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.

When a man takes a wife and marries her, if she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some unsuitable thing in her, then he must write her a certificate of divorce, put it into her hand, and send her out of his house.

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

When she has gone out of his house, she may go and be 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,

If the second husband hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it into her hand, and sends her out of his house; or if the second husband dies, the man who took her to be his wife—

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.

then her former husband, the one who had first sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has become impure; for that would be an abomination to Yahweh. You must not cause the land to become guilty, the land that Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance.

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.

When a man takes a new wife, he will not go to war with the army, neither may he be commanded to go on any forced duty; he will be free to be at home for one year and will cheer his wife whom he has taken.

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

No man may take a mill or an upper millstone as a pledge, for that would be taking a person's life as a pledge.

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 is found kidnapping any of his brothers from among the people of Israel, and treats him as a slave and sells him, that thief must die; and you will remove the 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.

Take heed regarding any plague of leprosy, so that you carefully observe and follow every instruction given to you which the priests, the Levites, teach you; as I commanded them, so you will act.

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

Call to mind what Yahweh your God did to Miriam as you were coming 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.

When you make your neighbor any kind of loan, you must not go into his house to fetch his pledge.

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

You will stand outside, and the man to whom you have lent will bring the pledge outside 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, you must not sleep with his pledge in your possession.

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.

You must surely restore to him the pledge by the time the sun goes down, so that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you; it will be righteousness for you before Yahweh 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.

You must not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is of your fellow Israelites, or of the foreigners who are in your land within your city gates;

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.

Each day you must give him his wage; the sun must not go down on this unsettled matter, for he is poor and is counting on it. Do this so that he does not cry out against you to Yahweh, and so that it not be a sin that you have committed.

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.

The parents must not be put to death for their children, neither must the children be put to death for their parents. Instead, everyone must be put to death for his own sin.

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.

You must not use force to take away the justice that is due the foreigner or the fatherless, nor take the widow's cloak as a pledge.

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.

Instead, you must call to mind that you were a slave in Egypt, and that Yahweh your God rescued you from there. Therefore I instruct you to obey this command.

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 reap your harvest in your field, and if you have forgotten an omer of grain in the field, you must not go back to get it; it must be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, or for the widow, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in 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 shake your olive tree, you must not go over the branches again; it will be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, or for 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 gather the grapes of your vineyard, you must not glean it again. What is left over will be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

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

You must call to mind that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I instruct you to obey this command.