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24 ¶ When a man has taken a wife and married her, and it comes to pass that she finds no favour in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her; then let him write her a bill of divorce and give it in her hand and send her out of his house.

And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.

And if the latter husband hates her and writes her a bill of divorce and gives it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband who took her to be his wife dies,

her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she is defiled, for that is abomination before the LORD; and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God gives thee for an inheritance.

¶ When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business; but he shall be free at home one year and shall cheer up his wife whom he has taken.

No man shall take the lower or the upper millstone for a pledge, for he takes a man’s life to pledge.

When a man is found stealing any of his brethren of the sons of Israel and making merchandise of him or selling him, then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put the evil away from among you.

Keep yourselves from the plague of leprosy that thou observe diligently and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you; as I commanded them, so ye shall take care to do.

Remember what the LORD thy God did unto Miriam by the way after ye were come forth out of Egypt.

10 When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into his house to take his pledge.

11 Thou shalt stand outside, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring the pledge out unto thee.

12 And if the man is poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge.

13 Without fail thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goes down that he may sleep in his own clothing and bless thee, and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the LORD thy God.

14 ¶ Thou shalt not do violence unto a hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he is of thy brethren or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates.

15 In his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor and with it sustains his life, lest he cry against thee unto the LORD, and it be sin unto thee.

16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers; each one shall be put to death for his own sin.

17 Thou shalt not twist the rights of the stranger nor of the fatherless nor take a widow’s clothing for a pledge,

18 but thou shalt remember that thou wast a slave in Egypt, and the LORD thy God ransomed thee from there; therefore, I command thee to do this thing.

19 When thou doest reap thy harvest in thy field and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to bring it; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, or for the widow, that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.

20 When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

21 When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

22 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore, I command thee to do this thing.

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.