Deuteronomy 24

1 “When a man takes a wife and has married her, and it has been, if she does not find grace in his eyes (for he has found nakedness in her of anything), then he has written a writing of divorce for her, and given [it] into her hand, and sent her out of his house;

Should a man marry a woman, but then isn't pleased with her because he finds out something shameful about her, he is allowed to write out a certificate of divorce for her, give it to her, and send her out of his house.

2 when she has gone out of his house, and has gone and been another man’s,

Suppose that after leaving his house, she goes marries another man,

3 and the latter man has hated her, and written a writing of divorce for her, and given [it] into her hand, and sent her out of his house, or when the latter man dies, who has taken her to himself for a wife,

and suppose the second man also ends up hating her, writes out a certificate of divorce for her, gives it to her, and sends her out of his house—or he may happen to die.

4 her former husband who sent her away is not able to return to take her to be to him for a wife, after that she has become defiled; for it [is] an abomination before YHWH, and you do not cause the land to sin which your God YHWH is giving to you [for] an inheritance.

The first husband who divorced her is not permitted to marry her again after she was shamed, for that offends the Lord. You are not bring guilt upon the land that the Lord your God is giving you to own.

5 When a man takes a new wife, he does not go out into the host, and [one] does not pass over to him for anything; he is free at his own house [for] one year, and his wife, whom he has taken, he has made glad.

If a man has just got married, he is not to be sent to war or made to do any other duties. He is free to stay at home for one year and make his wife happy.

6 No one takes millstones and rider in pledge, for it [is one’s] life he is taking in pledge.

Don't accept a pair of millstones, or even just an upper millstone, as security for a debt, because that would put the borrower's life in danger.

7 When a man is found stealing a person from his brothers, from the sons of Israel, and has tyrannized over him and sold him, then that thief has died, and you have put away evil out of your midst.

Anyone caught kidnapping a fellow Israelite must be executed, whether the kidnapper makes him a slave or sells him. You must eliminate the evil from among you.

8 Take heed in the plague of leprosy, to watch greatly, and to do according to all that the priests, the Levites, teach you; you observe to do as I have commanded them;

When it comes to infectious skin diseases, make sure you follow carefully all the instructions of the Levitical priests. Be careful to follow the orders I've given them.

9 remember that which your God YHWH has done to Miriam in the way, in your coming out of Egypt.

Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on the journey out of Egypt.

10 When you lift up a debt of anything on your brother, you do not go into his house to obtain his pledge;

If you lend anything to someone, don't go into their house to take some kind of security.

11 you stand at the outside, and the man on whom you are lifting [it] up is bringing out the pledge to you at the outside.

Stand outside while they go inside and bring the security out to you.

12 And if he is a poor man, you do not lie down with his pledge;

If he is a poor man he may give his cloak as security, but you must not keep it when you go to sleep.

13 you certainly give back the pledge to him at the going in of the sun, and he has lain down in his own raiment and has blessed you; and it is righteousness to you before your God YHWH.

Make sure you give it back by sunset, so that he can sleep in his own cloak and thank you, and you will be counted as doing good by the Lord your God.

14 You do not oppress a hired worker, poor and needy, of your brothers or of your sojourner who is in your land within your gates;

Don't mistreat a paid servant who is poor and needy, whether he's an Israelite or a foreigner living in one of your towns.

15 you give his hire in his day, and the sun does not go in on it, for he [is] poor, and he is supporting his life on it, lest he cries against you to YHWH, and it has been sin in you.

Pay his wages every day before sunset, because he is poor and is relying on them. If you don't he may complain to the Lord about you, and you will be found guilty of sin.

16 Fathers are not put to death for sons, and sons are not put to death for fathers—they are each put to death for his own sin.

Fathers are not to be executed because of their children, and children are not to be executed because of their fathers. Each person is to be executed because of their own sin.

17 You do not turn aside the judgment of a fatherless sojourner, nor take the garment of a widow in pledge;

Don't treat foreigners or orphans unjustly; don't take a widow's cloak as security.

18 and you have remembered that you have been a servant in Egypt, and your God YHWH ransoms you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing.

Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, and the Lord your God rescued you from that place. That's why I'm ordering you to do this.

19 When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgotten a sheaf in a field, you do not return to take it; it is for the sojourner, for the fatherless, and for the widow, so that your God YHWH blesses you in all the work of your hands.

If when you're harvesting in your field you forget a sheaf there, don't go back for it. Leave it for the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows, so that the Lord your God may bless you in everything you do.

20 When you beat your olive, you do not examine the branch behind you; it is for the sojourner, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

When you shake the olive trees to knock down the olives, don't go over the branches again. What's left is for the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows.

21 When you cut your vineyard, you do not glean behind you; it is for the sojourner, for the fatherless, and for the widow;

When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, don't go over the vines again. What's left is for the foreigners, the orphans, and the widows.

22 and you have remembered that you have been a servant in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing.”

Remember you were once slaves in Egypt. That's why I'm ordering you to do this.