Deuteronomy 24

New Century Version

24 A man might marry a woman but later decide she doesn’t please him because he has found something bad about her. He writes out divorce papers for her, gives them to her, and sends her away from his house. ² After she leaves his house, she goes and marries another man, ³ but her second husband does not like her either. So he writes out divorce papers for her, gives them to her, and sends her away from his house. Or the second husband might die. ⁴ In either case, her first husband who divorced her must not marry her again, because she has become unclean. The Lord would hate this. Don’t bring this sin into the land the Lord your God is giving you as your own.

⁵ A man who has just married must not be sent to war or be given any other duty. He should be free to stay home for a year to make his new wife happy.

⁶ If someone owes you something, do not take his two stones for grinding grain—not even the upper one—in place of what he owes, because this is how the person makes a living.

⁷ If someone kidnaps a fellow Israelite, either to make him a slave or sell him, the kidnapper must be killed. You must get rid of the evil among you.

⁸ Be careful when someone has a skin disease. Do exactly what the priests, the Levites, teach you, being careful to do what I have commanded them. ⁹ Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on your way out of Egypt.

¹⁰ When you make a loan to your neighbors, don’t go into their homes to get something in place of it. ¹¹ Stay outside and let them go in and get what they promised you. ¹² If a poor person gives you a coat to show he will pay the loan back, don’t keep it overnight. ¹³ Give the coat back at sunset, because your neighbor needs that coat to sleep in, and he will be grateful to you. And the Lord your God will see that you have done a good thing.

¹⁴ Don’t cheat hired servants who are poor and needy, whether they are fellow Israelites or foreigners living in one of your towns. ¹⁵ Pay them each day before sunset, because they are poor and need the money. Otherwise, they may complain to the Lord about you, and you will be guilty of sin.

¹⁶ Parents must not be put to death if their children do wrong, and children must not be put to death if their parents do wrong. Each person must die for his own sin.

¹⁷ Do not be unfair to a foreigner or an orphan. Don’t take a widow’s coat to make sure she pays you back. ¹⁸ Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and the Lord your God saved you from there. That is why I am commanding you to do this.

¹⁹ When you are gathering your harvest in the field and leave behind a bundle of grain, don’t go back and get it. Leave it there for foreigners, orphans, and widows so that the Lord your God can bless everything you do. ²⁰ When you beat your olive trees to knock the olives off, don’t beat the trees a second time. Leave what is left for foreigners, orphans, and widows. ²¹ When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, don’t pick the vines a second time. Leave what is left for foreigners, orphans, and widows. ²² Remember that you were slaves in Egypt; that is why I am commanding you to do this.