¹1 “If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and cfour sheep for a sheep. ²2 If a thief is found dbreaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him, ³but if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. He3 shall surely pay. If he has nothing, then ehe shall be sold for his theft. ⁴If the stolen beast fis found alive in his possession, whether it is an ox or a donkey or a sheep, ghe shall pay double.

⁵“If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over, or lets his beast loose and it feeds in another man's field, he shall make restitution from the best in his own field and in his own vineyard.

⁶“If fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that the stacked grain or the standing grain or the field is consumed, he who started the fire shall make full restitution.

⁷“If a man gives to his neighbor money or goods to keep safe, and it is stolen from the man's house, then, if the thief is found, ghe shall pay double. ⁸If the thief is not found, the owner of the house shall come near to God to show whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor's property. ⁹For every breach of trust, whether it is for an ox, for a donkey, for a sheep, for a cloak, or for any kind of lost thing, of which one says, ‘This is it,’ the case of both parties shall come before God. The one whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor.

¹⁰“If a man gives to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep safe, and it dies or is injured or is driven away, without anyone seeing it, ¹¹han oath by the Lord shall be between them both to see whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor's property. The owner shall accept the oath, and he shall not make restitution. ¹²But if iit is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner. ¹³If it is torn by beasts, let him bring it as evidence. He shall not make restitution for what has been torn.

¹⁴“If a man borrows anything of his neighbor, and it is injured or dies, the owner not being with it, he shall make full restitution. ¹⁵If the owner was with it, he shall not make restitution; if it was hired, it came for its hiring fee.4

Laws About Social Justice

¹⁶j“If a man seduces a virgin5 who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price6 for her and make her his wife. ¹⁷If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, jhe shall pay money equal to the kbride-price for virgins.

¹⁸l“You shall not permit a sorceress to live.

¹⁹m“Whoever lies with an animal shall be put to death.

²⁰n“Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction.7

²¹o“You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. ²²pYou shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. ²³If you do mistreat them, and they qcry out to me, I will surely rhear their cry, ²⁴and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and syour wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

²⁵t“If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him. ²⁶uIf ever you take your neighbor's cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, ²⁷for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep? And if he qcries to me, I will hear, for I am vcompassionate.

²⁸w“You shall not revile God, nor wcurse a ruler of your people.

²⁹“You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. xThe firstborn of your sons you shall give to me. ³⁰yYou shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep: zseven days it shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to me.

³¹a“You shall be consecrated to me. Therefore byou shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field; cyou shall throw it to the dogs.

The Word Became Flesh

¹aIn the beginning was bthe Word, and cthe Word was with God, and dthe Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³eAll things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴fIn him was life,1 and gthe life was the light of men. ⁵hThe light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶There was a man isent from God, whose name was jJohn. ⁷He came as a kwitness, to bear witness about the light, lthat all might believe through him. ⁸mHe was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

⁹nThe true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet othe world did not know him. ¹¹He came to phis own,2 and qhis own people3 rdid not receive him. ¹²But to all who did receive him, swho believed in his name, the gave the right uto become vchildren of God, ¹³who wwere born, xnot of blood ynor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴And zthe Word abecame flesh and bdwelt among us, cand we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son4 from the Father, full of dgrace and etruth. ¹⁵(fJohn bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, g‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶For from hhis fullness we have all received, igrace upon grace.5 ¹⁷For jthe law was given through Moses; kgrace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸lNo one has ever seen God; mthe only God,6 who is at the Father's side,7 nhe has made him known.

The Testimony of John the Baptist

¹⁹And this is the otestimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, p“Who are you?” ²⁰qHe confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹And they asked him, “What then? rAre you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you sthe Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²²So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³He said, “I am tthe voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight8 the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

²⁴(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) ²⁵They asked him, u“Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶John answered them, v“I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, ²⁷even whe who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Behold, the Lamb of God

²⁹The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, xthe Lamb of God, who ytakes away the sin zof the world! ³⁰This is he of whom I said, a‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ³¹I myself did not know him, but bfor this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³²And John cbore witness: d“I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and eit remained on him. ³³I myself did not know him, but fhe who sent me to baptize gwith water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, hthis is he who baptizes gwith the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son9 of God.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

³⁵The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, ithe Lamb of God!” ³⁷The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, j“What are you seeking?” And they said to him, k“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” ³⁹He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.10 ⁴⁰lOne of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus11 was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. ⁴¹He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found mthe Messiah” (which means Christ). ⁴²He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of nJohn. You shall be called oCephas” (which means pPeter12).

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

⁴³qThe next day Jesus decided rto go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴Now sPhilip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip found tNathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom uMoses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus vof Nazareth, wthe son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, x“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, yan Israelite indeed, zin whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸Nathanael said to him, “How ado you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹Nathanael answered him, b“Rabbi, cyou are the Son of God! You are the dKing of Israel!” ⁵⁰Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you,13 you will see eheaven opened, and fthe angels of God ascending and descending on gthe Son of Man.”

¹And the Lord xsaid to Job:

²“Shall a faultfinder ycontend with the Almighty?

He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

Job Promises Silence

³Then Job answered the Lord and said:

⁴“Behold, I am zof small account; what shall I answer you?

aI lay my hand on my mouth.

⁵I have spoken bonce, and I will not answer;

btwice, but I will proceed no further.”

The Lord Challenges Job

⁶Then the Lord canswered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

⁷d“Dress for action1 like a man;

eI will question you, and you make it known to me.

⁸Will you even put me in the wrong?

Will you condemn me that fyou may be in the right?

⁹Have you gan arm like God,

and can you thunder with ha voice like his?

¹⁰“Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;

iclothe yourself with glory and splendor.

¹¹Pour out the overflowings of your anger,

and look on everyone who is jproud and abase him.

¹²Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low

and ktread down the wicked lwhere they stand.

¹³mHide them all in nthe dust together;

bind their faces in the world below.2

¹⁴Then will I also acknowledge to you

that your own oright hand can save you.

¹⁵“Behold, Behemoth,3

which I made as I made you;

he eats pgrass like an ox.

¹⁶Behold, his strength in his loins,

and his power in the muscles of his belly.

¹⁷He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;

the sinews of his thighs are knit together.

¹⁸His bones are tubes of bronze,

his limbs like bars of iron.

¹⁹“He is qthe first of rthe works4 of God;

let him who made him bring near his sword!

²⁰For the mountains yield food for him

where all the wild beasts play.

²¹Under the lotus plants he lies,

in the shelter of sthe reeds and in the marsh.

²²For his shade the lotus trees cover him;

the willows of the brook surround him.

²³Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;

he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.

²⁴Can one take him by his eyes,5

or pierce his nose with a snare?

Paul Defends His Ministry

¹iI, Paul, myself entreat you, by the jmeekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— ²I beg of you kthat when I am present I may not have to show lboldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. ³For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. ⁴For the mweapons of nour warfare are not of the flesh but have odivine power pto destroy strongholds. ⁵We destroy arguments and qevery lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to robey Christ, ⁶sbeing ready to punish every disobedience, twhen your obedience is complete.

⁷uLook at what is before your eyes. vIf anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as whe is Christ's, xso also are we. ⁸For even if I boast a little too much of your authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. ⁹I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. ¹⁰For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but zhis bodily presence is weak, and ahis speech of no account.” ¹¹Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. ¹²Not that we dare to classify or bcompare ourselves with some of those who care commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are dwithout understanding.

¹³But we will not boast ebeyond limits, but will fboast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, gto reach even to you. ¹⁴For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. hFor we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. ¹⁵We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that ias your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be jgreatly enlarged, ¹⁶so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another's area of influence. ¹⁷“Let kthe one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” ¹⁸For it is lnot the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one mwhom the Lord commends.