Deuteronomy 24

1 And if any one should take a wife, and should dwell with her, then it shall come to pass if she should not have found favor before him, because he has found some unbecoming thing in her, that he shall write for her a bill of divorcement, and give it into her hands, and he shall send her away 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 [if] she should go away and be married to another man;

And when, having departed, she has married another,

3 and the last husband should hate her, and write for her a bill of divorcement; and should give it into her hands, and send her away out of his house, and the last husband should die, who took her to himself for a 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 the former husband who sent her away shall not be able to return and take her to himself for a wife, after she has been defiled; because it is an abomination before the Lord your God, and you shall not defile the land, which the Lord your God gives you to inherit.

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 And if any one should have recently taken a wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall any thing be laid upon him; he shall be free in his house; for one year he shall cheer his wife whom he has 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 You shall not take for a pledge the under millstone, nor the upper millstone; for he who does so takes life for a pledge.

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

7 And if a man should be caught stealing one of his brethren of the children of Israel, and having overcome him he should sell him, that thief shall die; so shall you remove that evil one from yourselves.

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 heed to yourself in [regard of] the plague of leprosy: you shall take great heed to do according to all the law, which the priests the Levites shall report to you; take heed to do, as I have charged you.

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 all that the Lord your God did to Mariam in the way, when you were going out of Egypt.

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

10 If your neighbor owe you a debt, any debt whatever, you shall not go into his house to take 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 you shall stand without, and the man who is in your debt shall bring the pledge out to you.

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

12 And if the man be poor, you shall not sleep with his pledge.

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

13 You shall surely restore his pledge at sunset, and he shall sleep in his garment, and he shall bless you; and it shall be mercy to you before the Lord your 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 You shall not unjustly withhold the wages of the poor and needy of your brethren, or of the strangers who are in your cities.

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 You shall pay him his wages the same day, the sun shall not go down upon it, because he is poor and he trusts in it; and he shall cry against you to the Lord, and it shall be sin in you.

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, and the sons shall not be put to death for the fathers; every one shall be put to death for his own sin.

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 You shall not wrest the judgment of the stranger and the fatherless, and widow; you shall not take the widow's garment for a 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 And you shall remember that you were a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from thence; therefore I charge you to do 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 And when you shall have reaped corn in your field, and shall have forgotten a sheaf in your field, you shall not return to take it; it shall be for the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the works of your 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 And if you should gather your olives, you shall not return to collect the remainder; it shall be for the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, and you shall remember that you were a bondman in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this thing.

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 And when soever you shall gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean what you have left; it shall be for the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow:

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 you shall remember that you were a bondman in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this thing.

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