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Various Laws

24 This is what you must do if a husband writes out a certificate of divorce, gives it to his wife, and makes her leave his house. (He divorced her because he found out something indecent about her and she no longer pleased him.) She might marry another man after she leaves his house. If her second husband doesn’t love her and divorces her, or if he dies, her first husband is not allowed to marry her again. She has become unclean.[a] This would be disgusting in Yahweh’s presence. Don’t pollute with sin the land that Yahweh your Elohim is giving you as your property.

A man who has recently been married will be free from military duty or any other public service. For one year he is free to stay at home and make his new wife happy.

Never let a family’s handmill for grinding flour—or even part of a handmill—be taken to guarantee a loan. The family wouldn’t be able to prepare food in order to stay alive.

Whoever kidnaps another Israelite must die. The kidnapper must die, whether he treated the other person like a slave[b] or sold him. You must get rid of this evil.

Guard against outbreaks of serious skin diseases. Be very careful to do exactly as the Levitical priests instruct you. Make sure you do what I commanded them. Remember what Yahweh your Elohim did to Miriam on your trip from Egypt.

10 When you make a loan to your neighbor, don’t go into his house to take a security deposit. 11 Wait outside, and the person to whom you’re making the loan will bring the deposit out to you. 12 If the person is poor, don’t keep the coat you took as a deposit overnight. 13 Make sure you bring it back to him at sunset. When he wears his coat to bed that night, he’ll bless you. You will have done the right thing in the presence of Yahweh your Elohim.

14 Don’t withhold pay from hired workers who are poor and needy, whether they are Israelites or foreigners living in one of your cities. 15 Pay them each day before sunset because they are poor and need their pay. Otherwise, they will complain to Yahweh about you, and you will be condemned for your sin.

16 Parents must never be put to death for the crimes of their children, and children must never be put to death for the crimes of their parents. Each person must be put to death for his own crime.

17 Never deprive foreigners and orphans of justice. And never take widows’ clothes to guarantee a loan. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and Yahweh your Elohim freed you from slavery. So I’m commanding you to do this.

19 This is what you must do when you’re harvesting wheat in your field. If you forget to bring in one of the bundles of wheat, don’t go back to get it. Leave it there for foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then Yahweh your Elohim will bless you in everything you do.

20 When you harvest olives from your trees, never knock down all of them. Leave some for foreigners, orphans, and widows.

21 When you pick the grapes in your vineyard, don’t pick all of them. Leave some for foreigners, orphans, and widows. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. So I’m commanding you to do this.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 24:4 “Unclean” refers to anything that is not presentable to God.
  2. Deuteronomy 24:7 Hebrew meaning of “treated . . . like a slave” uncertain.

24 If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him(A) because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce,(B) gives it to her and sends her from his house, and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the Lord. Do not bring sin upon the land the Lord(C) your God is giving you as an inheritance.

If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married.(D)

Do not take a pair of millstones—not even the upper one—as security for a debt, because that would be taking a person’s livelihood as security.(E)

If someone is caught kidnapping a fellow Israelite and treating or selling them as a slave, the kidnapper must die.(F) You must purge the evil from among you.(G)

In cases of defiling skin diseases,[a] be very careful to do exactly as the Levitical(H) priests instruct you. You must follow carefully what I have commanded them.(I) Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam along the way after you came out of Egypt.(J)

10 When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into their house to get what is offered to you as a pledge.(K) 11 Stay outside and let the neighbor to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you. 12 If the neighbor is poor, do not go to sleep with their pledge(L) in your possession. 13 Return their cloak by sunset(M) so that your neighbor may sleep in it.(N) Then they will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the Lord your God.(O)

14 Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.(P) 15 Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor(Q) and are counting on it.(R) Otherwise they may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.(S)

16 Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.(T)

17 Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless(U) of justice,(V) or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt(W) and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.

19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it.(X) Leave it for the foreigner,(Y) the fatherless and the widow,(Z) so that the Lord your God may bless(AA) you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time.(AB) Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. 21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.(AC)

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 24:8 The Hebrew word for defiling skin diseases, traditionally translated “leprosy,” was used for various diseases affecting the skin.