24TH CHAPTER

Various Laws

1 This is what you must do if a husband writes out a certificate of divorce, gives it to his wife, and makes her leave his house. (He divorced her because he found out something indecent about her and she no longer pleased him.) 2 She might marry another man after she leaves his house. 3 If her second husband doesn’t love her and divorces her, or if he dies, 4 her first husband is not allowed to marry her again. She has become unclean.a This would be disgusting in the Lord’s presence. Don’t pollute with sin the land that the Lord your God is giving you as your property. 

5 A man who has recently been married will be free from military duty or any other public service. For one year he is free to stay at home and make his new wife happy. 

6 Never let a family’s handmill for grinding flour—or even part of a handmill—be taken to guarantee a loan. The family wouldn’t be able to prepare food in order to stay alive. 

7 Whoever kidnaps another Israelite must die. The kidnapper must die, whether he treated the other person like a slave or sold him. You must get rid of this evil. 

8 Guard against outbreaks of serious skin diseases. Be very careful to do exactly as the Levitical priests instruct you. Make sure you do what I commanded them. 9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on your trip from Egypt. 

10 When you make a loan to your neighbor, don’t go into his house to take a security deposit. 11 Wait outside, and the person to whom you’re making the loan will bring the deposit out to you. 12 If the person is poor, don’t keep the coat you took as a deposit overnight. 13 Make sure you bring it back to him at sunset. When he wears his coat to bed ⸤that night⸥, he’ll bless you. You will have done the right thing in the presence of the Lord your God. 

14 Don’t withhold pay from hired workers who are poor and needy, whether they are Israelites or foreigners living in one of your cities. 15 Pay them each day before sunset because they are poor and need their pay. Otherwise, they will complain to the Lord about you, and you will be condemned for your sin. 

16 Parents must never be put to death for the crimes of their children, and children must never be put to death for the crimes of their parents. Each person must be put to death for his own crime. 

17 Never deprive foreigners and orphans of justice. And never take widows’ clothes to guarantee a loan. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God freed you from slavery. So I’m commanding you to do this. 

19 This is what you must do when you’re harvesting wheat in your field. If you forget to bring in one of the bundles of wheat, don’t go back to get it. Leave it there for foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. 

20 When you harvest olives from your trees, never knock down all of them. Leave some for foreigners, orphans, and widows. 

21 When you pick the grapes in your vineyard, don’t pick all of them. Leave some for foreigners, orphans, and widows. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. So I’m commanding you to do this.