Read the Bible

Property Laws

¹ "If a man steals a bull or a sheep and kills or sells it, he must pay back five bulls for the one bull he stole and four sheep for the one sheep he stole.^2-4 "The robber who is caught must pay back what he stole. If he owns nothing, he must be sold as a slave to pay for what he stole. If the stolen animal is found alive with the robber, he must give the owner two animals for every animal he stole, whether it was a bull, donkey, or sheep.

"If a thief is killed while breaking into a house at night, the one who killed him is not guilty of murder. But if this happens during the day, he is guilty of murder.

⁵ "If a man lets his farm animal graze in his field or vineyard, and it wanders into another man's field or vineyard, the owner of the animal must pay back the loss from the best of his crop.

⁶ "Suppose a man starts a fire that spreads through the thornbushes to his neighbor's field. If the fire burns his neighbor's growing grain or grain that has been stacked, or if it burns his whole field, the person who started the fire must pay for what was burned.

⁷ "Suppose a man gives his neighbor money or other things to keep for him and those things are stolen from the neighbor's house. If the thief is caught, he must pay back twice as much as he stole. ⁸ But if the thief is never found, the owner of the house must make a promise before God that he has not stolen his neighbor's things.

⁹ "Suppose two men disagree about who owns something—whether ox, donkey, sheep, clothing, or something else that is lost. If each says, ‘This is mine,' each man must bring his case to God. God's judges will decide who is guilty, and that person must pay the other man twice as much as the object is worth.

¹⁰ "Suppose a man asks his neighbor to keep his donkey, ox, sheep, or some other animal for him, and that animal dies, gets hurt, or is taken away, without anyone seeing what happened. ¹¹ That neighbor must promise before the Lord that he did not harm or kill the other man's animal, and the owner of the animal must accept his promise made before God. The neighbor does not have to pay the owner for the animal. ¹² But if the animal was stolen from the neighbor, he must pay the owner for it. ¹³ If wild animals killed it, the neighbor must bring the body as proof, and he will not have to pay for the animal that was killed.

¹⁴ "If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor, and it gets hurt or dies while the owner is not there, the one who borrowed it must pay the owner for the animal. ¹⁵ But if the owner is with the animal, the one who borrowed it does not have to pay. If the animal was rented, the rental price covers the loss.

Laws and Relationships

¹⁶ "Suppose a man finds a woman who is not pledged to be married and has never had sexual relations with a man. If he tricks her into having sexual relations with him, he must give her family the payment to marry her, and she will become his wife. ¹⁷ But if her father refuses to allow his daughter to marry him, the man must still give the usual payment for a bride who has never had sexual relations.

¹⁸ "Put to death any woman who does evil magic.

¹⁹ "Put to death anyone who has sexual relations with an animal.

²⁰ "Destroy completely any person who makes a sacrifice to any god except the Lord.

²¹ "Do not cheat or hurt a foreigner, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

²² "Do not cheat a widow or an orphan. ²³ If you do, and they cry out to me for help, I certainly will hear their cry. ²⁴ And I will be very angry and kill you in war. Then your wives will become widows, and your children will become orphans.

²⁵ "If you lend money to one of my people who is poor, do not treat him as a moneylender would. Charge him nothing for using your money. ²⁶ If your neighbor gives you his coat as a promise for the money he owes you, you must give it back to him by sunset, ²⁷ because it is the only cover to keep his body warm. He has nothing else to sleep in. If he cries out to me for help, I will listen, because I am merciful.

²⁸ "You must not speak against God or curse a leader of your people.

²⁹ "Do not hold back your offering from the first of your harvest and the first wine that you make. Also, you must give me your firstborn sons. ³⁰ You must do the same with your bulls and your sheep. Let the firstborn males stay with their mothers for seven days, and on the eighth day you must give them to me.

³¹ "You are to be my holy people. You must not eat the meat of any animal that has been killed by wild animals. Instead, give it to the dogs.