Deuteronomy 24-25

New International Version

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, ²and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, ³and 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, ⁴then 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.

⁵If 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)

⁶Do 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)

⁷If 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)

⁸In 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) ⁹Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam along the way after you came out of Egypt.^(J)

¹⁰When 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) ¹¹Stay outside and let the neighbor to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you. ¹²If the neighbor is poor, do not go to sleep with their pledge^(L) in your possession. ¹³Return 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)

¹⁴Do 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) ¹⁵Pay 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)

¹⁶Parents 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)

¹⁷Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless^(U) of justice,^(V) or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. ¹⁸Remember 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.

¹⁹When 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. ²⁰When 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. ²¹When 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. ²²Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.^(AC)

25 When people have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges^(AD) will decide the case,^(AE) acquitting^(AF) the innocent and condemning the guilty.^(AG) ²If the guilty person deserves to be beaten,^(AH) the judge shall make them lie down and have them flogged in his presence with the number of lashes the crime deserves, ³but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes.^(AI) If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes.^(AJ)

⁴Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.^(AK)

⁵If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her.^(AL) ⁶The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.^(AM)

⁷However, if a man does not want to marry his brother’s wife,^(AN) she shall go to the elders at the town gate^(AO) and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to carry on his brother’s name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me.”^(AP) ⁸Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, “I do not want to marry her,” ⁹his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals,^(AQ) spit in his face^(AR) and say, “This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother’s family line.” ¹⁰That man’s line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled.

¹¹If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, ¹²you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity.^(AS)

¹³Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light.^(AT) ¹⁴Do not have two differing measures in your house—one large, one small. ¹⁵You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long^(AU) in the land the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁶For the Lord your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.^(AV)

¹⁷Remember what the Amalekites^(AW) did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. ¹⁸When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God.^(AX) ¹⁹When the Lord your God gives you rest^(AY) from all the enemies^(AZ) around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek^(BA) from under heaven. Do not forget!

Footnotes

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

Psalm 109

New International Version

Psalm 109

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

¹My God, whom I praise,^(A)
    do not remain silent,^(B)
²for people who are wicked and deceitful^(C)
    have opened their mouths against me;
    they have spoken against me with lying tongues.^(D)
³With words of hatred^(E) they surround me;
    they attack me without cause.^(F)
⁴In return for my friendship they accuse me,
    but I am a man of prayer.^(G)
⁵They repay me evil for good,^(H)
    and hatred for my friendship.

⁶Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy;
    let an accuser^(I) stand at his right hand.
⁷When he is tried, let him be found guilty,^(J)
    and may his prayers condemn^(K) him.
⁸May his days be few;^(L)
    may another take his place^(M) of leadership.
⁹May his children be fatherless
    and his wife a widow.^(N)
¹⁰May his children be wandering beggars;^(O)
    may they be driven^[a] from their ruined homes.
¹¹May a creditor^(P) seize all he has;
    may strangers plunder^(Q) the fruits of his labor.^(R)
¹²May no one extend kindness to him
    or take pity^(S) on his fatherless children.
¹³May his descendants be cut off,^(T)
    their names blotted out^(U) from the next generation.
¹⁴May the iniquity of his fathers^(V) be remembered before the Lord;
    may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
¹⁵May their sins always remain before^(W) the Lord,
    that he may blot out their name^(X) from the earth.

¹⁶For he never thought of doing a kindness,
    but hounded to death the poor
    and the needy^(Y) and the brokenhearted.^(Z)
¹⁷He loved to pronounce a curse—
    may it come back on him.^(AA)
He found no pleasure in blessing—
    may it be far from him.
¹⁸He wore cursing^(AB) as his garment;
    it entered into his body like water,^(AC)
    into his bones like oil.
¹⁹May it be like a cloak wrapped^(AD) about him,
    like a belt tied forever around him.
²⁰May this be the Lord’s payment^(AE) to my accusers,
    to those who speak evil^(AF) of me.

²¹But you, Sovereign Lord,
    help me for your name’s sake;^(AG)
    out of the goodness of your love,^(AH) deliver me.^(AI)
²²For I am poor and needy,
    and my heart is wounded within me.
²³I fade away like an evening shadow;^(AJ)
    I am shaken off like a locust.
²⁴My knees give^(AK) way from fasting;^(AL)
    my body is thin and gaunt.^(AM)
²⁵I am an object of scorn^(AN) to my accusers;
    when they see me, they shake their heads.^(AO)

²⁶Help me,^(AP) Lord my God;
    save me according to your unfailing love.
²⁷Let them know^(AQ) that it is your hand,
    that you, Lord, have done it.
²⁸While they curse,^(AR) may you bless;
    may those who attack me be put to shame,
    but may your servant rejoice.^(AS)
²⁹May my accusers be clothed with disgrace
    and wrapped in shame^(AT) as in a cloak.

³⁰With my mouth I will greatly extol the Lord;
in the great throng^(AU) of worshipers I will praise him.
³¹For he stands at the right hand^(AV) of the needy,
to save their lives from those who would condemn them.