Deuteronomy 20-25
Skip Heitzig
| Deuteronomy 20 (NKJV™) | |
| 1 | "When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. |
| 2 | "So it shall be, when you are on the verge of battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people. |
| 3 | "And he shall say to them, 'Hear, O Israel: Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them; |
| 4 | 'for the LORD your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.' |
| 5 | "Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying: 'What man is there who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it. |
| 6 | 'Also what man is there who has planted a vineyard and has not eaten of it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man eat of it. |
| 7 | 'And what man is there who is betrothed to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man marry her.' |
| 8 | "The officers shall speak further to the people, and say, 'What man is there who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest the heart of his brethren faint like his heart.' |
| 9 | "And so it shall be, when the officers have finished speaking to the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people. |
| 10 | "When you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it. |
| 11 | "And it shall be that if they accept your offer of peace, and open to you, then all the people who are found in it shall be placed under tribute to you, and serve you. |
| 12 | "Now if the city will not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. |
| 13 | "And when the LORD your God delivers it into your hands, you shall strike every male in it with the edge of the sword. |
| 14 | "But the women, the little ones, the livestock, and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall plunder for yourself; and you shall eat the enemies' plunder which the LORD your God gives you. |
| 15 | "Thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations. |
| 16 | "But of the cities of these peoples which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, |
| 17 | "but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the LORD your God has commanded you, |
| 18 | "lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the LORD your God. |
| 19 | "When you besiege a city for a long time, while making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them; if you can eat of them, do not cut them down to use in the siege, for the tree of the field is man's food. |
| 20 | "Only the trees which you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, to build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it is subdued. |
| Deuteronomy 21 (NKJV™) | |
| 1 | "If anyone is found slain, lying in the field in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, |
| 2 | "then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance from the slain man to the surrounding cities. |
| 3 | "And it shall be that the elders of the city nearest to the slain man will take a heifer which has not been worked and which has not pulled with a yoke. |
| 4 | "The elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with flowing water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and they shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley. |
| 5 | "Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister to Him and to bless in the name of the LORD; by their word every controversy and every assault shall be settled. |
| 6 | "And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. |
| 7 | "Then they shall answer and say, 'Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen it. |
| 8 | 'Provide atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel.' And atonement shall be provided on their behalf for the blood. |
| 9 | "So you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD. |
| 10 | "When you go out to war against your enemies, and the LORD your God delivers them into your hand, and you take them captive, |
| 11 | "and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and desire her and would take her for your wife, |
| 12 | "then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails. |
| 13 | "She shall put off the clothes of her captivity, remain in your house, and mourn her father and her mother a full month; after that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. |
| 14 | "And it shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall set her free, but you certainly shall not sell her for money; you shall not treat her brutally, because you have humbled her. |
| 15 | "If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the unloved, and if the firstborn son is of her who is unloved, |
| 16 | "then it shall be, on the day he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, that he must not bestow firstborn status on the son of the loved wife in preference to the son of the unloved, the true firstborn. |
| 17 | "But he shall acknowledge the son of the unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his. |
| 18 | "If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, |
| 19 | "then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. |
| 20 | "And they shall say to the elders of his city, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.' |
| 21 | "Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear. |
| 22 | "If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, |
| 23 | "his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God. |
| Deuteronomy 22 (NKJV™) | |
| 1 | "You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep going astray, and hide yourself from them; you shall certainly bring them back to your brother. |
| 2 | "And if your brother is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it to your own house, and it shall remain with you until your brother seeks it; then you shall restore it to him. |
| 3 | "You shall do the same with his donkey, and so shall you do with his garment; with any lost thing of your brother's, which he has lost and you have found, you shall do likewise; you must not hide yourself. |
| 4 | "You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and hide yourself from them; you shall surely help him lift them up again. |
| 5 | "A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the LORD your God. |
| 6 | "If a bird's nest happens to be before you along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, with the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young; |
| 7 | "you shall surely let the mother go, and take the young for yourself, that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days. |
| 8 | "When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring guilt of bloodshed on your household if anyone falls from it. |
| 9 | "You shall not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed, lest the yield of the seed which you have sown and the fruit of your vineyard be defiled. |
| 10 | "You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. |
| 11 | "You shall not wear a garment of different sorts, such as wool and linen mixed together. |
| 12 | "You shall make tassels on the four corners of the clothing with which you cover yourself. |
| 13 | "If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and detests her, |
| 14 | "and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings a bad name on her, and says, 'I took this woman, and when I came to her I found she was not a virgin,' |
| 15 | "then the father and mother of the young woman shall take and bring out the evidence of the young woman's virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. |
| 16 | "And the young woman's father shall say to the elders, 'I gave my daughter to this man as wife, and he detests her. |
| 17 | 'Now he has charged her with shameful conduct, saying, "I found your daughter was not a virgin," and yet these are the evidences of my daughter's virginity.' And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. |
| 18 | "Then the elders of that city shall take that man and punish him; |
| 19 | "and they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought a bad name on a virgin of Israel. And she shall be his wife; he cannot divorce her all his days. |
| 20 | "But if the thing is true, and evidences of virginity are not found for the young woman, |
| 21 | "then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel, to play the harlot in her father's house. So you shall put away the evil from among you. |
| 22 | "If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die--the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel. |
| 23 | "If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, |
| 24 | "then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he humbled his neighbor's wife; so you shall put away the evil from among you. |
| 25 | "But if a man finds a betrothed young woman in the countryside, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. |
| 26 | "But you shall do nothing to the young woman; there is in the young woman no sin deserving of death, for just as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him, even so is this matter. |
| 27 | "For he found her in the countryside, and the betrothed young woman cried out, but there was no one to save her. |
| 28 | "If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out, |
| 29 | "then the man who lay with her shall give to the young woman's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife because he has humbled her; he shall not be permitted to divorce her all his days. |
| 30 | "A man shall not take his father's wife, nor uncover his father's bed. |
| Deuteronomy 23 (NKJV™) | |
| 1 | "He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall not enter the assembly of the LORD. |
| 2 | "One of illegitimate birth shall not enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD. |
| 3 | "An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD forever, |
| 4 | "because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. |
| 5 | "Nevertheless the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you. |
| 6 | "You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever. |
| 7 | "You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his land. |
| 8 | "The children of the third generation born to them may enter the assembly of the LORD. |
| 9 | "When the army goes out against your enemies, then keep yourself from every wicked thing. |
| 10 | "If there is any man among you who becomes unclean by some occurrence in the night, then he shall go outside the camp; he shall not come inside the camp. |
| 11 | "But it shall be, when evening comes, that he shall wash with water; and when the sun sets, he may come into the camp. |
| 12 | "Also you shall have a place outside the camp, where you may go out; |
| 13 | "and you shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse. |
| 14 | "For the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you. |
| 15 | "You shall not give back to his master the slave who has escaped from his master to you. |
| 16 | "He may dwell with you in your midst, in the place which he chooses within one of your gates, where it seems best to him; you shall not oppress him. |
| 17 | "There shall be no ritual harlot of the daughters of Israel, or a perverted one of the sons of Israel. |
| 18 | "You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog to the house of the LORD your God for any vowed offering, for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God. |
| 19 | "You shall not charge interest to your brother--interest on money or food or anything that is lent out at interest. |
| 20 | "To a foreigner you may charge interest, but to your brother you shall not charge interest, that the LORD your God may bless you in all to which you set your hand in the land which you are entering to possess. |
| 21 | "When you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay to pay it; for the LORD your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you. |
| 22 | "But if you abstain from vowing, it shall not be sin to you. |
| 23 | "That which has gone from your lips you shall keep and perform, for you voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God what you have promised with your mouth. |
| 24 | "When you come into your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes at your pleasure, but you shall not put any in your container. |
| 25 | "When you come into your neighbor's standing grain, you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor's standing grain. |
| Deuteronomy 24 (NKJV™) | |
| 1 | "When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, |
| 2 | "when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man's wife, |
| 3 | "if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, |
| 4 | "then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. |
| 5 | "When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken. |
| 6 | "No man shall take the lower or the upper millstone in pledge, for he takes one's living in pledge. |
| 7 | "If a man is found kidnapping any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and mistreats him or sells him, then that kidnapper shall die; and you shall put away the evil from among you. |
| 8 | "Take heed in an outbreak of leprosy, that you carefully observe and do according to all that the priests, the Levites, shall teach you; just as I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do. |
| 9 | "Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam on the way when you came out of Egypt. |
| 10 | "When you lend your brother anything, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge. |
| 11 | "You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you lend shall bring the pledge out to you. |
| 12 | "And if the man is poor, you shall not keep his pledge overnight. |
| 13 | "You shall in any case return the pledge to him again when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his own garment and bless you; and it shall be righteousness to you before the LORD your God. |
| 14 | "You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates. |
| 15 | "Each day you shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it; lest he cry out against you to the LORD, and it be sin to you. |
| 16 | "Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall the children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin. |
| 17 | "You shall not pervert justice due the stranger or the fatherless, nor take a widow's garment as a pledge. |
| 18 | "But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this thing. |
| 19 | "When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. |
| 20 | "When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. |
| 21 | "When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. |
| 22 | "And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this thing. |
| Deuteronomy 25 (NKJV™) | |
| 1 | "If there is a dispute between men, and they come to court, that the judges may judge them, and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, |
| 2 | "then it shall be, if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, that the judge will cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence, according to his guilt, with a certain number of blows. |
| 3 | "Forty blows he may give him and no more, lest he should exceed this and beat him with many blows above these, and your brother be humiliated in your sight. |
| 4 | "You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. |
| 5 | "If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband's brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. |
| 6 | "And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. |
| 7 | "But if the man does not want to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate to the elders, and say, 'My husband's brother refuses to raise up a name to his brother in Israel; he will not perform the duty of my husband's brother.' |
| 8 | "Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him. But if he stands firm and says, 'I do not want to take her,' |
| 9 | "then his brother's wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, spit in his face, and answer and say, 'So shall it be done to the man who will not build up his brother's house.' |
| 10 | "And his name shall be called in Israel, 'The house of him who had his sandal removed.' |
| 11 | "If two men fight together, and the wife of one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of the one attacking him, and puts out her hand and seizes him by the genitals, |
| 12 | "then you shall cut off her hand; your eye shall not pity her. |
| 13 | "You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a heavy and a light. |
| 14 | "You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. |
| 15 | "You shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure, that your days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD your God is giving you. |
| 16 | "For all who do such things, all who behave unrighteously, are an abomination to the LORD your God. |
| 17 | "Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, |
| 18 | "how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. |
| 19 | "Therefore it shall be, when the LORD your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget. |
New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.
The primary theme of Deuteronomy is God's promises standing firm in times of both blessing and judgment--blessing when we obey the Lord and judgment when we disobey His Law. Join Skip Heitzig for a study through this book that is quoted extensively by Jesus and the New Testament writers.
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