Deuteronomy 24:11-21
New English Translation
11 You must stand outside and the person to whom you are making the loan will bring out to you what he is offering as security.[a] 12 If the person is poor you may not use what he gives you as security for a covering.[b] 13 You must by all means[c] return to him at sunset the item he gave you as security so that he may sleep in his outer garment and bless you for it; it will be considered a just deed[d] by the Lord your God.
14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites[e] or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages.[f] 15 You must pay his wage that very day before the sun sets, for he is poor and his life depends on it. Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
16 Fathers must not be put to death for what their children[g] do, nor children for what their fathers do; each must be put to death for his own sin.
17 You must not pervert justice[h] due a resident foreigner or an orphan, or take a widow’s garment as security for a loan. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do all this. 19 Whenever you reap your harvest in your field and leave some unraked grain there,[i] you must not return to get it; it should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow so that the Lord your God may bless all the work you do.[j] 20 When you beat your olive tree you must not repeat the procedure;[k] the remaining olives belong to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow. 21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard you must not do so a second time;[l] they should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Deuteronomy 24:11 tn Heb “his pledge.”
- Deuteronomy 24:12 tn Heb “may not lie down in his pledge.” What is in view is the use of clothing as guarantee for the repayment of loans, a matter already addressed elsewhere (Deut 23:19-20; 24:6; cf. Exod 22:25-26; Lev 25:35-37). Cf. NAB “you shall not sleep in the mantle he gives as a pledge”; NRSV “in the garment given you as the pledge.”
- Deuteronomy 24:13 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “by all means.”
- Deuteronomy 24:13 tn Or “righteous” (so NIV, NLT).
- Deuteronomy 24:14 tn Heb “your brothers,” but not limited only to actual siblings; cf. NASB, NAB “countrymen.”
- Deuteronomy 24:14 tn Heb “who are in your land in your gates.” The word “living” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Deuteronomy 24:16 tn Heb “sons” (so NASB; twice in this verse). Many English versions, including the KJV, read “children” here.
- Deuteronomy 24:17 sn Besides not oppressing the resident foreigner (גֵּר; ger) (Exod 22:21; Deut 24:14, 17; 27:19), Israel was told to love them (Lev 19:33-34; Deut 10:18-19).
- Deuteronomy 24:19 tn Heb “in the field.”
- Deuteronomy 24:19 tn Heb “of your hands.” This law was later applied in the story of Ruth who, as a poor widow, was allowed by generous Boaz to glean in his fields (Ruth 2:1-13).
- Deuteronomy 24:20 tn Heb “knock down after you.”
- Deuteronomy 24:21 tn Heb “glean after you.”
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