1 “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. 2 ¹ If a thief is found ^dbreaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him, 3 but if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. He² shall surely pay. If he has nothing, then ^ehe shall be sold for his theft. 4 If 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. 8 If 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. 9 For 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, 11 ^han 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. 12 But if ⁱit is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner. 13 If 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. 15 If the owner was with it, he shall not make restitution; if it was hired, it came for its hiring fee.³

Laws About Social Justice

16 ^j“If a man seduces a virgin⁴ who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price⁵ for her and make her his wife. 17 If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, ^jhe shall pay money equal to the ^kbride-price for virgins.

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

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

20 ⁿ“Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction.⁶

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

25 ^t“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. 26 ^uIf ever you take your neighbor’s cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, 27 for 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.

28 ^w“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. 30 ^yYou 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.

31 ^a“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

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

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

9 ⁿThe true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet ^othe world did not know him. 11 He came to ^phis own,² and ^qhis own people^{3 r}did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, ^swho believed in his name, ^the gave the right ^uto become ^vchildren of God, 13 who ^wwere born, ^xnot of blood ^ynor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And ^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.’”) 16 For from ^hhis fullness we have all received, ⁱgrace upon grace.⁵ 17 For ^jthe law was given through Moses; ^kgrace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 ^lNo one has ever seen God; ^mthe only God,⁶ who is at the Father’s side,^{7 n}he has made him known.

The Testimony of John the Baptist

19 And this is the ^otestimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ^p“Who are you?” 20 ^qHe confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? ^rAre you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you ^sthe Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He 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.) 25 They asked him, ^u“Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, ^v“I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even ^whe who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Behold, the Lamb of God

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

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, ⁱthe Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus 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?” 39 He 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 40 ^lOne of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus¹¹ was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found ^mthe Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He 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

43 ^qThe next day Jesus decided ^rto go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now ^sPhilip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip 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.” 46 Nathanael said to him, ^x“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, ^yan Israelite indeed, ^zin whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael 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.” 49 Nathanael answered him, ^b“Rabbi, ^cyou are the Son of God! You are the ^dKing of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And 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.”

1 And the Lord ^xsaid to Job:

Job Promises Silence

3 Then Job answered the Lord and said:

The Lord Challenges Job

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

Paul Defends His Ministry

1 ⁱI, 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!— 2 I 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. 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the ^mweapons of ⁿour warfare are not of the flesh but have ^odivine power ^pto destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and ^qevery lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to ^robey Christ, 6 ^sbeing ready to punish every disobedience, ^twhen your obedience is complete.

7 ^uLook 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. 8 For 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. 9 I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. 10 For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but ^zhis bodily presence is weak, and ^ahis speech of no account.” 11 Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. 12 Not 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.

13 But 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. 14 For 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. 15 We 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, 16 so 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.” 18 For it is ^lnot the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one ^mwhom the Lord commends.