Deuteronomy 24

1 When a man taketh a wife, and marrieth her, if so be shee finde no fauour in his eyes, because hee hath espyed some filthinesse in her, then let him write her a bill of diuorcement, and put it in her hand, and send her out of his house.

“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.

2 And when she is departed out of his house, and gone her way, and marrie with an other man,

And when, having departed, she has married another,

3 And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a letter of diuorcement, and put it in her hand, and send her out of his house, or if the latter man die which tooke her to wife:

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,

4 Then her first husband, which sent her away, may not take her againe to be his wife, after that she is defiled: for that is abomination in the sight of the Lord, and thou shalt not cause the land to sinne, which the Lord thy God doeth giue thee to inherite.

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.

5 When a man taketh a new wife, he shall not goe a warfare, neither shalbe charged with any businesse, but shalbe free at home one yeere, and reioyce with his wife which he hath taken.

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.

6 No man shall take the nether nor the vpper milstone to pledge: for this gage is his liuing.

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

7 If any man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh marchandise of him, or selleth him, that thiefe shall die: so shalt thou put euil away from among you.

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.

8 Take heede of the plague of leprosie, that thou obserue diligently, and doe according to all that the Priestes of the Leuites shall teach you: take heede ye doe as I commanded them.

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.

9 Remember what the Lord thy God did vnto Miriam by the way after that ye were come out of Egypt.

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

10 Whe thou shalt aske again of thy neighbour any thing lent, thou shalt not goe into his house to fet his pledge.

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.

11 But thou shalt stand without, and the man that borowed it of thee, shall bring the pledge out of the doores vnto thee.

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

12 Furthermore if it be a poore body, thou shalt not sleepe with his pledge,

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

13 But shalt restore him the pledge when the sunne goeth downe, that he may sleepe in his raiment, and blesse thee: and it shalbe righteousnesse vnto thee before the Lord thy God.

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.

14 Thou shalt not oppresse an hyred seruant that is needie and poore, neyther of thy brethren, nor of the stranger that is in thy land within thy gates.

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.

15 Thou shalt giue him his hire for his day, neither shall the sunne goe downe vpon it: for he is poore, and therewith susteineth his life: lest he crye against thee vnto the Lord, and it be sinne vnto thee.

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.

16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children put to death for the fathers, but euery man shalbe put to death for his owne sinne.

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.

17 Thou shalt not peruert the right of the stranger, nor of the fatherlesse, nor take a widowes rayment to pledge.

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

18 But remember that thou wast a seruant in Egypt, and howe the Lord thy God deliuered thee thence. Therefore I commaund thee to doe this thing.

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.

19 When thou cuttest downe thine haruest in thy fielde, and hast forgotten a sheafe in the fielde, thou shalt not goe againe to fet it, but it shalbe for the stranger, for the fatherles, and for the widowe: that the Lord thy God may blesse thee in all the workes of thine hands.

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.

20 When thou beatest thine oliue tree, thou shalt not goe ouer the boughes againe, but it shalbe for the stranger, for the fatherlesse, and for the widowe.

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.

21 When thou gatherest thy vineyard, thou shalt not gather the grapes cleane after thee, but they shalbe for the stranger, for the fatherlesse, and for the widowe.

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.

22 And remember that thou wast a seruant in the land of Egypt: therefore I command thee to doe this thing.

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