God, a jealous God, recompensing the sins of the fathers upon the children, to the third and fourth generation to them that hate me, ⁶ and bestowing mercy on them that love me to thousands of them, and on them that keep my commandments. ⁷ Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord thy God will not acquit him that takes his name in vain. ⁸ Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. ⁹ Six days thou shalt labour, and shalt perform all thy work. ¹⁰ But on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God; on it thou shalt do no work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy servant nor thy maidservant, thine ox nor thine ass, nor any cattle of thine, nor the stranger that sojourns with thee. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth, and the sea and all things in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it. ¹² Honour thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long on the good land, which the Lord thy God gives to thee. ^{13 (20:15)} Thou shalt not kill. ^{14 (20:13)} Thou shalt not commit adultery. ^{15 (20:14)} Thou shalt not steal. ¹⁶ Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. ¹⁷ Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house; nor his field, nor his servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any of his cattle, nor whatever belongs to thy neighbour. ¹⁸ And all the people perceived the thundering, and the flashes, and the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and all the people feared and stood afar off, ¹⁹ and said to Moses, Speak thou to us, and let not God speak to us, lest we die. ²⁰ And Moses says to them, Be of good courage, for God is come to you to try you, that his fear may be among you, that ye sin not. ²¹ And the people stood afar off, and Moses went into the darkness where God was. ²² And the Lord said to Moses, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and thou shalt report it to the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. ²³ Ye shall not make to yourselves gods of silver, and gods of gold ye shall not make to yourselves. ²⁴ Ye shall make to me an altar of earth; and upon it ye shall sacrifice your whole burnt-offerings, and your peace-offerings, and your sheep and your calves in every place, where I shall record my name; and I will come to thee and bless thee. ²⁵ And if thou wilt make to me an altar of stones, thou shalt not build them hewn stones; for thou hast lifted up thy tool upon them, and they are defiled. ²⁶ Thou shalt not go up to my altar by steps, that thou mayest not uncover thy nakedness upon it.

¹ I am the Lord your God: ye shall not make to yourselves gods made with hands, or graven; neither shall ye rear up a pillar for yourselves, neither shall ye set up a stone for an object in your land to worship it: I am the Lord your God. ² Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuaries: I am the Lord. ³ If ye will walk in my ordinances, and keep my commandments, and do them, ⁴ then will I give you the rain in its season, and the land shall produce its fruits, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. ⁵ And your threshing time shall overtake the vintage, and your vintage shall overtake your seed time; and ye shall eat your bread to the full; and ye shall dwell safely upon your land, and war shall not go through your land. ⁶ And I will give peace in your land, and ye shall sleep, and none shall make you afraid; and I will destroy the evil beasts out of your land, ⁷ and ye shall pursue your enemies, and they shall fall before you with slaughter. ⁸ And five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase tens of thousands; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. ⁹ And I will look upon you, and increase you, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you. ¹⁰ And ye shall eat that which is old and very old, and bring forth the old to make way for the new. ¹¹ And I will set my tabernacle among you, and my soul shall not abhor you; ¹² and I will walk among you, and be your God, and ye shall be my people. ¹³ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where ye were slaves; and I broke the band of your yoke, and brought you forth openly. ¹⁴ But if ye will not hearken to me, nor obey these my ordinances, ¹⁵ but disobey them, and your soul should loathe my judgments, so that ye should not keep all my commands, so as to break my covenant, ¹⁶ then will I do thus to you: I will even bring upon you perplexity and the itch, and the fever that causes your eyes to waste away, and disease that consumes your life; and ye shall sow your seeds in vain, and your enemies shall eat them. ¹⁷ And I will set my face against you, and ye shall fall before your enemies, and they that hate you shall pursue you; and ye shall flee, no one pursuing you. ¹⁸ And if ye still refuse to hearken to me, then will I chasten you yet more even seven times for your sins. ¹⁹ And I will break down the haughtiness of your pride; and I will make your heaven iron, and your earth as it were brass. ²⁰ And your strength shall be in vain; and your land shall not yield its seed, and the tree of your field shall not yield its fruit. ²¹ And if after this ye should walk perversely, and not be willing to obey me, I will further bring upon you seven plagues according to your sins. ²² And I will send upon you the wild beasts of the land, and they shall devour you, and shall consume your cattle: and I will make you few in number, and your ways shall be desolate. ²³ And if hereupon ye are not corrected, but walk perversely towards me, ²⁴ I also will walk with you with a perverse spirit, and I also will smite you seven times for your sins. ²⁵ And I will bring upon you a sword avenging the cause of my covenant, and ye shall flee for refuge to your cities; and I will send out death against you, and ye shall be delivered into the hands of your enemies. ²⁶ When I afflict you with famine of bread, then ten women shall bake your loaves in one oven, and they shall render your loaves by weight; and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied. ²⁷ And if hereupon ye will not obey me, but walk perversely towards me, ²⁸ then will I walk with you with a froward mind, and I will chasten you seven-fold according to your sins. ²⁹ And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. ³⁰ And I will render your pillars desolate, and will utterly destroy your wooden images made with hands; and I will lay your carcases on the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall loathe you. ³¹ And I will lay your cities waste, and I will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell the savour of your sacrifices. ³² And I will lay your land desolate, and your enemies who dwell in it shall wonder at it. ³³ And I will scatter you among the nations, and the sword shall come upon you and consume you; and your land shall be desolate, and your cities shall be desolate. ³⁴ Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths all the days of its desolation. ³⁵ And ye shall be in the land of your enemies; then the land shall keep its sabbaths, and the land shall enjoy its sabbaths all the days of its desolation: it shall keep sabbaths which it kept not among your sabbaths, when ye dwelt in it. ³⁶ And to those who are left of you I will bring bondage into their heart in the land of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them, and they shall flee as fleeing from war, and shall fall when none pursues them. ³⁷ And brother shall disregard brother as in war, when none pursues; and ye shall not be able to withstand your enemies. ³⁸ And ye shall perish among the Gentiles, and the land of your enemies shall devour you. ³⁹ And those who are left of you shall perish, because of their sins, and because of the sins of their fathers: in the land of their enemies shall they consume away. ⁴⁰ And they shall confess their sins, and the sins of their fathers, that they have transgressed and neglected me, and that they have walked perversely before me, ⁴¹ and I walked with them with a perverse mind; and I will destroy them in the land of their enemies: then shall their uncircumcised heart be ashamed, and then shall they acquiesce in the punishment of their sins. ⁴² And I will remember the covenant of Jacob, and the covenant of Isaac, and the covenant of Abraam will I remember. ⁴³ And I will remember the land, and the land shall be left of them; then the land shall enjoy her sabbaths, when it is deserted through them: and they shall accept the punishment of their iniquities, because they neglected my judgments, and in their soul loathed my ordinances. ⁴⁴ And yet not even thus, while they were in the land of their enemies, did I overlook them, nor did I loathe them so as to consume them, to break my covenant made with them; for I am the Lord their God. ⁴⁵ And I will remember their former covenant, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage before the nation, to be their God; I am the Lord. ⁴⁶ These are my judgments and my ordinances, and the law which the Lord gave between himself and the children of Israel, in the mount Sina, by the hand of Moses.

⁸ They chose new gods; then the cities of rulers fought; there was not a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel.

¹ And it shall come to pass, if thou wilt indeed hear the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and do all these commands, which I charge thee this day, that the Lord thy God shall set thee on high above all the nations of the earth; ² and all these blessings shall come upon thee, and shall find thee. If thou wilt indeed hear the voice of the Lord thy God, ³ blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. ⁴ Blessed shall be the offspring of thy body, and the fruits of thy land, and the herds of thy oxen, and the flocks of thy sheep. ⁵ Blessed shall be thy barns, and thy stores. ⁶ Blessed shalt thou be in thy coming in, and blessed shalt thou be in thy going out. ⁷ The Lord deliver thine enemies that withstand thee utterly broken before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and they shall flee seven ways from before thee. ⁸ The Lord send upon thee his blessing in thy barns, and on all on which thou shalt put thine hand, in the land which the Lord thy God gives thee. ⁹ The Lord raise thee up for himself a holy people, as he sware to thy fathers; if thou wilt hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and walk in all his ways. ¹⁰ And all the nations of the earth shall see thee, that the name of the Lord is called upon thee, and they shall stand in awe of thee. ¹¹ And the Lord thy God shall multiply thee for good in the offspring of thy body, and in the offspring of thy cattle, and in the fruits of thy land, on thy land which the Lord sware to thy fathers to give to thee. ¹² May the Lord open to thee his good treasure, the heaven, to give rain to thy land in season: may he bless all the works of thy hands: so shalt thou lend to many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over thee. ¹³ The Lord thy God make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt then be above and thou shalt not be below, if thou wilt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, in all things that I charge thee this day to observe. ¹⁴ Thou shalt not turn aside from any of the commandments, which I charge thee this day, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. ¹⁵ But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe all his commandments, as many as I charge thee this day, then all these curses shall come on thee, and overtake thee. ¹⁶ Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. ¹⁷ Cursed shall be thy barns and thy stores. ¹⁸ Cursed shall be the offspring of thy body, and the fruits of thy land, the herds of thine oxen, and the flocks of thy sheep. ¹⁹ Cursed shalt thou be in thy coming in, and cursed shalt thou be in thy going out. ²⁰ The Lord send upon thee want, and famine, and consumption of all things on which thou shalt put thy hand, until he shall have utterly destroyed thee, and until he shall have consumed thee quickly because of thine evil devices, because thou hast forsaken me. ²¹ The Lord cause the pestilence to cleave to thee, until he shall have consumed thee off the land into which thou goest to inherit it. ²² The Lord smite thee with distress, and fever, and cold, and inflammation, and blighting, and paleness, and they shall pursue thee until they have destroyed thee. ²³ And thou shalt have over thine head a sky of brass, and the earth under thee shall be iron. ²⁴ The Lord thy God make the rain of thy land dust; and dust shall come down from heaven, until it shall have destroyed thee, and until it shall have quickly consumed thee. ²⁵ The Lord give thee up for slaughter before thine enemies: thou shalt go out against them one way, and flee from their face seven ways; and thou shalt be a dispersion in all the kingdoms of the earth. ²⁶ And your dead men shall be food to the birds of the sky, and to the beasts of the earth; and there shall be none to scare them away. ²⁷ The Lord smite thee with the botch of Egypt in the seat, and with a malignant scab, and itch, so that thou canst not be healed. ²⁸ The Lord smite thee with insanity, and blindness, and astonishment of mind. ²⁹ And thou shalt grope at mid-day, as a blind man would grope in the darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways; and then thou shalt be unjustly treated, and plundered continually, and there shall be no helper. ³⁰ thou shalt take a wife, and another man shall have her; thou shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dwell in it; thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes of it. ³¹ Thy calf shall be slain before thee, and thou shalt not eat of it; thine ass shall be violently taken away from thee, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given to thine enemies, and thou shalt have no helper. ³² Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given to another nation, and thine eyes wasting away shall look for them: thine hand shall have no strength. ³³ A nation which thou knowest not shall eat the produce of thy land, and all thy labours; and thou shalt be injured and crushed always. ³⁴ And thou shalt be distracted, because of the sights of thine eyes which thou shalt see. ³⁵ The Lord smite thee with an evil sore, on the knees and the legs, so that thou shalt not be able to be healed from the sole of thy foot to the crown of thy head. ³⁶ The Lord carry away thee and thy princes, whom thou shalt set over thee, to a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers know; and thou shalt there serve other gods, wood and stone. ³⁷ An thou shalt be there for a wonder, and a parable, and a tale, among all the nations, to which the Lord thy God shall carry thee away. ³⁸ Thou shalt carry forth much seed into the field, and thou shalt bring in little, because the locust shall devour it. ³⁹ Thou shalt plant a vineyard, and dress it, and shalt not drink the wine, neither shalt thou delight thyself with it, because the worm shall devour it. ⁴⁰ Thou shalt have olive trees in all thy borders, and thou shalt not anoint thee with oil, because thine olive shall utterly cast its fruit. ⁴¹ Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, and they shall not be thine, for they shall depart into captivity. ⁴² All thy trees and the fruits of thy land shall the blight consume. ⁴³ The stranger that is within thee shall get up very high, and thou shalt come down very low. ⁴⁴ He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail. ⁴⁵ And all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and shall overtake thee, until he shall have consumed thee, and until he shall have destroyed thee; because thou didst not hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commands, and his ordinances which he has commanded thee. ⁴⁶ And these things shall be signs in thee, and wonders among thy seed for ever; ⁴⁷ because thou didst not serve the Lord thy God with gladness and a good heart, because of the abundance of all things. ⁴⁸ And thou shalt serve thine enemies, which the Lord will send forth against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in the want of all things; and thou shalt wear upon thy neck a yoke of iron until he shall have destroyed thee. ⁴⁹ The Lord shall bring upon thee a nation from the extremity of the earth, like the swift flying of an eagle, a nation whose voice thou shalt not understand; ⁵⁰ a nation bold in countenance, which shall not respect the person of the aged and shall not pity the young. ⁵¹ And it shall eat up the young of thy cattle, and the fruits of thy land, so as not to leave to thee corn, wine, oil, the herds of thine oxen, and the flocks of thy sheep, until it shall have destroyed thee; ⁵² and have utterly crushed thee in thy cities, until the high and strong walls be destroyed, in which thou trustest, in all thy land; and it shall afflict thee in thy cities, which he has given to thee. ⁵³ And thou shalt eat the fruit of thy body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, all that he has given thee, in thy straitness and thy affliction, with which thine enemy shall afflict thee. ⁵⁴ He that is tender and very delicate within thee shall look with an evil eye upon his brother, and the wife in his bosom, and the children that are left, which may have been left to him; ⁵⁵ so as not to give to one of them of the flesh of his children, whom he shall eat, because of his having nothing left him in thy straitness, and in thy affliction, with which thine enemies shall afflict thee in all thy cities. ⁵⁶ And she that is tender and delicate among you, whose foot has not assayed to go upon the earth for delicacy and tenderness, shall look with an evil eye on her husband in her bosom, and her son and her daughter, ⁵⁷ and her offspring that comes out between her feet, and the child which she shall bear; for she shall eat them because of the want of all things, secretly in thy straitness, and in thy affliction, with which thine enemy shall afflict thee in thy cities. ⁵⁸ If thou wilt not hearken to do all the words of this law, which have been written in this book, to fear this glorious and wonderful name, the Lord thy God; ⁵⁹ then the Lord shall magnify thy plagues, and the plagues of thy seed, great and wonderful plagues, and evil and abiding diseases. ⁶⁰ And he shall bring upon thee all the evil pain of Egypt, of which thou wast afraid, and they shall cleave to thee. ⁶¹ And the Lord shall bring upon thee every sickness, and every plague that is not written, and every one that is written in the book of this law, until he shall have destroyed thee. ⁶² And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of the sky in multitude; because thou didst not hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God. ⁶³ And it shall come to pass that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you; and ye shall be quickly removed from the land, into which ye go to inherit it. ⁶⁴ And the Lord thy God shall scatter thee among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other; and thou shalt there serve other gods, wood and stone, which thou hast not known, nor thy fathers. ⁶⁵ Moreover among those nations he will not give thee quiet, neither by any means shall the sole of thy foot have rest; and the Lord shall give thee there another and a misgiving heart, and failing eyes, and a wasting soul. ⁶⁶ And thy life shall be in suspense before thine eyes; and thou shalt be afraid by day and by night, and thou shalt have no assurance of thy life. ⁶⁷ In the morning thou shalt say, Would it were evening! and in the evening thou shalt say, Would it were morning! for the fear of thine heart with which thou shalt fear, and for the sights of thine eyes which thou shalt see. ⁶⁸ And the Lord shall bring thee back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said, Thou shalt not see it again; and ye shall be sold there to your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and none shall buy you.

⁴⁷ because thou didst not serve the Lord thy God with gladness and a good heart, because of the abundance of all things. ⁴⁸ And thou shalt serve thine enemies, which the Lord will send forth against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in the want of all things; and thou shalt wear upon thy neck a yoke of iron until he shall have destroyed thee.

¹ And Josaphat his son reigned in his stead, Josaphat strengthened himself against Israel. ² And he put garrisons in all the strong cities of Juda, and appointed captains in all the cities of Juda, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken. ³ And the Lord was with Josaphat, for he walked in the first ways of his father, and did not seek to idols; ⁴ but he sought to the Lord God of his father, and walked in the commandments of his father, and not according to the works of Israel. ⁵ And the Lord prospered the kingdom in his hand; and all Juda gave gifts to Josaphat; and he had great wealth and glory. ⁶ And his heart was exalted in the way of the Lord; and he removed the high places and the groves from the land of Juda. ⁷ And in the third year of his reign, he sent his chief men, and his mighty men, Abdias and Zacharias, and Nathanael, and Michaias, to teach in the cities of Juda. ⁸ And with them were the Levites, Samaias, and Nathanias, and Zabdias, and Asiel, and Semiramoth, and Jonathan, and Adonias, and Tobias, and Tobadonias, Levites, and with them Elisama and Joram, the priests. ⁹ And they taught in Juda, and there was with them the book of the law of the Lord, and they passed through the cities of Juda, and taught the people. ¹⁰ And a terror of the Lord was upon all the kingdoms of the land round about Juda, and they made no war against Josaphat. ¹¹ And some of the Philistines brought to Josaphat gifts, and silver, and presents; and the Arabians brought him seven thousand seven hundred rams. ¹² And Josaphat increased in greatness exceedingly, and built in Judea places of abode, and strong cities. ¹³ And he had many works in Judea: and the mighty men of war, the men of strength, were in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And this is their number according to the houses of their fathers; even the captains of thousands in Juda were, Ednas the chief, and with him mighty men of strength three hundred thousand. ¹⁵ And after him, Joanan the captain, and with him two hundred eighty thousand. ¹⁶ And after him Amasias the son of Zari, who was zealous for the Lord; and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of strength. ¹⁷ And out of Benjamin there was a mighty man of strength, even Eliada, and with him two hundred thousand archers and targeteers. ¹⁸ And after him Jozabad, and with him a hundred and eighty thousand mighty men of war. ¹⁹ These were the king's servants besides those whom the king put in the strong cities in all Judea.

^{1 (45:1)} For the end, for the sons of Core; a Psalm concerning secret things. God is our refuge and strength, a help in the afflictions that have come heavily upon us.

²⁶ As if one should stop a well, and corrupt a spring of water, so is it unseemly for a righteous man to fall before an ungodly man.

¹ And if one steal an ox or a sheep, and kill it or sell it, he shall pay five calves for a calf, and four sheep for a sheep. ² And if the thief be found in the breach made by himself and be smitten and die, there shall not be blood shed for him. ³ But if the sun be risen upon him, he is guilty, he shall die instead; and if a thief have nothing, let him be sold in compensation for what he has stolen. ⁴ And if the thing stolen be left and be in his hand alive, whether ox or sheep, he shall restore them two-fold. ⁵ And if any one should feed down a field or a vineyard, and should send in his beast to feed down another field, he shall make compensation of his own field according to his produce; and if he shall have fed down the whole field, he shall pay for compensation the best of his own field and the best of his vineyard. ⁶ And if fire have gone forth and caught thorns, and should also set on fire threshing-floors or ears of corn or a field, he that kindled the fire shall make compensation. ⁷ And if any one give to his neighbour money r goods to keep, and they be stolen out of the man's house, if the thief be found he shall repay double. ⁸ But if the thief be not found, the master of the house shall come forward before God, and shall swear that surely he has not wrought wickedly in regard of any part of his neighbour's deposit, ⁹ according to every injury alleged, both concerning a calf, and an ass, and a sheep, and a garment, and every alleged loss, whatsoever in fact it may be, — the judgment of both shall proceed before God, and he that is convicted by God shall repay to his neighbour double. ¹⁰ And if any one give to his neighbour to keep a calf or sheep or any beast, and it be wounded or die or be taken, and no one know, ¹¹ an oath of God shall be between both, each swearing that he has surely not at all been guilty in the matter of his neighbour's deposit; and so his master shall hold him guiltless, and he shall not make compensation. ¹² And if it be stolen from him, he shall make compensation to the owner. ¹³ And if it be seized of beasts, he shall bring him to witness the prey, and he shall not make compensation. ¹⁴ And if any one borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be wounded or die or be carried away, and the owner of it be not with it, he shall make compensation. ¹⁵ But if the owner be with it, he shall not make compensation: but if it be a hired thing, there shall be a compensation to him instead of his hire. ¹⁶ And if any one deceive a virgin that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her for a wife to himself. ¹⁷ And if her father positively refuse, and will not consent to give her to him for a wife, he shall pay compensation to her father according to the amount of the dowry of virgins. ¹⁸ Ye shall not save the lives of sorcerers. ¹⁹ Every one that lies with a beast ye shall surely put to death. ²⁰ He that sacrifices to any gods but to the Lord alone, shall be destroyed by death. ²¹ And ye shall not hurt a stranger, nor afflict him; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. ²² Ye shall hurt no widow or orphan. ²³ And if ye should afflict them by ill-treatment, and they should cry aloud to me, I will surely hear their voice. ²⁴ And I will be very angry, and will slay you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows and your children orphans. ²⁵ And if thou shouldest lend money to thy poor brother who is by thee, thou shalt not be hard upon him thou shalt not exact usury of him. ²⁶ And if thou take thy neighbour's garment for a pledge, thou shalt restore it to him before sunset. ²⁷ For this is his clothing, this is the only covering of his nakedness; wherein shall he sleep? If then he shall cry to me, I will hearken to him, for I am merciful. ²⁸ Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor speak ill of the ruler of thy people. ²⁹ Thou shalt not keep back the first-fruits of thy threshing floor and press. The first-born of thy sons thou shalt give to me. ³⁰ So shalt thou do with thy calf and thy sheep and thine ass; seven days shall it be under the mother, and the eighth day thou shalt give it to me. ³¹ And ye shall be holy men to me; and ye shall not eat flesh taken of beasts, ye shall cast it to the dog.

² And if the thief be found in the breach made by himself and be smitten and die, there shall not be blood shed for him. ³ But if the sun be risen upon him, he is guilty, he shall die instead; and if a thief have nothing, let him be sold in compensation for what he has stolen.