Deuteronomy 24
New English Translation
24 If a man marries a woman and she does not please him because he has found something indecent[a] in her, then he may draw up a divorce document, give it to her, and evict her from his house. 2 When she has left him[b] she may go and become someone else’s wife. 3 If the second husband rejects[c] her and then divorces her,[d] gives her the papers, and evicts her from his house, or if the second husband who married her dies, 4 her first husband who divorced her is not permitted to remarry[e] her after she has become ritually impure, for that is offensive to the Lord.[f] You must not bring guilt on the land[g] that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
5 When a man is newly married, he need not go into[h] the army nor be obligated in any way; he must be free to stay at home for a full year and bring joy to[i] the wife he has married.
6 One must not take either lower or upper millstones as security on a loan, for that is like taking a life itself as security.[j]
7 If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites,[k] and regards him as mere property[l] and sells him, that kidnapper[m] must die. In this way you will purge[n] the evil from among you.
Respect for Human Dignity
8 Be careful during an outbreak of leprosy to follow precisely[o] all that the Levitical priests instruct you; as I have commanded them, so you should do. 9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam[p] along the way after you left Egypt.
10 When you make any kind of loan to your neighbor, you may not go into his house to claim what he is offering as security.[q] 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.[r] 12 If the person is poor you may not use what he gives you as security for a covering.[s] 13 You must by all means[t] 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[u] by the Lord your God.
14 You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites[v] or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages.[w] 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[x] do, nor children for what their fathers do; each must be put to death for his own sin.
17 You must not pervert justice[y] 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,[z] 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.[aa] 20 When you beat your olive tree you must not repeat the procedure;[ab] 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;[ac] they should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow. 22 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt; therefore, I am commanding you to do all this.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 24:1 tn The Hebrew phrase עֶרְוַת דָּבָר (ʿervat davar) involves a genitive of specification, something characterized by עֶרְוָה (ʿervah). עֶרְוָה means “nakedness,” and by extension means “shame, sexual impropriety, sexual organs, indecency” (NIDOTTE III 528, Jastrow 1114-15).
- Deuteronomy 24:2 tn Heb “his house.”
- Deuteronomy 24:3 tn Heb “hates.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15.
- Deuteronomy 24:3 tn Heb “writes her a document of divorce.”
- Deuteronomy 24:4 tn Heb “to return to take her to be his wife.”
- Deuteronomy 24:4 sn The issue here is not divorce and its grounds per se but prohibition of remarriage to a mate whom one has previously divorced.
- Deuteronomy 24:4 tn Heb “cause the land to sin” (so KJV, ASV).
- Deuteronomy 24:5 tn Heb “go out with.”
- Deuteronomy 24:5 tc For the MT’s reading Piel שִׂמַּח (simmakh, “bring joy to”), the Syriac and others read שָׂמַח (samakh, “enjoy”).
- Deuteronomy 24:6 sn Taking millstones as security on a loan would amount to taking the owner’s own life in pledge, since the millstones were the owner’s means of earning a living and supporting his family.
- Deuteronomy 24:7 tn Heb “from his brothers, from the sons of Israel.” The terms “brothers” and “sons of Israel” are in apposition; the second defines the first more specifically.
- Deuteronomy 24:7 tn Or “and enslaves him.”
- Deuteronomy 24:7 tn Heb “that thief.”
- Deuteronomy 24:7 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the word “purge” in Deut 19:19.
- Deuteronomy 24:8 tn Heb “to watch carefully and to do.”
- Deuteronomy 24:9 sn What the Lord your God did to Miriam. The reference is to Miriam’s having contracted leprosy because of her intemperate challenge to Moses’ leadership (Num 12:1-15). The purpose for the allusion here appears to be the assertion of the theocratic leadership of the priests who, like Moses, should not be despised.
- Deuteronomy 24:10 tn Heb “his pledge.” This refers to something offered as pledge of repayment, i.e., as security for the debt.
- 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.”
Deuteronomy 24
Common English Bible
Marriage and divorce
24 Let’s say a man marries a woman, but she isn’t pleasing to him because he’s discovered something inappropriate about her. So he writes up divorce papers, hands them to her, and sends her out of his house. 2 She leaves his house and ends up marrying someone else. 3 But this new husband also dislikes her, writes up divorce papers, hands them to her, and sends her out of his house (or suppose the second husband dies). 4 In this case, the first husband who originally divorced this woman is not allowed to take her back and marry her again after she has been polluted in this way because the Lord detests that. Don’t pollute the land the Lord your God is giving to you as an inheritance.
5 A newly married man doesn’t have to march in battle. Neither should any related duties be placed on him. He is to live free of such responsibilities for one year, so he can bring joy to his new wife.
Pawning
6 Millstones or even just the upper millstone must not be pawned, because that would be pawning someone’s livelihood.
Kidnapping
7 If someone is caught kidnapping their fellow Israelites, intending to enslave the Israelite or sell them, that kidnapper must die. Remove[a] such evil from your community!
Skin disease
8 Be on guard against outbreaks of skin disease[b] by being very careful about what you do. You must carefully do everything the levitical priests teach you, just as I have commanded them. 9 Remember, after all, what the Lord your God did to Miriam on your departure from Egypt!
Loans
10 When you make any type of loan to your neighbor, don’t enter their house to receive the collateral. 11 You must wait outside. The person to whom you are lending will bring the collateral to you out there. 12 Moreover, if the person is poor, you are not allowed to sleep in their pawned coat. 13 Instead, be certain to give the pawned coat back by sunset so they can sleep in their own coat. They will bless you, and you will be considered righteous before the Lord your God.
Payment for workers
14 Don’t take advantage of poor or needy workers, whether they are fellow Israelites or immigrants who live in your land or your cities. 15 Pay them their salary the same day, before the sun sets, because they are poor, and their very life depends on that pay, and so they don’t cry out against you to the Lord. That would make you guilty.
Generational punishment
16 Parents shouldn’t be executed because of what their children have done; neither should children be executed because of what their parents have done. Each person should be executed for their own guilty acts.
Rights of widows, orphans, and immigrants
17 Don’t obstruct the legal rights of an immigrant or orphan. Don’t take a widow’s coat as pledge for a loan. 18 Remember how you were a slave in Egypt but how the Lord your God saved you from that. That’s why I’m commanding you to do this thing.
19 Whenever you are reaping the harvest of your field and you leave some grain in the field, don’t go back and get it. Let it go to the immigrants, the orphans, and the widows so that the Lord your God blesses you in all that you do. 20 Similarly, when you beat the olives off your olive trees, don’t go back over them twice. Let the leftovers go to the immigrants, the orphans, and the widows. 21 Again, when you pick the grapes of your vineyard, don’t pick them over twice. Let the leftovers go to the immigrants, the orphans, and the widows. 22 Remember how you were a slave in Egypt. That’s why I am commanding you to do this thing.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 24:7 Or burn
- Deuteronomy 24:8 Heb uncertain; traditionally leprosy—a term used for several different skin diseases
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