17 (A)“You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, (B)or take a widow's garment in pledge, 18 but (C)you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.

19 (D)“When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, (E)that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 22 (F)You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.

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17 You must not pervert justice[a] 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,[b] 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.[c] 20 When you beat your olive tree you must not repeat the procedure;[d] 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;[e] 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.

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Footnotes

  1. 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).
  2. Deuteronomy 24:19 tn Heb “in the field.”
  3. 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).
  4. Deuteronomy 24:20 tn Heb “knock down after you.”
  5. Deuteronomy 24:21 tn Heb “glean after you.”