April 17, 2026
The Two Tables of Stone: A Unified Reading of the Covenant Code
by YirmeAO
What Was Really on the Tablets?
Most people assume the two stone tablets Moses received at Sinai contained only the Ten Commandments — five on one tablet, five on the other. It is a tidy image, and religious art has made it iconic.
But the Torah itself tells a different story.
Exodus 32:15 says the tablets were "written on both sides; on the one side and on the other were they written." And Exodus 34:28 describes them as containing "the words of the covenant." Not ten words. The words of the covenant — the full body of law AO gave to Moses.
The front and back of two stone tablets provides four writing surfaces — more than enough space to contain the complete covenant code found in Exodus 20–23 (the Book of the Covenant) and Deuteronomy 12–26, 28 (the Deuteronomic Code).
This is not speculation. The text itself demands it.
The Connection to the 3.5 Books
If you have read our earlier post, The Torah Has 3.5 Books, Not 5, you know that we present Deuteronomy as the "half book" — Moses' farewell summary of the first three books. That post demonstrated how Leviticus was inserted between Exodus and Numbers, breaking a continuous narrative.
This unified reading takes the next step. If Deuteronomy is Moses restating the law for the new generation, and Exodus 20–23 is where AO originally gave that law, then the two sources are describing the same covenant from two angles — the original delivery and the recap. They belong together.
What you are about to read is that reunification: the covenant code as it was meant to be understood, organized across four tablet surfaces by theme.
How This Reading Works
Where Exodus and Deuteronomy address the same topic, the parallel passages are presented side by side in a table so you can compare them directly. Passages unique to one source flow as continuous text with their source labeled.
The four sections represent the four writing surfaces:
- Tablet 1, Front — Exclusive Worship of AO
- Tablet 1, Back — Sacred Calendar, Offerings, and Holiness
- Tablet 2, Front — Justice, Leadership, and Civil Law
- Tablet 2, Back — Social Ethics, Family, and the Covenant
Download the full document as PDF
TABLET 1 — FRONT
Exclusive Worship of **AO**
Who **AO** is, exclusive devotion, and how to worship Him properly
The Great Preamble and First Four Commandments
▶ Exodus 20:1–11
Ex 20:1 And God spoke all these words:
Ex 20:2 "I am **AO** your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Ex 20:3 You shall have no other gods before Me.
Ex 20:4 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below or in the waters beneath.
Ex 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them for I, **AO** your God, am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers on [their] children to the third and fourth [generations] of those who hate Me
Ex 20:6 but showing loving devotion to a thousand [generations] of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Ex 20:7 You shall not take the name of **AO** your God in vain for **AO** will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.
Ex 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Ex 20:9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work
Ex 20:10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to **AO** your God on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates.
Ex 20:11 For [in] six days **AO** made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that [is] in them but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore, **AO** blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
No Other Gods — No Idols
▶ Parallel: Exodus 20:22–23 ↔︎ Deuteronomy 12:29–31
| Exodus 20:22–23 | Deuteronomy 12:29–31 |
|---|---|
Ex 20:22 Then **AO** said to Moses, "This is what you are to tell the Israelites: 'You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven. Ex 20:23 You are not to make alongside Me any gods; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold. |
Dt 12:29 When **AO** your God cuts off the nations you are entering to dispossess before you and you drive them out and live in their land, Dt 12:30 be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods asking, "How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise." Dt 12:31 You must not [worship] **AO** your God in this way because every abomination which **AO** hates they practice for their gods. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire [as sacrifices] to their gods. |
Proper Worship and Altar Laws
▶ Parallel: Exodus 20:24–26 ↔︎ Deuteronomy 12:1–28, 32
| Exodus 20:24–26 | Deuteronomy 12:1–28, 32 |
|---|---|
Ex 20:24 You are to make an altar of earth for Me and offer on it your grain offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats and cattle. In every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. Ex 20:25 Now if you make for Me an altar of stones, you must not build it with stones shaped by tools for if you use a chisel on it you will defile it. Ex 20:26 And you must not go up on steps to My altar, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.' |
Dt 12:1 These are the statutes and ordinances that you must be careful to follow [in the land] **AO** the God of your fathers has given you to possess all the days you live. Dt 12:2 Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, the hills and under every green tree. Dt 12:3 Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from every place. Dt 12:4 You shall not worship **AO** in this way. Dt 12:5 Instead **AO** will choose the place from among all your tribes to establish for His Name as a dwelling you must seek and there you must go. Dt 12:6 To that place you are to bring your tithes and heave offerings, your vow offerings and freewill offerings as well as the firstborn of your herds and flocks. Dt 12:7 There in the presence of **AO** your God [you and] your household shall eat and rejoice in all you do because **AO** has blessed you. Dt 12:8 You are not to do as we are doing here today [where] everyone [does] what seems right in his own eyes. Dt 12:9 For you have not yet come to the resting place and the inheritance that **AO** your God is giving you. Dt 12:10 When you cross the Jordan and live in the land that **AO** your God is giving you as an inheritance and He gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you dwell securely, Dt 12:11 then **AO** your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your tithes and special gifts and all the choice offerings you vow to **AO**. Dt 12:12 And you shall rejoice before **AO** your God— Dt 12:13 Be careful not to offer your offerings in just any place you see; Dt 12:14 you must offer [them] only in the place **AO** will choose in one of your tribal territories and there you shall do all that I command you. Dt 12:15 But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat according to the blessing **AO** your God has given you within any of your gates. Both the ceremonially clean and unclean may eat it as they would a gazelle or deer, Dt 12:16 but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water. Dt 12:17 Within your gates you must not eat the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, the firstborn of your herds or flocks, any of the offerings that you have vowed to give or your freewill offerings or special gifts. Dt 12:18 Instead you must eat them in the presence of **AO** your God at the place **AO** your God will choose—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants and the Ephrathite within your gates. Rejoice before **AO** your God in all you do Dt 12:19 and be careful not to neglect the Ephrathites as long as you live in your land. Dt 12:20 When **AO** your God expands your territory as He has promised and you crave meat and say, "I want to eat meat," you may eat it whenever you want. Dt 12:21 If the place where **AO** your God chooses to put His Name is too far from you, then you may slaughter any of the herd or flock He has given you as I have commanded you and you may eat it within your gates whenever you want. Dt 12:22 Indeed, you may eat it as you would eat a gazelle or deer; the ceremonially unclean and the clean both may eat it. Dt 12:23 Only be sure not to eat the blood because the blood is the life and you must not eat the life with the meat. Dt 12:24 You must not eat [the blood], pour it on the ground like water. Dt 12:25 Do not eat it so that it may go well with you and your children after you because you will be doing what is right in the eyes of **AO**. Dt 12:26 But your holy things and your vow offerings, you are to take and go to the place **AO** will choose. Dt 12:27 Dt 12:28 Be careful to obey all these things I command you so that it may always go well with you and your children after you because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of **AO** your God. Dt 12:32 See that you do everything I command you; [do not add to it or subtract from it]. |
Testing: False Prophets and Enticement to Idolatry
▶ Deuteronomy 13:1–18
Dt 13:1 If a prophet arises among you or a dreamer of dreams and proclaims to you a sign or wonder
Dt 13:2 and if that sign or wonder he has spoken comes about but he says to you, "Let us follow other gods (which you have not known) and let us worship them,"
Dt 13:3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. For **AO** your God is testing you to find out whether you love [Him] with all your heart and with all your soul.
Dt 13:4 You are to follow **AO** your God and fear Him. Keep His commandments and listen to His voice, serve Him and hold fast to Him.
Dt 13:5 Such a prophet or dreamer must be put to death because he has advocated rebellion against **AO** your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way in which **AO** your God has commanded you to walk. So you must purge the evil from among you.
Dt 13:6 If your very own brother or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (which neither you nor your fathers have known,
Dt 13:7 the gods of the peoples around you whether near or far, whether from one end of the earth or the other),
Dt 13:8 you must not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity, and do not spare him or shield him.
Dt 13:9 Instead, you must surely kill him. Your hand must be the first against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people.
Dt 13:10 Stone him to death for trying to turn you away from **AO** your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
Dt 13:11 Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.
Dt 13:12 If, regarding one of the cities **AO** your God is giving you to inhabit, you hear it said
Dt 13:13 that wicked men have arisen from among you and have led the people of their city astray, saying, "Let us go and serve other gods" (which you have not known),
Dt 13:14 then you must inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. And if it is established with certainty that this abomination has been committed among you,
Dt 13:15 you must surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword. Devote to destruction all [its people] and livestock.
Dt 13:16 And you are to gather all its plunder in the middle of the public square, and completely burn the city and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to **AO** your God. [The city] must remain a mound of ruins forever, never to be rebuilt.
Dt 13:17 Nothing devoted to destruction shall cling to your hands so that **AO** will turn from His fierce anger, grant you mercy, show you compassion and multiply you as He swore to your fathers,
Dt 13:18 because you obey **AO** your God, keeping all His commandments I am giving you today [and] doing what is right in the eyes of **AO** your God.
TABLET 1 — BACK
Sacred Calendar, Offerings, and Holiness
Set-apart living — what to eat, when to give, when to celebrate
A Holy People — Dietary Laws
▶ Parallel: Exodus 22:31 ↔︎ Deuteronomy 14:1–21
| Exodus 22:31 | Deuteronomy 14:1–21 |
|---|---|
| Ex 22:31 You are to be My holy people. You must not eat the meat of a mauled animal found in the field; you are to throw it to the dogs. | Dt 14:1 You are sons of **AO** your God; do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads on behalf of the dead, Dt 14:2 for you are a people holy to **AO** your God. **AO** your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth. Dt 14:3 You must not eat any detestable thing. Dt 14:4 These are the animals that you may eat: The ox, the sheep, the goat, Dt 14:5 the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. Dt 14:6 You may eat any animal that has a split hoof divided in two and that chews the cud. Dt 14:7 But of those that chew the cud or have a completely divided hoof you are not to eat the following: the camel, the rabbit [or] the rock badger. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof. They are unclean for you, Dt 14:8 as well as the pig, though it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. It is unclean for you. You must not eat its meat or touch its carcass. Dt 14:9 Of all [the creatures] that [live] in the water you may eat anything with fins and scales, Dt 14:10 but you may not eat anything that does not have fins and scales; it is unclean for you. Dt 14:11 You may eat any clean bird, Dt 14:12 but these you may not eat: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, Dt 14:13 the red kite, the falcon, any kind of kite, Dt 14:14 any kind of raven, Dt 14:15 the ostrich, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, Dt 14:16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, Dt 14:17 the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant, Dt 14:18 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, or the bat. Dt 14:19 All flying insects are unclean for you; they may not be eaten. Dt 14:20 But you may eat any clean bird. Dt 14:21 You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to the foreigner residing within your gates, and he may eat it or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to **AO** your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother's milk. |
Tithes
▶ Deuteronomy 14:22–29
Dt 14:22 You must be sure to set aside a tenth of all the produce brought forth from your fields each year.
Dt 14:23 And you are to eat a tenth of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks, in the presence of **AO** your God at the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name, so that you may learn to fear **AO** your God always.
Dt 14:24 But if the distance is too great for you to carry that with which **AO** your God has blessed you, because the place where **AO** your God will choose to put His Name is too far away,
Dt 14:25 then exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place **AO** your God will choose.
Dt 14:26 Then you may spend the money on anything you desire: cattle, sheep, wine, strong drink, or anything you wish. You are to feast there in the presence of **AO** your God and rejoice with your household.
Dt 14:27 And do not neglect the Ephrathite within your gates since he has no portion or inheritance among you.
Dt 14:28 At the end of every three years, bring a tenth of all your produce for that year and lay [it] up within your gates.
Dt 14:29 Then the Ephrathite (because he has no inheritance among you), the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied. And **AO** your God will bless you in all the work of your hands.
The Sabbatical Year — Release of Debts
▶ Parallel: Exodus 23:10–11 ↔︎ Deuteronomy 15:1–11
| Exodus 23:10–11 | Deuteronomy 15:1–11 |
|---|---|
Ex 23:10 For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce Ex 23:11 but in the seventh [year], you must let it rest and lie fallow so that the poor among your people may eat and what they leave the wild animals may consume from the field. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove. |
Dt 15:1 At the end of every seven years, you must cancel debts. Dt 15:2 This is the manner of remission: Every creditor shall cancel what he has loaned to his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because **AO**'s time of release has been proclaimed. Dt 15:3 You may collect something from a foreigner; but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you. Dt 15:4 There will be no poor among you, however, because **AO** will surely bless you in the land that **AO** your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, Dt 15:5 if only you obey **AO** your God and are careful to follow all these commandments I am giving you today. Dt 15:6 When **AO** your God blesses you as He has promised, you will lend to many nations but borrow from none; you will rule over many nations but be ruled by none. Dt 15:7 If there is a poor man among you brothers within any of the gates in the land that **AO** your God is giving you, then you are not to harden your heart [or] shut your hand from your poor brother. Dt 15:8 Instead you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him whatever he needs. Dt 15:9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought in your heart: "The seventh year, the year of release is near," so that you look upon your poor brother begrudgingly and give him nothing. He will cry out against you to **AO** and you will be guilty of sin. Dt 15:10 Give generously to him, and do not let your heart be grieved [when you do so]. And because of this, **AO** your God will bless you in all your work and in everything to which you put your hand. Dt 15:11 For there will never cease to be poor in the land; that is why I am commanding you to open wide your hand to your brother and to the poor and needy in your land. |
The Sabbatical Year — Release of Servants
▶ Parallel: Exodus 21:2–6 ↔︎ Deuteronomy 15:12–18
| Exodus 21:2–6 | Deuteronomy 15:12–18 |
|---|---|
Ex 21:2 If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh [year] he shall go free without paying anything. Ex 21:3 If he arrived alone, he is to leave alone; if he arrived with a wife, [she] is to leave with him. Ex 21:4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master and [only] the man shall go free. Ex 21:5 But if the servant declares, 'I love my master and my wife and children. I do not want to go free,' Ex 21:6 then his master is to bring him before the judges. And he shall take him to the door or doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he shall serve his master for life. |
Dt 15:12 If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you must set him free. Dt 15:13 And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed. Dt 15:14 You are to furnish him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You shall give to him as **AO** your God has blessed you. Dt 15:15 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt and **AO** your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today. Dt 15:16 But of your servant says to you, 'I do not want to leave you,' because he loves you and your household and is well off with you, Dt 15:17 then take an awl and pierce [it] through his ear into the door and he will become your servant for life. And treat your maidservant the same way. Dt 15:18 Do not regard it as a hardship to set [your servant] free, because his six years were worth twice the wages of a hired hand. And **AO** your God will bless you in all you do. |
Firstborn Offerings
▶ Parallel: Exodus 22:29–30 ↔︎ Deuteronomy 15:19–23
| Exodus 22:29–30 | Deuteronomy 15:19–23 |
|---|---|
Ex 22:29 You must not hold back [offerings] from your granaries or vats. You are to give Me the firstborn of your sons. Ex 22:30 You shall do likewise with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days but on the eighth day you are to give them to Me. |
Dt 15:19 You must set apart to **AO** your God every firstborn male produced by your herds and flocks. You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work, nor are you to shear the firstborn of your flock. Dt 15:20 Each year you and your household are to eat it before **AO** your God in the place **AO** will choose. Dt 15:21 But if [an animal] has a defect, is lame or blind or has any serious flaw, you must not offer it to **AO** your God. Dt 15:22 Eat it within your gates; both the ceremonially unclean and clean [may eat it] as [they would] a gazelle or a deer. Dt 15:23 But you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water. |
Sabbath Rest
▶ Exodus 23:12
Ex 23:12 For six days you are to do your work but on the seventh day you must cease so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the son of your maidservant as well as the foreign resident may be refreshed.
The Three Feasts
▶ Parallel: Exodus 23:14–19 ↔︎ Deuteronomy 16:1–17
| Exodus 23:14–19 | Deuteronomy 16:1–17 |
|---|---|
Ex 23:14 Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me. Ex 23:15 You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread as I commanded you: for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread. At the appointed time in the month of Abib because that [was the month] you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before Me empty-handed. Ex 23:16 [You are also to keep] the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And [keep] the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather your produce from the field. Ex 23:17 Three times a year all your males are to appear before Adonai **AO**. Ex 23:18 You must not offer anything leavened nor may My feast remain until morning. Ex 23:19 Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of **AO** your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother's milk. |
Dt 16:1 Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to **AO** your God, because in the month of Abib **AO** your God brought you out of Egypt by night. Dt 16:2 You are to celebrate the Passover feast in the place **AO** will choose as a dwelling place for His Name. Dt 16:3 You must not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you are to eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left the land of Egypt in haste—so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt. Dt 16:4 No leaven is to be found in all your land for seven days, and none of the meat you offer in the evening of the first day shall remain until morning. Dt 16:5 You are not to celebrate the Passover feast in any of the towns that **AO** your God is giving you. Dt 16:6 You must only celebrate the Passover feast at the place **AO** your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name. Do this in the evening as the sun sets, at the same time you departed from Egypt. Dt 16:7 And you shall roast it and eat it in the place **AO** your God will choose, and in the morning you shall return to your tents. Dt 16:8 For six days you must eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day you shall hold a solemn assembly to **AO** your God and you must not do any work. Dt 16:9 You are to count off seven weeks [from] [the time] you first put the sickle to the standing grain. Dt 16:10 And you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to **AO** your God with a freewill offering that you give in proportion to how **AO** your God has blessed you Dt 16:11 and you shall rejoice before **AO** your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Ephrathite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you. Dt 16:12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and carefully follow these statutes. Dt 16:13 You are to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered [the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. Dt 16:14 And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Ephrathite as well as the foreigner, the fatherless and the widows among you. Dt 16:15 For seven days you shall celebrate a feast to **AO** your God in the place He will choose because **AO** your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that your joy will be complete. Dt 16:16 Three times a year all your men are to appear before **AO** your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before **AO** empty-handed. Dt 16:17 Everyone must appear with a gift as he is able according to the blessing **AO** your God has given you. |
Declaration of Firstfruits and Tithes
▶ Deuteronomy 26:1–15
Dt 26:1 When you enter the land that **AO** your God is giving you [as] an inheritance and you take possession of it and settle in it,
Dt 26:2 you are to take some of the firstfruits of all your produce from the soil of the land that **AO** your God is giving you and put [them] in a basket. Then go to the place **AO** your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name,
Dt 26:3 to the priest who is serving at that time and say to him, "I declare today to **AO** your God that I have entered the land that **AO** swore to our fathers to give us."
Dt 26:4 Then the priest shall take the basket from your hands and place it before the altar of **AO** your God
Dt 26:5 and you are to declare before **AO** your God, "My father was a wandering Aramean and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there and became a great nation, mighty and numerous.
Dt 26:6 But the Egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us, putting us to hard labor.
Dt 26:7 So we called out to **AO**, the God of our fathers; and **AO** heard our voice and saw our affliction, toil, and oppression.
Dt 26:8 Then **AO** brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm with great terror, signs and wonders.
Dt 26:9 And He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
Dt 26:10 And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land that You, **AO**, have given me."
Dt 26:11 So you shall rejoice—you, the Ephrathite and the foreigner dwelling among you—in all the good things **AO** your God has given to you and your household.
Dt 26:12 When you have finished laying aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you are to give it to the Ephrathite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow that they may eat and be filled within your gates.
Dt 26:13 Then you shall declare in the presence of **AO** your God, "I have removed from [my] house the sacred [portion] and have given it to the Ephrathite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow according to all the commandments You have given me. I have not transgressed or forgotten Your commandments.
Dt 26:14 I have not eaten any of [the sacred portion] while in mourning, or removed any of it while unclean, or offered any of it for the dead. I have obeyed **AO** my God; I have done everything You commanded me.
Dt 26:15 Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land You have given us as You swore to our fathers—a land flowing with milk and honey."
No Other Names
▶ Exodus 23:13
Ex 23:13 Pay close attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods, they must not be heard on your lips.
TABLET 2 — FRONT
Justice, Leadership, and Civil Law
How to govern, judge, and maintain civil order
The Last Six Commandments
▶ Exodus 20:12–17
Ex 20:12 Honor your father and mother so that your days may be long in the land that **AO** your God is giving you.
Ex 20:13 You shall not murder.
Ex 20:14 You shall not commit adultery.
Ex 20:15 You shall not steal.
Ex 20:16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Ex 20:17 You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his maidservant or his ox or donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
Justice, Courts, and Bribery
▶ Parallel: Exodus 23:1–9 ↔︎ Deuteronomy 16:18–22
| Exodus 23:1–9 | Deuteronomy 16:18–22 |
|---|---|
Ex 23:1 You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness. Ex 23:2 You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd. Ex 23:3 And do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit. Ex 23:4 If you encounter your enemy's ox or stray donkey, you must return it to him. Ex 23:5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you fallen under its load, do not leave it there; you must help him with it. Ex 23:6 You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits. Ex 23:7 Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just for I will not acquit the guilty. Ex 23:8 Do not accept a bribe for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous. Ex 23:9 Do not oppress a foreign resident since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. |
Dt 16:18 You are to appoint judges and officials in every town that **AO** your God is giving you for your tribes. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment. Dt 16:19 Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. Dt 16:20 Pursue justice and justice alone so that you may live and you may possess the land that **AO** your God is giving you. Dt 16:21 Do not set up any Asherah pole next to the altar you will build for **AO** your God, Dt 16:22 and do not set up for yourselves a sacred pillar, which **AO** your God hates. |
The Supreme Court
▶ Deuteronomy 17:1–13
Dt 17:1 You shall not offer to **AO** your God an ox or a sheep with any defect [or] serious flaw, for that is detestable to **AO** your God.
Dt 17:2 If a man or woman in one of the towns that **AO** your God gives you is found among you doing evil in the sight of **AO** your God by transgressing His covenant
Dt 17:3 and going to worship other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven—which I have forbidden—
Dt 17:4 and if it is reported and you hear about it, you must investigate it thoroughly. If the report is true and such an abomination has happened in Israel,
Dt 17:5 you must bring out to your gates the man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you must stone that person to death.
Dt 17:6 On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death but he shall not be executed on the testimony of a lone witness.
Dt 17:7 The hands of the witnesses shall be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. So you must purge the evil from among you.
Dt 17:8 If a case is too difficult for you to judge, whether the controversy within your gates is regarding bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults, you must go up to the place **AO** your God will choose.
Dt 17:9 You are to go to the Ephraimite priests and to the judge who presides at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you a verdict in the case.
Dt 17:10 You must abide by the verdict they give you at the place **AO** will choose. Be careful to do everything they instruct you,
Dt 17:11 according to the terms of law they give and the verdict they proclaim. Do not turn aside to the right or to the left from the decision they declare to you.
Dt 17:12 But the man who acts presumptuously refusing to listen either to the priest who stands there to serve **AO** your God, or to the judge, must be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel.
Dt 17:13 Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and will no longer behave arrogantly.
The King
▶ Deuteronomy 17:14–20
Dt 17:14 When you enter the land that **AO** your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, "Let us set over us a king like all the nations around us,"
Dt 17:15 you are to appoint ourselves the king whom **AO** your God shall choose. Appoint a king from among your brothers; you are not to set over yourselves a foreigner who is not one of your brothers.
Dt 17:16 But [the king] must not acquire for himself many horses [or] send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for **AO** has said, 'You are never to go back that way again.'
Dt 17:17 He must not take many wives for himself, lest his heart go stray. He must not accumulate for himself large amounts of silver and gold.
Dt 17:18 When he is seated on his royal throne, he must write for himself a copy of this instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Ephraimite priests.
Dt 17:19 It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear **AO** his God by carefully observing all the words of this instruction and these statutes.
Dt 17:20 Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, and he will not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or to the left, in order that he and his sons may reign over his kingdom in Israel.
Priests and Ephrathites
▶ Deuteronomy 18:1–8
Dt 18:1 The Ephrathite priests—indeed the whole tribe of Ephraim—shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They are to eat the offerings made by fire to **AO**, that is their inheritance.
Dt 18:2 Although they have no inheritance among their brothers, **AO** [is] their inheritance as He promised them.
Dt 18:3 This shall be the priests' share from the people who offer an offering whether a bull or a sheep: the priests are to be given the shoulder, the jowls and the stomach
Dt 18:4 You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine and oil and the first wool sheared from your flock.
Dt 18:5 For **AO** your God has chosen [Ephraim] and his sons out of all your tribes to stand and minister in [His] name for all time.
Dt 18:6 Now if an Ephrathite moves from any town of residence throughout Israel and comes in all earnestness to the place **AO** will choose,
Dt 18:7 then he shall serve in the name of **AO** his God like all his fellow Ephrathites who stand there before **AO**.
Dt 18:8 They shall eat equal portions even though he has received [money] from his father's estate.
Sorcery Forbidden and the True Prophet
▶ Parallel: Exodus 22:18–20 ↔︎ Deuteronomy 18:9–22
| Exodus 22:18–20 | Deuteronomy 18:9–22 |
|---|---|
Ex 22:18 You must not allow a sorceress to live. Ex 22:19 Whoever lies with an animal must surely be put to death. Ex 22:20 [If] anyone offers to any god other than **AO** alone, he must be set apart for destruction. |
Dt 18:9 When you enter the land that **AO** your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Dt 18:10 Let no one be found who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination [or] conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery, Dt 18:11 casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist or inquires of the dead. Dt 18:12 For whoever does these things is detestable to **AO**. And because of these detestable things, **AO** your God is driving out [the nations] before you. Dt 18:13 You must be blameless before **AO** your God. Dt 18:14 Though these nations which you will dispossess listen to conjurers and diviners, **AO** your God has not permitted you to do so. Dt 18:15 **AO** your God will raise up a prophet like me from among your brothers. You [will] listen to him. Dt 18:16 This is what you asked of **AO** your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, "Let us not hear the voice of **AO** our God or see this great fire anymore so that we will not die!" Dt 18:17 Then **AO** said to me, "They have spoken well. Dt 18:18 I will raise up for them a prophet from among their brothers like you. I will put My words in his mouth and he will tell them everything I command him. Dt 18:19 And I will hold accountable anyone who does not listen to My words that [the prophet] speaks in My name. Dt 18:20 But if any prophet dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak [or] to speak in the name of other gods, that prophet must be put to death." Dt 18:21 You may ask in your heart, "How can we recognize a message that **AO** has not spoken?" Dt 18:22 When a prophet speaks in the name of **AO** and the message does not come to pass [or] come true that is a message **AO** has not spoken. The prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him. |
Personal Injury Laws
▶ Exodus 21:12–36
Ex 21:12 Whoever strikes and kills a man must surely be put to death.
Ex 21:13 If, however, he did not lie in wait but God allowed it to happen, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.
Ex 21:14 But if a man schemes against his neighbor and acts willfully to kill him, you must take him away from My altar to be put to death.
Ex 21:15 Whoever strikes his father or mother must surely be put to death.
Ex 21:16 Whoever kidnaps another man, whether he sells him or the man is found in his possession, must be put to death.
Ex 21:17 Anyone who curses his father or mother must surely be put to death.
Ex 21:18 If men are quarreling and one strikes the other with a stone or a fist and he does not die but is confined to bed,
Ex 21:19 as long as the other can get up and walk around outside with his staff, then the one who struck him shall go unpunished. Nevertheless, he must compensate the man for his lost work and see that he is completely healed.
Ex 21:20 If a man strikes his manservant or maidservant with a rod and the servant dies by his hand, he shall surely be punished.
Ex 21:21 However, if after a day or two, [the servant] gets up, the owner shall not be punished since [the servant is] his property.
Ex 21:22 If men who are fighting strike a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely but there is no [further] injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman's husband demands and as the court allows.
Ex 21:23 But if a serious injury results, then you must require a life for a life—
Ex 21:24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
Ex 21:25 burn for burn, wound for wound [and] stripe for stripe.
Ex 21:26 If a man strikes and blinds the eye of his manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the eye.
Ex 21:27 And if he knocks out the tooth of his manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the tooth.
Ex 21:28 If an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox must surely be stoned to death and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the ox shall not be held responsible.
Ex 21:29 But if the ox has a habit of goring and its owner has been warned yet does not restrain it and it kills a man or woman, then the ox must be stoned and its owner must also be put to death.
Ex 21:30 If payment is demanded of him instead, he may redeem his life by paying the full amount demanded of him.
Ex 21:31 If [the ox] gores a son or a daughter, it shall be done to him according to the same rule.
Ex 21:32 If the ox gores a manservant or maidservant, [the owner] must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of that servant and the ox must be stoned.
Ex 21:33 If a man opens or digs a pit and fails to cover it and an ox or donkey falls into it,
Ex 21:34 the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he must pay its owner and the dead [animal] will be his.
Ex 21:35 If a man's ox injures his neighbor\'s ox and it dies, they must sell the live [one] and divide the proceeds; they also must divide the dead animal.
Ex 21:36 But if it was known that the ox had a habit of goring yet its owner failed to restrain it, he shall pay full compensation ox for ox and the dead [animal] will be his.
Theft, Restitution, and Property
▶ Exodus 22:1–15
Ex 22:1 If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, he must repay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.
Ex 22:2 If a thief is caught breaking in and is beaten to death, no one shall be guilty of bloodshed.
Ex 22:3 But if it happens after sunrise, there is guilt for his bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution; if he has nothing, he himself shall be sold for his theft.
Ex 22:4 If what was stolen is actually found alive in his possession—whether ox or donkey or sheep—he must pay back double.
Ex 22:5 If a man grazes his livestock in a field or vineyard and allows them to stray so that they graze in someone else's field, he must make restitution from the best of his own field or vineyard.
Ex 22:6 If a fire breaks out and spreads to thornbushes so that it consumes stacked or standing grain or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make full restitution.
Ex 22:7 If a man gives his neighbor money or goods for safekeeping and they are stolen from the neighbor\'s house, the thief must pay back double if caught.
Ex 22:8 If the thief is not found, the owner of the house must appear before the judges to determine whether he has taken his neighbor\'s property.
Ex 22:9 In all cases of illegal possession of an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment or any lost item that someone claims, 'This is mine,' both parties shall bring their cases before the judges. The one whom the judges find guilty must pay back double to his neighbor.
Ex 22:10 If a man gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep or any other animal to be cared for by his neighbor but it dies or is injured or stolen while no one is watching,
Ex 22:11 an oath before **AO** shall be made between the parties to determine whether or not the man has taken his neighbor's property. The owner must accept [the oath] and require no restitution.
Ex 22:12 But if [the animal] was actually stolen from [the neighbor], he must make restitution to the owner.
Ex 22:13 If [the animal] was torn to pieces, he shall bring it as evidence for the torn carcass; he need not make restitution.
Ex 22:14 If a man borrows [an animal] from his neighbor and it is injured or dies while its owner is not present, he must make full restitution.
Ex 22:15 If the owner was present, no restitution is required. If [the animal] was rented, the fee covers the loss.
Manslaughter and Cities of Refuge
▶ Parallel: Exodus 21:12–14 ↔︎ Deuteronomy 19:1–13
| Exodus 21:12–14 | Deuteronomy 19:1–13 |
|---|---|
Ex 21:12 Whoever strikes and kills a man must surely be put to death. Ex 21:13 If, however, he did not lie in wait but God allowed it to happen, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee. Ex 21:14 But if a man schemes against his neighbor and acts willfully to kill him, you must take him away from My altar to be put to death. |
Dt 19:1 When **AO** your God has cut off the nations whose land He is giving you and when you have driven them out and settled in their cities and houses, Dt 19:2 then you are to set apart three cities for yourselves within the land that **AO** your God is giving you to possess. Dt 19:3 You are to build roads for yourselves and divide into three regions the land that **AO** your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that any manslayer can flee to these cities. Dt 19:4 Now this is the situation regarding the manslayer who flees [to one of these cities] so save his life, having killed his neighbor accidentally, without intending to harm him: Dt 19:5 If he goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut timber and swings his axe to chop down a tree, but the blade flies off the handle and strikes and kills his neighbor, he may flee to one of these cities to save his life. Dt 19:6 Otherwise the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer in a rage, overtake him if the distance is great, and strike him dead though he did not deserve to die, since he did not intend any harm. Dt 19:7 This is why I am commanding you to set apart three cities for yourselves. Dt 19:8 And if **AO** your God enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and gives you all the land He promised them, Dt 19:9 and if you carefully keep all these commandments I am giving you today, loving **AO** your God and walking in His ways at all times, then you are to add three more cities to these three. Dt 19:10 Thus innocent blood will not be shed in the land that **AO** your God is giving you [as] an inheritance, so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed. Dt 19:11 If, however, a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait, attacks him and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities, Dt 19:12 the elders of his city must send for him, bring him back, and hand him over to the avenger of blood to die. Dt 19:13 You must show him no pity. You are to purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, that it may go well with you. |
Boundaries, Witnesses, and False Testimony
▶ Deuteronomy 19:14–21
Dt 19:14 You must not move your neighbor's boundary marker, which was set up by your ancestors [to mark] the inheritance you shall receive in the land that **AO** your God is giving you to possess.
Dt 19:15 A lone witness is not sufficient to establish against a man any wrongdoing [or] sin, regardless of what offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
Dt 19:16 If a false witness testifies against someone, accusing him of a crime,
Dt 19:17 both parties to the dispute must stand in the presence of **AO**, before the priests and judges who are [in office] at that time.
Dt 19:18 The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is proven to be a liar who has falsely accused his brother,
Dt 19:19 you must do to him as he intended to do to his brother. So you must purge the evil from among you.
Dt 19:20 Then the rest [of the people] will hear and be afraid, and they will never again do anything so evil among you.
Dt 19:21 You must show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, [and] foot for foot.
Laws of Warfare
▶ Deuteronomy 20:1–20
Dt 20:1 When you go out to war against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and an army larger than yours do not be afraid of them; for **AO** your God is with you who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Dt 20:2 When you are about to go into battle, the priest is to come forward and address the army,
Dt 20:3 saying to them, "Hear, O Israel, today you are going into battle with your enemies. Do not be fainthearted [or] afraid; do not be alarmed or terrified because of them.
Dt 20:4 For **AO** your God goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory."
Dt 20:5 Furthermore, the officers are to address the army saying, "Has any man built a new house and not dedicated it? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man dedicate it.
Dt 20:6 Has any man planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy its fruit? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man enjoy its fruit.
Dt 20:7 Has any man become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man marry her."
Dt 20:8 Then the officers shall speak further to the army saying, "Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him return home so that the hearts of his brothers will not melt like his own."
Dt 20:9 When the officers have finished addressing the army, they are to appoint commanders to lead it.
Dt 20:10 When you approach a city to fight against it, you are to make an offer of peace.
Dt 20:11 If they accept your offer of peace and open [their gates], all the people [there] will become forced laborers to serve you.
Dt 20:12 But if they refuse to make peace with you and wage war against you, lay siege to [that city].
Dt 20:13 When **AO** your God has delivered it into your hand, you must put every male to the sword.
Dt 20:14 But the women, children, livestock, and whatever else is in the city—all its spoil—you may take as plunder, and you shall use the spoil of your enemies that **AO** your God gives you.
Dt 20:15 This is how you are to treat all the cities that are far away from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.
Dt 20:16 However, in the cities of the nations that **AO** your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes.
Dt 20:17 For you must devote them to complete destruction—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—as **AO** your God has commanded you,
Dt 20:18 so that they cannot teach you to do all the detestable things they do for their gods, and so cause you to sin against **AO** your God.
Dt 20:19 When you lay siege to a city for an extended time while fighting against it to capture it, you must not destroy its trees by putting an axe to them, because you can eat their fruit. You must not cut them down. Are the trees of the field human that you should besiege them?
Dt 20:20 But you may destroy the trees that you know do not produce fruit. [Use them] to build siege works against the city that is waging war against you until it falls.
TABLET 2 — BACK
Social Ethics, Family, and The Covenant
Care for the vulnerable, family life, and the covenant's blessings and curses
Protection of the Stranger, Widow, and Orphan
▶ Parallel: Exodus 22:21–24 ↔︎ Deuteronomy 24:17–22
| Exodus 22:21–24 | Deuteronomy 24:17–22 |
|---|---|
Ex 22:21 You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident for you [yourselves] were foreigners in the land of Egypt. Ex 22:22 You must not mistreat any widow or orphan. Ex 22:23 If you do mistreat them [and] they cry out to Me in distress, I will surely hear their cry. Ex 22:24 My anger will be kindled and I will kill you with the sword, then your wives will become widows and your children [will be] fatherless. |
Dt 24:17 Do not deny justice to the foreigner or the fatherless and do not take a widow's cloak as security. Dt 24:18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and **AO** your God redeemed you from that place. Therefore, I am commanding you to do this. Dt 24:19 If you are harvesting in your field and forget a sheaf [there], do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that **AO** your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. Dt 24:20 When you beat the olives from your trees, you must not go over the branches again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. Dt 24:21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard you must not go over [the vines] again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. Dt 24:22 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt. Therefore I am commanding you to do this. |
Lending, Pledges, and Respect
▶ Parallel: Exodus 22:25–28 ↔︎ Deuteronomy 23:19–20; 24:10–15
| Exodus 22:25–28 | Deuteronomy 23:19–20; 24:10–15 |
|---|---|
Ex 22:25 If you lend money to [one of] My people [who is] poor among you, you must not act to him as a creditor; you are not to charge him interest. Ex 22:26 If you take your neighbor's cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset Ex 22:27 because [his cloak] is the only covering he has [for] his body. What else will he sleep in? And if he cries out to Me, I will hear for I am compassionate. Ex 22:28 You must not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people. |
Dt 23:19 Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or any other type of loan. Dt 23:20 You may charge a foreigner interest but not your brother so that **AO** your God may bless you in everything to which you put your hand in the land that you are entering to possess. Dt 24:10 When you lend anything to your neighbor, do not enter his house to collect security. Dt 24:11 You are to stand outside while the man to whom you are lending brings the security out to you. Dt 24:12 If he is a poor man, you must not go to sleep with the security in your possession; Dt 24:13 be sure to return it to him by sunset, so that he may sleep in his own cloak and bless you, and this will be credited to you as righteousness before **AO** your God. Dt 24:14 Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, [whether] he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. Dt 24:15 You are to pay his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and depends on them. Otherwise, he may cry out against you to **AO** and you will be guilty of sin. |
Seduction and Marriage of a Virgin
▶ Parallel: Exodus 22:16–17 ↔︎ Deuteronomy 22:28–29
| Exodus 22:16–17 | Deuteronomy 22:28–29 |
|---|---|
Ex 22:16 If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged in marriage and sleeps with her, he must pay the full dowry for her to be his wife. Ex 22:17 If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, [the man] still must pay an amount comparable to the bridal price of a virgin. |
Dt 22:28 If a man encounters a virgin who is not pledged in marriage and he seizes her and lies with her and they are discovered, Dt 22:29 then the man who lay with her must pay the young woman's father fifty [shekels] of silver and she must become his wife because he has violated her. He must not divorce her as long as he lives. |
Unsolved Murder, Captive Women, Firstborn Rights, and the Rebellious Son
▶ Deuteronomy 21:1–23
Dt 21:1 If [one] is found slain, lying in a field in the land that **AO** your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him,
Dt 21:2 your elders and judges and measure the distance to the neighboring cities from the victim.
Dt 21:3 Then the elders of the city nearest the victim shall take a heifer that has never been yoked or used for work,
Dt 21:4 bring the heifer to a valley with running water that has not been plowed or sown and break its neck there by the stream.
Dt 21:5 And the priests, the sons of Ephraim, shall come forward, for **AO** your God has chosen them to serve Him and pronounce blessings in His name and to give a ruling in every dispute and case of assault.
Dt 21:6 Then all the elders of the city nearest the victim shall wash their hands by the stream over the heifer whose neck has been broken,
Dt 21:7 and they shall declare, "Our hands did not shed blood, nor did our eyes see it.
Dt 21:8 Accept this atonement, O **AO**, for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them. And the bloodshed will be atoned for.
Dt 21:9 So you shall purge from among you the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of **AO**.
Dt 21:10 When you go to war against your enemies and **AO** your God delivers them into your hand and you take them captive,
Dt 21:11 if you see a beautiful woman among [them] and you desire her and want to take as your wife,
Dt 21:12 then you shall bring her into your house. She must shave her head, trim her nails,
Dt 21:13 and put aside the clothing of her captivity. After she has lived in your house a full month and mourned her father and mother, you may have relations with her and be her husband and she shall be your wife.
Dt 21:14 And if you are not pleased with her, you are to let her go wherever she wishes. But you must not sell her for money or treat her as a slave since you have dishonored her.
Dt 21:15 If a man has two wives, one beloved and the other unloved, and [both] bear him sons, but the unloved wife has the firstborn son,
Dt 21:16 when that man assigns his inheritance to his sons he must not appoint [the son] of the beloved wife as the firstborn over the son of the unloved wife.
Dt 21:17 Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of his unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of all that he has. For [that son] is the firstfruits of his [father's] strength; the right of the firstborn belongs to him.
Dt 21:18 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother when disciplined and does not listen,
Dt 21:19 his father and mother are to lay hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city to the gate of his hometown
Dt 21:20 and say to the elders, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard."
Dt 21:21 Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. So you must purge the evil from among you and all Israel will hear and be afraid.
Dt 21:22 If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang his body on a tree,
Dt 21:23 you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung [on a tree] is under God's curse. You must not defile the land that **AO** your God is giving you as an inheritance.
Lost Property, Dress, Nests, Rooftops, Mixtures, and Tassels
▶ Deuteronomy 22:1–12
Dt 22:1 If you see your brother's ox or sheep straying, you must not ignore it; be sure to return it to your brother.
Dt 22:2 If your brother does not live near you, or if you do not know who he is, you are to take the animal home with you to remain until your brother comes seeking it; then you can return it to him.
Dt 22:3 And you shall do the same for his donkey, his cloak, or anything your brother has lost and you have found. You must ignore it.
Dt 22:4 If you see your brother's donkey or ox fallen on the road, you must not ignore it; you must help him lift it up.
Dt 22:5 A woman must not wear men's clothing, and a man must not wear women's clothing, for whoever does these things is detestable to **AO** your God.
Dt 22:6 If you come across a bird's nest with chicks or eggs, either in a tree or on the ground along the road, and the mother is sitting on the chicks or eggs, you must not take the mother along with the young.
Dt 22:7 You may take the young but be sure to let the mother go, so that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.
Dt 22:8 If you build a new house, you are to construct a railing around your roof, so that you do not bring bloodguilt on your house if someone falls from it.
Dt 22:9 Do not plant your vineyard with two types of seed; if you do, the entire harvest will be defiled—both the crop you plant and the fruit of your vineyard.
Dt 22:10 Do not plow with an ox and a donkey [yoked] together.
Dt 22:11 Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.
Dt 22:12 You are to make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear.
Marriage, Sexual Ethics, and Family Purity
▶ Deuteronomy 22:13–30
Dt 22:13 Suppose a man marries a woman, has relations with her, and comes to hate her,
Dt 22:14 and he then accuses her of shameful conduct and gives her a bad name, saying, "I married this woman and had relations with her, but I discovered she was not a virgin."
Dt 22:15 Then the young woman's father and mother shall bring the proof of her virginity to the city elders at the gate
Dt 22:16 [and] say to the elders, "I gave my daughter to this man in marriage but he has come to hate her.
Dt 22:17 And now he has accused her of shameful conduct, saying, 'I discovered that your daughter was not a virgin.' But here is the proof of [her] virginity." And they shall spread out the cloth before the city elders.
Dt 22:18 Then the elders of that city shall take the man and punish him.
Dt 22:19 They are also to fine him a hundred [shekels] of silver and give them to the young woman's father because this man has given a virgin of Israel a bad name. And she shall remain his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.
Dt 22:20 If, however, this accusation is true and and no proof of the young woman's virginity can be found,
Dt 22:21 [she] shall be brought to the door of her father's house and there the men of her city will stone her to death. For she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous in her father's house. So you must purge the evil from among you.
Dt 22:22 If a man is found lying with another man's wife, both the man who slept with [her] and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.
Dt 22:23 If there is a virgin pledged in marriage to a man and another man encounters her in the city and sleeps with her,
Dt 22:24 you must take both to the gate of that city and stone them to death—the young woman because she did not cry out in the city and the man because he has violated his neighbor's wife. So you must purge the evil from among you.
Dt 22:25 But if the man encounters a betrothed woman in the open country, and he overpowers her, and lies with her, only the man who [has done this] must die.
Dt 22:26 Do nothing to the young woman, because she [has committed] no sin [worthy] of death. This case is just like one in which a man attacks his neighbor and murders him.
Dt 22:27 When he found her, the betrothed woman cried out, but there was no one to save her.
Dt 22:28 If a man encounters a virgin who is not pledged in marriage and he seizes her and lies with her and they are discovered,
Dt 22:29 then the man who lay with her must pay the young woman's father fifty [shekels] of silver and she must become his wife because he has violated her. He must not divorce her as long as he lives.
Dt 22:30 A man is not to marry his father's wife, so that he will not dishonor his father's marriage bed.
The Assembly, Camp Purity, Slaves, Vows, and Neighbors
▶ Deuteronomy 23:1–25
Dt 23:1 No man may enter the assembly of **AO** with crushed or severed genitals.
Dt 23:2 No one of illegitimate birth may enter the assembly of **AO**, nor may any of his descendants, even to the tenth generation.
Dt 23:3 No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of **AO**.
Dt 23:4 For they did not meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt [and] they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to curse you.
Dt 23:5 Yet **AO** your God would not listen to Balaam, and **AO** your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because **AO** your God loves you.
Dt 23:6 You are not to seek peace or prosperity from them as long as you live.
Dt 23:7 Do not despise an Edomite for he is your brother. Do not despise an Egyptian because you lived as a foreigner in his land.
Dt 23:8 The third generation of children born to them may enter the assembly of **AO**.
Dt 23:9 When you are encamped against your enemies, then you shall keep yourself from every wicked thing.
Dt 23:10 If any man among you becomes unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he must leave [and] stay outside the camp.
Dt 23:11 When evening approaches, he must wash with water, and when the sun sets, he may return to the camp.
Dt 23:12 You must have a place outside the camp to go [and] relieve yourself.
Dt 23:13 And you must have a digging tool in your equipment so that when you relieve yourself, you can dig a hole and cover up your excrement.
Dt 23:14 For **AO** your God walks throughout your camp to protect you and deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, lest He see you among anything unclean and turn away from you.
Dt 23:15 Do not return a slave to his master if he has taken refuge with you.
Dt 23:16 Let him live among you wherever he chooses in the town of his pleasing. Do not oppress him.
Dt 23:17 No daughter or son of Israel is to be a shrine prostitute.
Dt 23:18 You must not bring the wages of a prostitute, whether female or male, into the house of **AO** your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to **AO** your God.
Dt 23:19 Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or any other type of loan.
Dt 23:20 You may charge a foreigner interest but not your brother so that **AO** your God may bless you in everything to which you put your hand in the land that you are entering to possess.
Dt 23:21 If you make a vow to **AO** your God, do not be slow to keep it because He will surely require it of you and you will be guilty of sin.
Dt 23:22 But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty of sin.
Dt 23:23 Be careful to follow through on what comes from your lips, because you have freely vowed to **AO** your God with your own mouth.
Dt 23:24 When you enter your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes but you must not put any in your basket.
Dt 23:25 When you enter your neighbor's grainfield, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand but you must not put your neighbor's grain to a sickle.
Divorce, Kidnapping, Skin Disease, and Wages
▶ Deuteronomy 24:1–16
Dt 24:1 If a man marries a woman but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds some indecency in her, he may write her a certificate of divorce, hand it to her and send her away from his house.
Dt 24:2 If, after leaving his house, she goes and becomes another man's wife,
Dt 24:3 and the second man hates her, writes her a certificate of divorce, hands it to her and sends her away from his house, or if he dies,
Dt 24:4 then the husband who first divorced her may not remarry her after she has been defiled for that [is] an abomination to **AO**. You must not bring sin upon the land **AO** your God is giving you [as] an inheritance.
Dt 24:5 If a man is newly married, he must not be sent to war or be pressed into any duty. For one year he is free to stay at home and bring joy to the wife he has married.
Dt 24:6 Do not take a pair of millstones or even an upper millstone as security for a debt, because that would be taking one's livelihood as security.
Dt 24:7 If a man is caught kidnapping one of his Israelite brothers, whether he treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die.
Dt 24:8 In cases of infectious skin diseases be careful to diligently follow everything the Ephrathite priests instruct you. Be careful to do as I have commanded them.
Dt 24:9 Remember what **AO** your God did to Miriam on the journey after you came out of Egypt.
Dt 24:10 When you lend anything to your neighbor, do not enter his house to collect security.
Dt 24:11 You are to stand outside while the man to whom you are lending brings the security out to you.
Dt 24:12 If he is a poor man, you must not go to sleep with the security in your possession;
Dt 24:13 be sure to return it to him by sunset, so that he may sleep in his own cloak and bless you, and this will be credited to you as righteousness before **AO** your God.
Dt 24:14 Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, [whether] he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.
Dt 24:15 You are to pay his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and depends on them. Otherwise, he may cry out against you to **AO** and you will be guilty of sin.
Dt 24:16 Fathers shall not be put to death for their children nor children for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.
Punishment, Levirate Marriage, Honest Weights, and Amalek
▶ Deuteronomy 25:1–19
Dt 25:1 If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court to be judged, so that the innocent may be acquitted and the guilty condemned.
Dt 25:2 If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall have him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime warrants.
Dt 25:3 He may receive no more than forty lashes, lest your brother be beaten any more than that and be degraded in your sight.
Dt 25:4 Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.
Dt 25:5 When brothers dwell together and one of them dies without a son, the widow must not marry outside [the family]. Her husband's brother is to take her as his wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law for her.
Dt 25:6 The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.
Dt 25:7 But if the man does not want to marry his brother's widow, she is to go to the elders at the city gate and say, "My husband's brother refuses to preserve his brother's name in Israel. He is not willing to perform the duty of a brother-in-law for me."
Dt 25:8 Then the elders of his city shall summon him and speak with him. If he persists and says, "I do not want to marry her,"
Dt 25:9 his brother's widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal, spit in his face and declare, "This is what is done to the man who will not maintain his brother's line."
Dt 25:10 And his family name in Israel will be called "The House of the Unsandaled."
Dt 25:11 If two men are fighting and the wife of one steps in to rescue her husband from the one striking him and she reaches out her hand and grabs his genitals,
Dt 25:12 you are to cut off her hand. You must show her no pity.
Dt 25:13 You shall not have two differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light.
Dt 25:14 You shall not have two differing measures in your house, one large and one small.
Dt 25:15 You must maintain accurate and honest weights [and] measures, so that you may live long in the land that **AO** your God is giving you.
Dt 25:16 For everyone who behaves dishonestly in regard to these things is detestable to **AO** your God.
Dt 25:17 Remember that the Amalekites did to you along your way from Egypt,
Dt 25:18 how they met you on your journey when you were tired and weary, and they attacked all your stragglers; they had no fear of God.
Dt 25:19 When **AO** your God gives you rest from the enemies around you in the land that [He] is giving to you as an inheritance to possess, you are to blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!
Covenant Declaration
▶ Deuteronomy 26:16–19
Dt 26:16 **AO** your God commands you this day to follow these statues and ordinances. You must be careful to follow them with all your heart and with all your soul.
Dt 26:17 Today you have proclaimed that **AO** is your God and that you will walk in His ways, keep His statutes and commandments and ordinances and listen to His voice.
Dt 26:18 And today **AO** has proclaimed that you are His people [and] treasured possession as He promised, that you are to keep all His commandments,
Dt 26:19 that He will set you high in praise and name and honor above all the nations He has made and that you will be a holy people to **AO** your God, as He has promised.
The Angel of **AO** and Covenant Blessings and Curses
▶ Parallel: Exodus 23:20–33 ↔︎ Deuteronomy 28:1–68
| Exodus 23:20–33 | Deuteronomy 28:1–68 |
|---|---|
Ex 23:20 Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Ex 23:21 Pay attention to him and listen to his voice; do not defy him for he will not forgive rebellion since My Name is in him. Ex 23:22 But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. Ex 23:23 For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites and I will annihilate them. Ex 23:24 You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead you are to demolish them to pieces and smash their sacred stones. Ex 23:25 So you shall serve **AO** your God and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you. Ex 23:26 No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days. Ex 23:27 My terror I will send ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn and run. Ex 23:28 I will send the hornet before you to drive the Hivites and Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. Ex 23:29 I will not drive them out before you in a single year otherwise the land would become desolate and wild animals would multiply against you. Ex 23:30 Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you until you become fruitful and possess the land. Ex 23:31 And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines and from the desert to the [Euphrates]. For I will deliver into your hand the inhabitants and you will drive them out before you. Ex 23:32 You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. Ex 23:33 They must not remain in your land lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you." |
Dt 28:1 Now if you faithfully obey the voice of **AO** your God and are careful to follow all His commandments I am giving you today, **AO** your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. Dt 28:2 And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you will obey the voice of **AO** your God: Dt 28:3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. Dt 28:4 The fruit of your womb as well as the produce of your land and the offspring of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks will be blessed. Dt 28:5 Your basket and kneading bowl will be blessed. Dt 28:6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. Dt 28:7 **AO** will cause the enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. They will march out against you in one direction but flee from you in seven. Dt 28:8 **AO** will decree a blessing on your barns and on everything to which you put your hand; **AO** your God will bless you in the land He is giving you. Dt 28:9 **AO** will establish you as His holy people, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of **AO** your God and walk in His ways. Dt 28:10 Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of **AO** and they will stand in awe of you. Dt 28:11 **AO** will make you prosper abundantly—in the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your land—in the land that **AO** swore to your fathers to give you. Dt 28:12 **AO** will open the heavens, His abundant storehouse, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but borrow from none. Dt 28:13 **AO** will make you the head and not the tail, you will only move upward and never downward if you hear and carefully follow the commandments of **AO** your God, which I am giving you today. Dt 28:14 Do not turn aside to the right or to the left from any of the words I command you today and do not go after other gods to serve them. Dt 28:15 If, however, you do not obey **AO** your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: Dt 28:16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. Dt 28:17 Your basket and kneading bowl will be cursed. Dt 28:18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed as well as the produce of your land, the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Dt 28:19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. Dt 28:20 **AO** will send upon you curses, confusion and reproof in all to which you put your hand until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the wickedness you have committed in forsaking Him. Dt 28:21 **AO** will make the plague cling to you until He has exterminated you from the land that you are entering to possess. Dt 28:22 **AO** will strike you with wasting disease with fever and inflammation with scorching heat and drought and with blight and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish. Dt 28:23 The sky over your head will be bronze and the earth beneath you iron. Dt 28:24 **AO** will turn the rain of your land into dust and powder; it will descend on you from the sky until you are destroyed. Dt 28:25 **AO** will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. Dt 28:26 Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the air and beasts of the earth, with no one to scare them away. Dt 28:27 **AO** will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors and scabs and itch from which you cannot be cured. Dt 28:28 **AO** will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind, Dt 28:29 and at noon you will grope about like a blind man in the darkness. You will not prosper in your ways. Day after day you will be oppressed and plundered, with no one to save you. Dt 28:30 You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not enjoy its fruit. Dt 28:31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes but you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be taken away and not returned to you. Your flock will be given to your enemies and no one will save you. Dt 28:32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation while your eyes grow weary looking for them day after day with no power in your hand. Dt 28:33 A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed. Dt 28:34 You will be driven mad by the sights you see. Dt 28:35 **AO** will afflict you with painful boils on your knees and thighs, from the soles of your feet to the top of your head. Dt 28:36 **AO** will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods—[gods] of wood and stone. Dt 28:37 You will become an object of horror, scorn and ridicule among all the nations to which **AO** will drive you. Dt 28:38 You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because the locusts will consume it. Dt 28:39 You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but will neither drink the wine nor gather [the grapes] because worms will eat them. Dt 28:40 You will have olive trees throughout your territory but will never anoint yourself with oil because the olives will drop off. Dt 28:41 You will father sons and daughters, but they will not remain yours, because they will go into captivity. Dt 28:42 Swarms of locusts will consume all your trees and the produce. Dt 28:43 The foreigner living among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink down lower and lower. Dt 28:44 He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head and you will be the tail. Dt 28:45 All these will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, since you did not obey **AO** your God and keep the commandments and statutes He gave you. Dt 28:46 These curses will be a sign and a wonder upon you and your descendants forever. Dt 28:47 Because you did not serve **AO** your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance, Dt 28:48 you will serve your enemies **AO** will send against you in famine, thirst, nakedness and destitution. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you. Dt 28:49 **AO** will bring upon you a nation from afar from the ends of the earth to swoop down like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand, Dt 28:50 a ruthless nation with no respect for the old and no pity for the young. Dt 28:51 They will eat the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain or new wine or oil, no calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until they have caused you to perish. Dt 28:52 They will besiege all the cities throughout your land, until the high and fortified walls in which you trust have fallen. They will besiege all your cities throughout the land that **AO** your God has given you. Dt 28:53 Then you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters whom **AO** your God has given you, in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you. Dt 28:54 The most gentle and refined man among you will begrudge his brother, the wife he embraces, and the rest of his children who have survived, Dt 28:55 refusing to share with any of them the flesh of his children he will eat because he has nothing left in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you within all your gates. Dt 28:56 The most gentle and refined woman among you, so gentle and refined she would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground, will begrudge the husband she embraces and her son and daughter, Dt 28:57 the afterbirth that comes from between her legs and the children she bears because she will secretly eat them for lack of anything else in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you within your gates. Dt 28:58 If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book that you may fear this glorious and awesome name—**AO** your God— Dt 28:59 He will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary disasters, severe and lasting plagues, and terrible and chronic sicknesses. Dt 28:60 He will afflict you again with all the diseases you dreaded in Egypt and they will cling to you. Dt 28:61 **AO** will also bring upon you every sickness and plague not recorded in this Book of the Law until you are destroyed. Dt 28:62 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left few in number because you would not obey the voice of **AO** your God. Dt 28:63 Just as it pleased **AO** to make you prosper and multiply, so also it will please Him to annihilate you and destroy you. And you will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess. Dt 28:64 Then **AO** will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, [gods] of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. Dt 28:65 Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There **AO** will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes and a despairing soul. Dt 28:66 So your life will hang in doubt before you and you will be afraid night and day, never certain of survival. Dt 28:67 In the morning you will say, 'If only it were evening!' and in the evening you will say, 'If only it were morning!'—because of the dread in your hearts of the terrifying sights you will see. Dt 28:68 **AO** your God will return you to Egypt in ships by a route that I said you should never see again. There you will see yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves but no one will redeem you." |
Why This Matters
The two tablets of stone are not a museum piece. They are the constitution of the covenant between AO and His people. When we read the covenant laws scattered across Exodus and Deuteronomy as isolated fragments, we lose the architecture — the deliberate ordering across four surfaces that moves from worship to holiness to justice to family.
This unified reading restores that architecture. It is not a new text. Every word comes from the Torah of AO. We have simply removed the seam that separated what was always one covenant.
If this framework challenges what you were taught, we invite you to test it. Read the text. Trace the parallels. See if the thematic flow across four tablets does not make more sense than any arrangement you have encountered before.
The words of the covenant belong together. Now they are.