Deuteronomy 24–27

24If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him^q because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce,^r gives it to her and sends her from his house, ²and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, ³and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, ⁴then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the Lord. Do not bring sin upon the land the Lord^s your God is giving you as an inheritance.

⁵If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married.^t

⁶Do not take a pair of millstones—not even the upper one—as security for a debt, because that would be taking a person’s livelihood as security.^u

⁷If someone is caught kidnapping a fellow Israelite and treating or selling them as a slave, the kidnapper must die.^v You must purge the evil from among you.^w

⁸In cases of defiling skin diseases,^a be very careful to do exactly as the Levitical^x priests instruct you. You must follow carefully what I have commanded them.^{y 9}Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam along the way after you came out of Egypt.^z

¹⁰When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into their house to get what is offered to you as a pledge.^{a 11}Stay outside and let the neighbor to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you. ¹²If the neighbor is poor, do not go to sleep with their pledge^b in your possession. ¹³Return their cloak by sunset^c so that your neighbor may sleep in it.^d Then they will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the Lord your God.^e

¹⁴Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.^{f 15}Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor^g and are counting on it.^h Otherwise they may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.ⁱ

¹⁶Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.^j

¹⁷Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless^k of justice,^l or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. ¹⁸Remember that you were slaves in Egypt^m and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.

¹⁹When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it.ⁿ Leave it for the foreigner,^o the fatherless and the widow,^p so that the Lord your God may bless^q you in all the work of your hands. ²⁰When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time.^r Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. ²¹When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. ²²Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.^s

25When people have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges^t will decide the case,^u acquitting^v the innocent and condemning the guilty.^{w 2}If the guilty person deserves to be beaten,^x the judge shall make them lie down and have them flogged in his presence with the number of lashes the crime deserves, ³but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes.^y If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes.^z

⁴Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.^a

⁵If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her.^{b 6}The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.^c

⁷However, if a man does not want to marry his brother’s wife,^d she shall go to the elders at the town gate^e and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to carry on his brother’s name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me.”^{f 8}Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, “I do not want to marry her,” ⁹his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals,^g spit in his face^h and say, “This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother’s family line.” ¹⁰That man’s line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled.

¹¹If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, ¹²you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity.ⁱ

¹³Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light.^{j 14}Do not have two differing measures in your house—one large, one small. ¹⁵You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long^k in the land the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁶For the Lord your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.^l

¹⁷Remember what the Amalekites^m did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. ¹⁸When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God.^{n 19}When the Lord your God gives you rest^o from all the enemies^p around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek^q from under heaven. Do not forget!

Firstfruits and Tithes

26When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, ²take some of the firstfruits^r of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name^{s 3}and say to the priest in office at the time, “I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” ⁴The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God. ⁵Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: “My father was a wandering^t Aramean,^u and he went down into Egypt with a few people^v and lived there and became a great nation,^w powerful and numerous. ⁶But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer,^x subjecting us to harsh labor.^{y 7}Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice^z and saw^a our misery,^b toil and oppression.^{c 8}So the Lord brought us out of Egypt^d with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm,^e with great terror and with signs and wonders.^{f 9}He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey;^{g 10}and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me.^h” Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him. ¹¹Then you and the Levitesⁱ and the foreigners residing among you shall rejoice^j in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household.

¹²When you have finished setting aside a tenth^k of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe,^l you shall give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. ¹³Then say to the Lord your God: “I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them.^{m 14}I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while I was in mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean,ⁿ nor have I offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God; I have done everything you commanded me. ¹⁵Look down from heaven,^o your holy dwelling place, and bless^p your people Israel and the land you have given us as you promised on oath to our ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

Follow the Lord’s Commands

¹⁶The Lord your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.^{q 17}You have declared this day that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in obedience to him, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws—that you will listen to him.^{r 18}And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession^s as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. ¹⁹He has declared that he will set you in praise,^t fame and honor high above all the nations^u he has made and that you will be a people holy^v to the Lord your God, as he promised.

The Altar on Mount Ebal

27Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: “Keep all these commands^w that I give you today. ²When you have crossed the Jordan^x into the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stones^y and coat them with plaster.^{z 3}Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey,^a just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you. ⁴And when you have crossed the Jordan, set up these stones on Mount Ebal,^b as I command you today, and coat them with plaster. ⁵Build there an altar^c to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. Do not use any iron tool^d on them. ⁶Build the altar of the Lord your God with fieldstones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God. ⁷Sacrifice fellowship offerings^e there, eating them and rejoicing^f in the presence of the Lord your God.^{g 8}And you shall write very clearly all the words of this law on these stones^h you have set up.”ⁱ

Curses…