Deuteronomy 24–27

MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE LAWS

24“If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, he may write her a divorce certificate, hand it to her, and send her away from his house.^{h 2}If after leaving his house she goes and becomes another man’s wife, ³and the second man hates her, writes her a divorce certificate, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house or if he dies, ⁴the first husband who sent her away may not marry her again after she has been defiled, because that would be detestable to the Lord. You must not bring guilt on the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.ⁱ

⁵“When a man takes a bride, he must not go out with the army or be liable for any duty. He is free to stay at home for one year, so that he can bring joy to the wife he has married.

SAFEGUARDING LIFE

⁶“Do not take a pair of grindstones or even the upper millstone as security for a debt, because that is like taking a life as security.

⁷“If a man is discovered kidnapping^a one of his Israelite brothers, whether he treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from you.

⁸“Be careful with a person who has a case of serious skin disease, following carefully everything the Levitical priests instruct you to do. Be careful to do as I have commanded them. ⁹Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on the journey after you left Egypt.^b

CONSIDERATION FOR PEOPLE IN NEED

¹⁰“When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not enter his house to collect what he offers as security. ¹¹Stand outside while the man you are making the loan to brings the security out to you. ¹²If he is a poor man, do not sleep with the garment he has given as security. ¹³Be sure to return it^A to him at sunset. Then he will sleep in it and bless you, and this will be counted as righteousness to you before the Lord your God.^c

¹⁴“Do not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether one of your Israelite brothers or one of the resident aliens in a town^B in your land. ¹⁵You are to pay him his wages each day before the sun sets, because he is poor and depends on them.^d Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be held guilty.

¹⁶“Fathers are not to be put to death for their children, and children are not to be put to death for their fathers; each person will be put to death for his own sin.^{e 17}Do not deny justice to a resident alien or fatherless child, and do not take a widow’s garment as security. ¹⁸Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed^f you from there. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.^g

¹⁹“When you reap the harvest in your field, and you forget a sheaf in the field, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.^{h 20}When you knock down the fruit from your olive tree, do not go over the branches again. What remains will be for the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow. ²¹When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left. What remains will be for the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow. ²²Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.ⁱ

FAIRNESS AND MERCY

25“If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court, and the judges will hear their case. They will clear the innocent and condemn the guilty. ²If the guilty party deserves to be flogged, the judge will make him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes appropriate for his crime. ³He may be flogged with forty lashes, but no more. Otherwise, if he is flogged with more lashes than these, your brother will be degraded in your sight.

⁴“Do not muzzle an ox while it treads out grain.^j

PRESERVING THE FAMILY LINE

⁵“When brothers live on the same property^A and one of them dies without a son, the wife of the dead man may not marry a stranger outside the family. Her brother-in-law is to take her as his wife, have sexual relations with her, and perform the duty of a brother-in-law for her. ⁶The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so his name will not be blotted out from Israel.^{k 7}But if the man doesn’t want to marry his sister-in-law, she is to go to the elders at the city gate^l and say, ‘My brother-in-law refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel. He isn’t willing to perform the duty of a brother-in-law for me.’ ⁸The elders of his city will summon him and speak with him. If he persists and says, ‘I don’t want to marry her,’ ⁹then his sister-in-law will go up to him in the sight of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. Then she will declare, ‘This is what is done to a man who will not build up his brother’s house.’ ¹⁰And his family name in Israel will be ‘The house of the man whose sandal was removed.’^m

¹¹“If two men are fighting with each other, and the wife of one steps in to rescue her husband from the one striking him, and she puts out her hand and grabs his genitals, ¹²you are to cut off her hand. Do not show pity.

HONEST WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

¹³“Do not have differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light.^{n 14}Do not have differing dry measures in your house, a larger and a smaller. ¹⁵You must have a full and honest weight, a full and honest dry measure, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁶For everyone who does such things and acts unfairly is detestable to the Lord your God.^a

REVENGE ON THE AMALEKITES

¹⁷“Remember what the Amalekites did to you on the journey after you left Egypt.^{b 18}They met you along the way and attacked all your stragglers from behind when you were tired and weary. They did not fear God. ¹⁹When the Lord your God gives you rest^c from all the enemies around you in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance,^d blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven. Do not forget.^e

GIVING THE FIRSTFRUITS

26“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance,^f and you take possession of it and live in it, ²take some of the first of all the land’s produce that you harvest from the land the Lord your God is giving you and put it in a basket. Then go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to have his name dwell.^{g 3}When you come before the priest who is serving at that time, say to him, ‘Today I declare to the Lord your^A God that I have entered the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.’

⁴“Then the priest will take the basket from you and place it before the altar of the Lord your God. ⁵You are to respond by saying in the presence of the Lord your God:

My father was a wandering Aramean.^h He went down to Egypt with a few people and resided there as an alien.ⁱ There he became a great, powerful, and populous nation. ⁶But the Egyptians mistreated and oppressed us, and forced us to do hard labor. ⁷So we called out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our cry and saw our misery, hardship, and oppression.^{j 8}Then the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, with terrifying power, and with signs and wonders. ⁹He led us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.^{k 10}I have now brought the first of the land’s produce that you, Lord, have given me.

You will then place the container before the Lord your God and bow down to him. ¹¹You, the Levites, and the resident aliens among you will rejoice^l in all the good things the Lord your God has given you and your household.

THE TENTH IN THE THIRD YEAR

¹²“When you have finished paying all the tenth of your produce in the third year,^m the year of the tenth, you are to give it to the Levites, resident aliens, fatherless children, and widows, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. ¹³Then you will say in the presence of the Lord your God:

I have taken the consecrated portion out of my house; I have also given it to the Levites, resident aliens, fatherless children, and widows, according to all the commands you gave me. I have not violated or forgotten your commands. ¹⁴I have not eaten any of it while in mourning, or removed any of it while unclean, or offered any of it for the dead.ⁿ I have obeyed the Lord my God; I have done all you commanded me. ¹⁵Look down from your holy dwelling, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us as you swore to our ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.

COVENANT SUMMARY

¹⁶“The Lord your God is commanding you this day to follow these statutes and ordinances. Follow them carefully with all your heart and all your soul. ¹⁷Today you have affirmed that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commands, and ordinances, and obey him. ¹⁸And today the Lord has affirmed that you are his own possession as he promised you, that you are to keep all his commands, ¹⁹that he will elevate you to praise, fame, and glory above all the nations he has made, and that you will be a holy people^o to the Lord your God as he promised.”

THE LAW WRITTEN ON STONES

27Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, “Keep every command I am giving you today. ²When you cross the Jordan into the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up large stones and cover them with plaster.^{a 3}Write all the words of this law on the stones after you cross to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey,^b as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. ⁴When you have crossed the Jordan, you are to set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I am commanding you today, and you are to cover them with plaster. ⁵Build an altar of stones there to the Lord your God—do not use any iron tool on them.^{c 6}Use uncut stones to build the altar of the Lord your God and offer burnt offerings…