Deuteronomy 24

1 When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it shall come to pass that she findeth no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give 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 hath departed from his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.

And when, having departed, she has married another,

3 And if the latter husband shall hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house; or if the latter husband shall die, who took her to be his 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 Her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

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 hath newly taken a wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer his wife whom 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 lower or the upper millstone for a pledge: for he taketh a man’s 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 If a man shall be found stealing from any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and shall make merchandise of him, or sell him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt remove evil 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 heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, so ye shall observe to do.

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 to Miriam by the way, after that ye had come forth from Egypt.

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

10 When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt 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 Thou shalt stand outside, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the pledge outside to thee.

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

12 And if the man is poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge:

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

13 In any case thou shalt deliver to him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness to 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 oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he is of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are 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 At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he should cry against thee to the LORD, and it be sin to 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, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man 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 Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow’s raiment 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 But thou shalt remember that thou wast a slave in Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee from there: therefore I command thee 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 When thou cuttest down thy harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy 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 thy olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

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 the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for 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 thou shalt remember that thou wast a slave in the land of Egypt: therefore I command thee 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.”