46 Bible Verses about Law, Ot

"Whoever strikes someone so that he dies must surely be put to death. But if he does not do it with premeditation, but it happens by accident, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee. But if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill him cunningly, you will take him even from my altar that he may die.

You must appoint judges and civil servants for each tribe in all your villages that the Lord your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly. You must not pervert justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distort the words of the righteous. You must pursue justice alone so that you may live and inherit the land the Lord your God is giving you.

If your fellow Hebrew -- whether male or female -- is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant go free. If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed. You must supply them generously from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress -- as the Lord your God has blessed you, you must give to them.read more.
Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore, I am commanding you to do this thing today. However, if the servant says to you, "I do not want to leave you," because he loves you and your household, since he is well off with you, you shall take an awl and pierce a hole through his ear to the door. Then he will become your servant permanently (this applies to your female servant as well). You should not consider it difficult to let him go free, for he will have served you for six years, twice the time of a hired worker; the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

"You must not wrong a foreigner nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. "You must not afflict any widow or orphan.

Whenever you reap your harvest in your field and leave some unraked grain there, you must not return to get it; it should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow so that the Lord your God may bless all the work you do. When you beat your olive tree you must not repeat the procedure; the remaining olives belong to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard you must not do so a second time; they should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow.read more.
Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt; therefore, I am commanding you to do all this.

"'If his offering is from the flock for a burnt offering -- from the sheep or the goats -- he must present a flawless male, and must slaughter it on the north side of the altar before the Lord, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, will splash its blood against the altar's sides. Next, the one presenting the offering must cut it into parts, with its head and its suet, and the priest must arrange them on the wood which is in the fire, on the altar.read more.
Then the one presenting the offering must wash the entrails and the legs in water, and the priest must present all of it and offer it up in smoke on the altar -- it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

"'If the whole congregation of Israel strays unintentionally and the matter is not noticed by the assembly, and they violate one of the Lord's commandments, which must not be violated, so they become guilty, the assembly must present a young bull for a sin offering when the sin they have committed becomes known. They must bring it before the Meeting Tent, the elders of the congregation must lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord, and someone must slaughter the bull before the Lord.read more.
Then the high priest must bring some of the blood of the bull to the Meeting Tent, and that priest must dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord toward the front of the veil-canopy. He must put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before the Lord in the Meeting Tent, and all the rest of the blood he must pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. "'Then the priest must take all its fat and offer the fat up in smoke on the altar. He must do with the rest of the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering; this is what he must do with it. So the priest will make atonement on their behalf and they will be forgiven. He must bring the rest of the bull outside the camp and burn it just as he burned the first bull -- it is the sin offering of the assembly.

"'This is the law of the peace offering sacrifice which he is to present to the Lord. If he presents it on account of thanksgiving, along with the thank offering sacrifice he must present unleavened loaves mixed with olive oil, unleavened wafers smeared with olive oil, and well soaked ring-shaped loaves made of choice wheat flour mixed with olive oil. He must present this grain offering in addition to ring-shaped loaves of leavened bread which regularly accompany the sacrifice of his thanksgiving peace offering.read more.
He must present one of each kind of grain offering as a contribution offering to the Lord; it belongs to the priest who splashes the blood of the peace offering. The meat of his thanksgiving peace offering must be eaten on the day of his offering; he must not set any of it aside until morning. "'If his offering is a votive or freewill sacrifice, it may be eaten on the day he presents his sacrifice, and also the leftovers from it may be eaten on the next day, but the leftovers from the meat of the sacrifice must be burned up in the fire on the third day. If some of the meat of his peace offering sacrifice is ever eaten on the third day it will not be accepted; it will not be accounted to the one who presented it, since it is spoiled, and the person who eats from it will bear his punishment for iniquity.

"If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he will go out free without paying anything. If he came in by himself he will go out by himself; if he had a wife when he came in, then his wife will go out with him. If his master gave him a wife, and she bore sons or daughters, the wife and the children will belong to her master, and he will go out by himself.read more.
But if the servant should declare, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,' then his master must bring him to the judges, and he will bring him to the door or the doorposts, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.

If he came in by himself he will go out by himself; if he had a wife when he came in, then his wife will go out with him. If his master gave him a wife, and she bore sons or daughters, the wife and the children will belong to her master, and he will go out by himself. But if the servant should declare, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,'read more.
then his master must bring him to the judges, and he will bring him to the door or the doorposts, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever. "If a man sells his daughter as a female servant, she will not go out as the male servants do. If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to a foreign nation, because he has dealt deceitfully with her. If he designated her for his son, then he will deal with her according to the customary rights of daughters. If he takes another wife, he must not diminish the first one's food, her clothing, or her marital rights. If he does not provide her with these three things, then she will go out free, without paying money.

"'If your brother becomes impoverished with regard to you so that he sells himself to you, you must not subject him to slave service. He must be with you as a hired worker, as a resident foreigner; he must serve with you until the year of jubilee, but then he may go free, he and his children with him, and may return to his family and to the property of his ancestors.read more.
Since they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they must not be sold in a slave sale. You must not rule over him harshly, but you must fear your God. "'As for your male and female slaves who may belong to you -- you may buy male and female slaves from the nations all around you. Also you may buy slaves from the children of the foreigners who reside with you, and from their families that are with you, whom they have fathered in your land, they may become your property. You may give them as inheritance to your children after you to possess as property. You may enslave them perpetually. However, as for your brothers the Israelites, no man may rule over his brother harshly. "'If a resident foreigner who is with you prospers and your brother becomes impoverished with regard to him so that he sells himself to a resident foreigner who is with you or to a member of a foreigner's family, after he has sold himself he retains a right of redemption. One of his brothers may redeem him, or his uncle or his cousin may redeem him, or anyone of the rest of his blood relatives -- his family -- may redeem him, or if he prospers he may redeem himself. He must calculate with the one who bought him the number of years from the year he sold himself to him until the jubilee year, and the cost of his sale must correspond to the number of years, according to the rate of wages a hired worker would have earned while with him. If there are still many years, in keeping with them he must refund most of the cost of his purchase for his redemption, but if only a few years remain until the jubilee, he must calculate for himself in keeping with the remaining years and refund it for his redemption. He must be with the one who bought him like a yearly hired worker. The one who bought him must not rule over him harshly in your sight. If, however, he is not redeemed in these ways, he must go free in the jubilee year, he and his children with him, because the Israelites are my own servants; they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

But if there is serious injury, then you will give a life for a life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'

"If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, he must pay back five head of cattle for the ox, and four sheep for the one sheep.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses: "When a person sins and commits a trespass against the Lord by deceiving his fellow citizen in regard to something held in trust, or a pledge, or something stolen, or by extorting something from his fellow citizen, or has found something lost and denies it and swears falsely concerning any one of the things that someone might do to sin -- read more.
when it happens that he sins and he is found guilty, then he must return whatever he had stolen, or whatever he had extorted, or the thing that he had held in trust, or the lost thing that he had found, or anything about which he swears falsely. He must restore it in full and add one fifth to it; he must give it to its owner when he is found guilty. Then he must bring his guilt offering to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels, for a guilt offering to the priest. So the priest will make atonement on his behalf before the Lord and he will be forgiven for whatever he has done to become guilty."

But Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, half of my possessions I now give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone of anything, I am paying back four times as much!"

"You must not wrong a foreigner nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him.

So you must love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

"You must not follow a crowd in doing evil things; in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice, and you must not show partiality to a poor man in his lawsuit.

"'You must not deal unjustly in judgment: you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. You must judge your fellow citizen fairly.

For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, in order that your ox and your donkey may rest and that your female servant's son and any hired help may refresh themselves.

"Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart as holy. For six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates.read more.
For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

You are to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of Abib, for at that time you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before me empty-handed. "You are also to observe the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors that you have sown in the field, and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year when you have gathered in your harvest out of the field.

So you will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very day I brought your regiments out from the land of Egypt, and so you must keep this day perpetually as a lasting ordinance.

Three times a year all your males must appear before the Lord your God in the place he chooses for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Temporary Shelters; and they must not appear before him empty-handed.

These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to obey as long as you live in the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess. You must by all means destroy all the places where the nations you are about to dispossess worship their gods -- on the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree. You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, burn up their sacred Asherah poles, and cut down the images of their gods; you must eliminate their very memory from that place.read more.
You must not worship the Lord your God the way they worship. But you must seek only the place he chooses from all your tribes to establish his name as his place of residence, and you must go there. And there you must take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. Both you and your families must feast there before the Lord your God and rejoice in all the output of your labor with which he has blessed you.

Suppose your own full brother, your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have previously known, the gods of the surrounding people (whether near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other). You must not give in to him or even listen to him; do not feel sympathy for him or spare him or cover up for him.

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, "Tell the Israelites: 'This is the kind of creature you may eat from among all the animals that are on the land. You may eat any among the animals that has a divided hoof (the hooves are completely split in two) and that also chews the cud.read more.
However, you must not eat these from among those that chew the cud and have divided hooves: The camel is unclean to you because it chews the cud even though its hoof is not divided. The rock badger is unclean to you because it chews the cud even though its hoof is not divided. The hare is unclean to you because it chews the cud even though its hoof is not divided. The pig is unclean to you because its hoof is divided (the hoof is completely split in two), even though it does not chew the cud. You must not eat from their meat and you must not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you. "'These you can eat from all creatures that are in the water: Any creatures in the water that have both fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the streams, you may eat. But any creatures that do not have both fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the streams, from all the swarming things of the water and from all the living creatures that are in the water, are detestable to you. Since they are detestable to you, you must not eat their meat and their carcass you must detest. Any creature in the water that does not have both fins and scales is detestable to you. "'These you are to detest from among the birds -- they must not be eaten, because they are detestable: the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, the kite, the buzzard of any kind, every kind of crow, the eagle owl, the short-eared owl, the long-eared owl, the hawk of any kind, the little owl, the cormorant, the screech owl, the white owl, the scops owl, the osprey, the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat. "'Every winged swarming thing that walks on all fours is detestable to you. However, this you may eat from all the winged swarming things that walk on all fours, which have jointed legs to hop with on the land. These you may eat from them: the locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind, the grasshopper of any kind. But any other winged swarming thing that has four legs is detestable to you.

You must not eat any forbidden thing. These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the ibex, the gazelle, the deer, the wild goat, the antelope, the wild oryx, and the mountain sheep.read more.
You may eat any animal that has hooves divided into two parts and that chews the cud. However, you may not eat the following animals among those that chew the cud or those that have divided hooves: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger. (Although they chew the cud, they do not have divided hooves and are therefore ritually impure to you). Also the pig is ritually impure to you; though it has divided hooves, it does not chew the cud. You may not eat their meat or even touch their remains. These you may eat from among water creatures: anything with fins and scales you may eat, but whatever does not have fins and scales you may not eat; it is ritually impure to you. All ritually clean birds you may eat. These are the ones you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, the kite, the black kite, the dayyah after its species, every raven after its species, the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, the falcon after its species, the little owl, the long-eared owl, the white owl, the jackdaw, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, the stork, the heron after its species, the hoopoe, the bat, and any winged thing on the ground are impure to you -- they may not be eaten. You may eat any clean bird.

You must be certain to tithe all the produce of your seed that comes from the field year after year.

"'Any tithe of the land, from the grain of the land or from the fruit of the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.

for I am the Lord your God and you are to sanctify yourselves and be holy because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any of the swarming things that creep on the ground,

The Lord spoke to Moses: "Speak to the whole congregation of the Israelites and tell them, 'You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

for it is written, "You shall be holy, because I am holy."

"'If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd he must present it as a flawless male; he must present it at the entrance of the Meeting Tent for its acceptance before the Lord.

"'When a person presents a grain offering to the Lord, his offering must consist of choice wheat flour, and he must pour olive oil on it and put frankincense on it. Then he must bring it to the sons of Aaron, the priests, and the priest must scoop out from there a handful of its choice wheat flour and some of its olive oil in addition to all of its frankincense, and the priest must offer its memorial portion up in smoke on the altar -- it is a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

"'Now if his offering is a peace offering sacrifice, if he presents an offering from the herd, he must present before the Lord a flawless male or a female. He must lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must splash the blood against the altar's sides.

"'If an ordinary individual sins by straying unintentionally when he violates one of the Lord's commandments which must not be violated, and he pleads guilty or his sin that he committed is made known to him, he must bring a flawless female goat as his offering for the sin that he committed.

"If a person sins and violates any of the Lord's commandments which must not be violated (although he did not know it at the time, but later realizes he is guilty), then he will bear his punishment for iniquity and must bring a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels, for a guilt offering to the priest. So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his error which he committed (although he himself had not known it) and he will be forgiven.

"When someone has a swelling or a scab or a bright spot on the skin of his body that may become a diseased infection, he must be brought to Aaron the priest or one of his sons, the priests.

"'When the man with the discharge becomes clean from his discharge he is to count off for himself seven days for his purification, and he must wash his clothes, bathe in fresh water, and be clean.

"'No man is to approach any close relative to have sexual intercourse with her. I am the Lord.

The Lord spoke to Moses: "The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It is to be a holy assembly for you, and you must humble yourselves and present a gift to the Lord. You must not do any work on this particular day, because it is a day of atonement to make atonement for yourselves before the Lord your God.read more.
Indeed, any person who does not behave with humility on this particular day will be cut off from his people. As for any person who does any work on this particular day, I will exterminate that person from the midst of his people! You must not do any work. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all the places where you live. It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves on the ninth day of the month in the evening, from evening until evening you must observe your Sabbath."

and the Lord said to Moses: "Tell Aaron your brother that he must not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil-canopy in front of the atonement plate that is on the ark so that he may not die, for I will appear in the cloud over the atonement plate. "In this way Aaron is to enter into the sanctuary -- with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He must put on a holy linen tunic, linen leggings are to cover his body, and he is to wrap himself with a linen sash and wrap his head with a linen turban. They are holy garments, so he must bathe his body in water and put them on.read more.
He must also take two male goats from the congregation of the Israelites for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. Then Aaron is to present the sin offering bull which is for himself and is to make atonement on behalf of himself and his household. He must then take the two goats and stand them before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and Aaron is to cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and one lot for Azazel. Aaron must then present the goat which has been designated by lot for the Lord, and he is to make it a sin offering, but the goat which has been designated by lot for Azazel is to be stood alive before the Lord to make atonement on it by sending it away to Azazel into the wilderness. "Aaron is to present the sin offering bull which is for himself, and he is to make atonement on behalf of himself and his household. He is to slaughter the sin offering bull which is for himself, and take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord and a full double handful of finely ground fragrant incense, and bring them inside the veil-canopy. He must then put the incense on the fire before the Lord, and the cloud of incense will cover the atonement plate which is above the ark of the testimony, so that he will not die. Then he is to take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the eastern face of the atonement plate, and in front of the atonement plate he is to sprinkle some of the blood seven times with his finger. "He must then slaughter the sin offering goat which is for the people. He is to bring its blood inside the veil-canopy, and he is to do with its blood just as he did to the blood of the bull: He is to sprinkle it on the atonement plate and in front of the atonement plate. So he is to make atonement for the holy place from the impurities of the Israelites and from their transgressions with regard to all their sins, and thus he is to do for the Meeting Tent which resides with them in the midst of their impurities. Nobody is to be in the Meeting Tent when he enters to make atonement in the holy place until he goes out, and he has made atonement on his behalf, on behalf of his household, and on behalf of the whole assembly of Israel. "Then he is to go out to the altar which is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it all around on the horns of the altar. Then he is to sprinkle on it some of the blood with his finger seven times, and cleanse and consecrate it from the impurities of the Israelites. "When he has finished purifying the holy place, the Meeting Tent, and the altar, he is to present the live goat. Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins, and thus he is to put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man standing ready. The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible land, so he is to send the goat away in the wilderness. "Aaron must then enter the Meeting Tent and take off the linen garments which he had put on when he entered the sanctuary, and leave them there. Then he must bathe his body in water in a holy place, put on his clothes, and go out and make his burnt offering and the people's burnt offering. So he is to make atonement on behalf of himself and the people. "Then he is to offer up the fat of the sin offering in smoke on the altar, and the one who sent the goat away to Azazel must wash his clothes, bathe his body in water, and afterward he may reenter the camp. The bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought to make atonement in the holy place, must be brought outside the camp and their hide, their flesh, and their dung must be burned up, and the one who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may reenter the camp. "This is to be a perpetual statute for you. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you must humble yourselves and do no work of any kind, both the native citizen and the foreigner who resides in your midst, for on this day atonement is to be made for you to cleanse you from all your sins; you must be clean before the Lord. It is to be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves. It is a perpetual statute. "The priest who is anointed and ordained to act as high priest in place of his father is to make atonement. He is to put on the linen garments, the holy garments, and he is to purify the Most Holy Place, he is to purify the Meeting Tent and the altar, and he is to make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. This is to be a perpetual statute for you to make atonement for the Israelites for all their sins once a year." So he did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

"'On the tenth day of this seventh month you are to have a holy assembly. You must humble yourselves; you must not do any work on it. But you must offer a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord, one young bull, one ram, and seven lambs one year old, all of them without blemish. Their grain offering must be of finely ground flour mixed with olive oil, three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram,read more.
and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs, along with one male goat for a purification offering, in addition to the purification offering for atonement and the continual burnt offering with its grain offering and their drink offerings.