Law Concerning Divorce

24 “When a (A)man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some [a]uncleanness in her, and he writes her a (B)certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife, if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, (C)then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is [b]an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Miscellaneous Laws

(D)“When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and (E)bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken.

“No man shall take the lower or the upper millstone in pledge, for he takes [c]one’s living in pledge.

“If a man is (F)found [d]kidnapping any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and mistreats him or sells him, then that kidnapper shall die; (G)and you shall put away the evil from among you.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 24:1 indecency, lit. nakedness of a thing
  2. Deuteronomy 24:4 a detestable thing
  3. Deuteronomy 24:6 life
  4. Deuteronomy 24:7 Lit. stealing

24 If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him(A) because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce,(B) gives it to her and sends her from his house, and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, and 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, then 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(C) your God is giving you as an inheritance.

If 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.(D)

Do 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.(E)

If someone is caught kidnapping a fellow Israelite and treating or selling them as a slave, the kidnapper must die.(F) You must purge the evil from among you.(G)

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