The Fifth Book of Moses: Deuteronomy

⭑ Berean Study Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 24 -

(Matthew 5:31–32; Luke 16:18)

If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds some indecency in her, he may write her a certificate of divorce,(a) hand it to her, and send her away from his house.

If, after leaving his house, she goes and becomes another man’s wife,

and the second man hates her, writes her a certificate of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house, or if he dies,

then the husband who divorced her first may not remarry her after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination to the LORD. You must not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

If a man is newly married, he must not be sent to war or be pressed into any duty. For one year he is free to stay at home and bring joy to the wife he has married.

Additional Laws

Do not take a pair of millstones or even an upper millstone as security for a debt, because that would be taking one’s livelihood as security.

If a man is caught kidnapping one of his Israelite brothers, whether he treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. So you must purge the evil from among you.(b)

In cases of infectious skin diseases,(c) be careful to diligently follow everything the Levitical priests instruct you. Be careful to do as I have commanded them.

Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam on the journey after you came out of Egypt.

When you lend anything to your neighbor, do not enter his house to collect security.

You are to stand outside while the man to whom you are lending brings the security out to you.

If he is a poor man, you must not go to sleep with the security in your possession;

be sure to return it to him by sunset, so that he may sleep in his own cloak and bless you, and this will be credited to you as righteousness before the LORD your God.

Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.

You are to pay his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and depends on them. Otherwise he may cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.(d)

Do not deny justice to the foreigner or the fatherless, and do not take a widow’s cloak as security.

Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you from that place. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.

If you are harvesting in your field and forget a sheaf there, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

When you beat the olives from your trees, you must not go over the branches again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow.

When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you must not go over the vines again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow.

Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.

Footnotes

(a)24:1 Cited in Matthew 5:31; see also Mark 10:4.

(b)24:7 Cited in 1 Corinthians 5:13

(c)24:8 Forms of the Hebrew tzaraath, traditionally translated as leprosy, were used for various skin diseases; see Leviticus 13.

(d)24:16 Cited in 2 Kings 14:6 and 2 Chronicles 25:4

(Matthew 5:31–32; Luke 16:18)

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

When she has departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.

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

her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife after she is defiled; for that would be an abomination to the LORD. You shall not cause the land to sin, which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.

When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out in the army, neither shall he be assigned any business. He shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer his wife whom he has taken.

Additional Laws

No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone as a pledge, for he takes a life in pledge.

If a man is found stealing any of his brothers of the children of Israel, and he deals with him as a slave, or sells him, then that thief shall die. So you shall remove the evil from among you.

Be careful in the plague of leprosy, that you observe diligently and do according to all that the Levitical priests teach you. As I commanded them, so you shall observe to do.

Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam, by the way as you came out of Egypt.

When you lend your neighbor any kind of loan, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge.

You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you lend shall bring the pledge outside to you.

If he is a poor man, you shall not sleep with his pledge.

You shall surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his garment and bless you. It shall be righteousness to you before the LORD your God.

You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the foreigners who are in your land within your gates.

In his day you shall give him his wages, neither shall the sun go down on it, for he is poor and sets his heart on it, lest he cry against you to the LORD, and it be sin to you.

The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers. Every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

You shall not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, nor take a widow’s clothing in pledge;

but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you there. Therefore I command you to do this thing.

When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go again to get it. It shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again. It shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

When you harvest your vineyard, you shall not glean it after yourselves. It shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Therefore I command you to do this thing.