Deuteronomy 24

1 “If a man takes a wife, and he has her, and she does not find favor before his eyes because of some vileness, then he shall write a bill of divorce, and he shall give it to her hand, and he shall dismiss her from his house.

If a man takes a wife, and after they are married she is unpleasing to him because of some bad quality in her, let him give her a statement in writing and send her away from his house.

2 And when, having departed, she has married another,

And when she has gone away from him, she may become another man's wife.

3 and if he likewise hates her, and has given her a bill of divorce, and has dismissed her from his house, or if indeed he has died,

And if the second husband has no love for her and, giving her a statement in writing, sends her away; or if death comes to the second husband to whom she was married;

4 then the former husband cannot take her back as a wife. For she has been polluted and has become abominable in the sight of the Lord. Otherwise, you may cause your land, which the Lord your God will deliver to you as a possession, to sin.

Her first husband, who had sent her away, may not take her back after she has been wife to another; for that is disgusting to the Lord: and you are not to be a cause of sin in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage.

5 When a man has recently taken a wife, he shall not go out to war, nor shall any public office be enjoined upon him. Instead, he shall be free at home without guilt, so that for one year he may rejoice with his wife.

A newly married man will not have to go out with the army or undertake any business, but may be free for one year, living in his house for the comfort of his wife.

6 You shall not accept an upper or lower millstone as collateral. For then he will have placed his life with you.

No one is to take, on account of a debt, the stones with which grain is crushed: for in doing so he takes a man's living.

7 If a man has been caught soliciting his brother among the sons of Israel, and selling him in order to receive a price, then he shall be put to death. And so shall you take away the evil from your midst.

If a man takes by force one of his countrymen, the children of Israel, using him as his property or getting a price for him, that thief is to be put to death: so you are to put away evil from among you.

8 Observe diligently, lest you incur the wound of leprosy. But you shall do whatever the priests of the Levitical stock shall teach you to do, according to what I have instructed them. And you shall fulfill it carefully.

In connection with the leper's disease, take care to keep and do every detail of the teaching of the priests, the Levites: as I gave them orders, so you are to do.

9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam, along the way, as you were departing from Egypt.

Keep in mind what the Lord your God did to Miriam on the way, when you came out of Egypt.

10 When you require from your neighbor anything that he owes to you, you shall not enter into his house in order to take away the collateral.

If you let your brother have the use of anything which is yours, do not go into his house and take anything of his as a sign of his debt;

11 Instead, you shall stand outside, and he will carry out to you what he has.

But keep outside till he comes out and gives it to you.

12 But if he is poor, then the collateral shall not remain with you through the night.

If he is a poor man, do not keep his property all night;

13 Instead, you shall return it to him promptly, before the setting of the sun, so that, sleeping in his own garment, he may bless you, and you may have justice in the presence of the Lord your God.

But be certain to give it back to him when the sun goes down, so that he may have his clothing for sleeping in, and will give you his blessing: and this will be put to your account as righteousness before the Lord your God.

14 You shall not refuse the pay of the indigent and the poor, whether he is your brother, or he is a new arrival who dwells with you in the land and is within your gates.

Do not be hard on a servant who is poor and in need, if he is one of your countrymen or a man from another nation living with you in your land.

15 Instead, you shall pay him the price of his labor on the same day, before the setting of the sun. For he is poor, and with it he sustains his life. Otherwise, he may cry out against you to the Lord, and it would be charged to you as a sin.

Give him his payment day by day, not keeping it back over night; for he is poor and his living is dependent on it; and if his cry against you comes to the ears of the Lord, it will be judged as sin in you.

16 The fathers shall not be put to death on behalf of the sons, nor the sons on behalf of the fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin.

Fathers are not to be put to death for their children or children for their fathers: every man is to be put to death for the sin which he himself has done.

17 You shall not pervert the judgment of the new arrival or the orphan, nor shall you take away the widow’s garment as collateral.

Be upright in judging the cause of the man from a strange country and of him who has no father; do not take a widow's clothing on account of a debt:

18 Remember that you served in Egypt, and that the Lord your God rescued you from there. Therefore, I am instructing you to act in this way.

But keep in mind that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God made you free: for this is why I give you orders to do this.

19 When you have reaped the grain in your field, and, having forgotten, you leave behind a sheaf, you shall not return to take it away. Instead, you shall permit the new arrival, and the orphan, and the widow to take it away, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the works of your hands.

When you get in the grain from your field, if some of the grain has been dropped by chance in the field, do not go back and get it, but let it be for the man from a strange land, the child without a father, and the widow: so that the blessing of the Lord your God may be on all the work of your hands.

20 If you have gathered the fruit of your olive trees, you shall not return in order to gather whatever may remain on the trees. Instead, you shall leave it behind for the new arrival, the orphan, and the widow.

When you are shaking the fruit from your olive-trees, do not go over the branches a second time: let some be for the man from a strange land, the child without a father, and the widow.

21 If you harvest the vintage of your vineyard, you shall not gather the remaining clusters. Instead, they shall fall to the use of the stranger, the orphan, and the widow.

When you are pulling the grapes from your vines, do not take up those which have been dropped; let them be for the man from a strange land, the child without a father, and the widow.

22 Remember that you also served in Egypt, and so, for this reason, I am instructing you to act in this way.”

Keep in mind that you were a servant in the land of Egypt: for this is why I give you orders to do this.