關於婚姻的條例

24 「如果有人娶妻後,發覺妻子行為不檢,因而嫌棄她,他可以寫休書給她,讓她離開夫家。 她離開後,可以自由再婚。 如果她的後夫也嫌棄她,寫休書給她,讓她離開夫家,或者後夫死了, 前夫不可再娶這已被玷污的女子,因為那是耶和華所憎惡的。你們切不可把這種罪惡帶到你們的上帝耶和華將要賜給你們的土地上。

體恤人情

「不可叫新婚的人從軍出征或辦理公務。他可以留在家裡一年,使新婚的妻子快樂。

「不可拿別人的磨或磨的上盤作抵押品,因為這等於拿他們的生命作抵押。

「如果有人綁架自己的同胞,奴役他或賣掉他,必須處死綁架者,除掉你們中間的罪惡。

「遇到痲瘋病,你們要謹遵利未祭司的指示。你們要謹遵我對他們的吩咐。 要記住你們離開埃及後,你們的上帝耶和華在米利暗身上的作為。

10 「如果你們借貸給同胞,不可走進他家裡索取抵押物; 11 要站在外面,等他把抵押物拿出來。 12 如果他是窮人,用自己的外袍作抵押,你們不可把他的外袍留到第二天, 13 要在當天日落之前還給他,好讓他蓋著外袍睡覺。他會因此祝福你們,你們的上帝耶和華也會將此視為你們的義行。

14 「不可欺壓窮苦的雇工,不論他們是你們的同胞,還是住在你們城中的外族人。 15 你們要在每天日落前付給他們工錢,因為他們窮苦,靠工錢維生;否則他們向耶和華控訴你們,你們就有罪了。

16 「不可因孩子犯罪而處死父親,也不可因父親犯罪而處死孩子。各人要自負罪責。

17 「你們要公正地對待寄居者和孤兒,不可拿寡婦的衣物作抵押。 18 要記住,你們曾在埃及做過奴隸,你們的上帝耶和華拯救了你們。所以,我吩咐你們這樣行。

19 「如果你們在田間收割莊稼時忘了一捆,不可回去取,要留給孤兒寡婦和寄居者。這樣,你們的上帝耶和華必使你們凡事蒙福。 20 你們打橄欖時,打過一次後不可再打,要把剩下的留給孤兒寡婦和寄居者。 21 你們摘葡萄時,摘過一次後不可再摘,要把剩下的留給孤兒寡婦和寄居者。 22 要記住,你們曾在埃及做過奴隸。所以,我吩咐你們這樣行。

Rules about marriage and other things

24 Perhaps a man will marry a woman and then he discovers something that brings shame on her. So she does not please him any more. He must write a letter to say that they are no longer married. He gives the letter to his wife. Then he can send her away from his house. After she has left his house, she might marry another man.

Later, her second husband may also not like her any more. So he also gives her a letter to finish the marriage. He sends her away from his house too. Or perhaps her second husband dies. If that happens, her first husband must not marry her again. That is because she has had sex with another man. To marry her again would be a sin that the Lord hates. You must not do sins like that in the land that the Lord your God is giving to you as your new home.

When a man has just married, do not send him away to fight in the army. Do not make him work at jobs in other places. He should stay at home for one year. Then he can make his new wife very happy.

When you lend money to people, you may take something from them as a guarantee. But do not take the stones that they use to make grain into flour. Do not take either of the stones. People need both those stones to make food to stay alive. So do not take away their life.

A man might take hold of another Israelite and make him his slave. He might try to sell him as a slave. Anyone who does that must die. You must remove evil things from among you.

If you have leprosy, be very careful! Do everything that the Levite priests tell you to do. You must obey everything that I have commanded them. Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam after you left Egypt.[a]

10 If you lend something to your neighbour you may take something from him as a guarantee.[b] But do not go into his house to take it. 11 You must wait outside the house. Then your neighbour can bring out what he has chosen to give you. 12 If the person is poor, do not take his coat and keep it with you all night. 13 You must always give his coat back to him before sunset. Then he can sleep in it to keep himself warm. He will ask God to bless you because you have been kind. The Lord your God will know that you have done the right thing.

14 Do not be cruel to any poor or helpless person who works for you. Be kind to him, whether he is an Israelite or a foreigner who lives in one of your towns. 15 You must pay him for his work every day before sunset. Remember that he is poor. He needs the money to stay alive. If you do not pay him, he may complain against you to the Lord. The Lord would say that you are guilty of a sin.

16 You must not punish fathers with death for the sins that their children do. You must not punish children with death for the sins that their fathers do. Each person must die only because of his own sins.

17 Remember to be completely fair to foreigners and to children who have no family. If you lend money to a widow, do not take her coat as a guarantee. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God rescued you from there. That is why I am commanding you to do these things.

19 At harvest time, you might forget to bring in all the crops from your fields. Do not go back to pick up all the grain. Leave it there for foreigners, widows and children who have no family. If you do that, the Lord your God will bless you in all your work.

20 When you knock the olives off your trees, shake each branch only once. Leave the olives that remain for foreigners, widows and children who have no family. 21 When you pick your grapes, pick only once from each vine. Leave the grapes that remain for foreigners, widows and children who have no family. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I am commanding you to do all these things.

Footnotes

  1. 24:9 See Numbers 12:1-15. Leprosy was a bad disease of the skin. Other people could get the disease very easily.
  2. 24:10 The guarantee is to make sure that the person pays back what he should pay.

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)

In cases of defiling skin diseases,[a] be very careful to do exactly as the Levitical(H) priests instruct you. You must follow carefully what I have commanded them.(I) Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam along the way after you came out of Egypt.(J)

10 When 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.(K) 11 Stay outside and let the neighbor to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you. 12 If the neighbor is poor, do not go to sleep with their pledge(L) in your possession. 13 Return their cloak by sunset(M) so that your neighbor may sleep in it.(N) Then they will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the Lord your God.(O)

14 Do 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.(P) 15 Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor(Q) and are counting on it.(R) Otherwise they may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.(S)

16 Parents 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.(T)

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

19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it.(X) Leave it for the foreigner,(Y) the fatherless and the widow,(Z) so that the Lord your God may bless(AA) you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time.(AB) Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. 21 When 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. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.(AC)

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 24:8 The Hebrew word for defiling skin diseases, traditionally translated “leprosy,” was used for various diseases affecting the skin.