Beginning
Laws About Marriage and Divorce
24 When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, then let him write her a bill of divorce and put it in her hand and send her out of his house. 2 When she departs out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. 3 If the second husband rejects her and writes her a bill of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the second husband who took her to be his wife dies, 4 her first husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, since she is defiled, for that is abomination before the Lord, and you must not bring sin on the land, which the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.
5 When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he is to be free at home one year, and must bring joy to his wife which he has taken.
Various Laws
6 No man shall take a lower or upper millstone as a pledge, for he would be taking a man’s life as a pledge.
7 If a man is found kidnapping any of his brothers of the children of Israel, and makes property of him or sells him, then that kidnapper must die, and you must remove the evil from among you.
8 Be careful with an outbreak of leprosy, that you diligently observe and do according to all that the Levitical priests instruct you. As I have commanded them, so you must carefully do. 9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on the way, after you came out of Egypt.
10 When you do lend your brother anything, you may not go into his house to take his pledge. 11 You must stand outside, and the man to whom you lend must bring the pledge outside to you. 12 If the man is poor, you may not sleep with his pledge. 13 In any case, you must return the pledge to him when the sun goes down, so that he may sleep in his own cloak and bless you, and it will be righteousness to you before the Lord your God.
14 You may not oppress a hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of your foreigners who are in your land within your towns. 15 You must give him his wages on that very day before the sun sets, for he is poor, and sets his heart on it, lest he cry against you to the Lord, and it be a sin to you.
16 Fathers may not be put to death for the sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers. Every man shall be put to death for his own sin.
17 You must not pervert the justice of the foreigner or of the fatherless, nor take a widow’s cloak as a pledge. 18 On the contrary, you must remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you there. Therefore, I command you to do this.
19 Whenever you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you may not go back to get it. It will be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat your olive tree, you may not go over the boughs again. It will be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow. 21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it again. It will be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow. 22 You must remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Therefore I command you to do this thing.
25 If there is a controversy between men, they are to go to court for judgment, so that the judges may judge them. Then they shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked. 2 It must be, if the wicked man is worthy to be beaten, then the judge must make him lie down and be beaten in his presence, with the number of strikes his guilt deserves. 3 He may give him forty stripes, but no more, lest, if he should exceed and beat him more with numerous stripes, then your brother may appear contemptible to you.
4 You must not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain.
Levirate Marriage
5 If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies without having had a child, the wife of the deceased may not marry outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother must go to her and take her to himself as a wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6 It shall be, that the firstborn whom she bears shall continue in the name of his brother who is deceased, so that his name will not be blotted out of Israel.
7 If the man does not want to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the gate to the elders and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to raise up his brother’s name in Israel. He will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother.” 8 Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak to him, and if he persists and says, “I do not want to take her,” 9 then his brother’s wife must come to him in the presence of the elders and remove his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face, and answer and say, “So shall it be done to that man who will not build up his brother’s house.” 10 His name will be called in Israel, “The house of him who has his sandal removed.”
Various Laws
11 When a man and his brother fight one another, and the wife of the one draws near in order to deliver her husband out of the hand of him who fights him, and reaches out her hand and seizes him by the private parts, 12 then you must cut off her hand. You must not pity her.
13 You must not have in your bag different weights, a large and a small. 14 You must not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. 15 But you must have a perfect and just weight—a perfect and just measure you must have, so that your days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. 16 For all who do such things and all who act unjustly are an abomination to the Lord your God.
17 Remember what Amalek did to you by the road when you were coming out of Egypt, 18 how he met you by the way and attacked at your rear all that were stragglers behind you, when you were exhausted and weary. He did not fear God. 19 Therefore it shall be, when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess, that you must blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You must not forget it.
First Fruits and Tithes
26 And it must be, when you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, and you possess it, and dwell in it, 2 that you shall take from the first of all the produce of the ground which you shall bring from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. 3 You shall go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, “I profess this day to the Lord your God that I have come into the land which the Lord promised to our fathers to give us.” 4 The priest will take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God. 5 Then you must answer and say before the Lord your God, “A wandering Aramean[a] was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with only a few in number, but there he became a great, mighty, and populous nation. 6 However, the Egyptians mistreated and afflicted us, and laid upon us harsh labor. 7 And when we cried to the Lord God of our fathers, the Lord heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, our labor, and our oppression. 8 And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with great terror, and with signs and wonders. 9 Then He brought us into this place, and has given us this land, a land that flows with milk and honey. 10 Now, indeed, I have brought the first fruits of the land, which you, O Lord, have given me.” Then you must set it before the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God. 11 You must rejoice in every good thing which the Lord your God has given to you and your house, you, and the Levite, as well as the foreigner who is among you.
12 When you have finished tithing all the tithes of your income the third year, which is the year of tithing, and have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow, that they may eat within your towns and be satisfied, 13 then you shall say before the Lord your God, “I have removed the sacred things out of my house and also have given them to the Levite, and to the foreigner, to the orphan, and to the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me. I have not transgressed Your commandments or forgotten them. 14 I have not eaten anything when in mourning, nor have I removed anything while unclean, nor offered anything to the dead. I have listened to the voice of the Lord my God and have done according to all that You have commanded me. 15 Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, as You swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
An Exhortation to Obey
16 Today the Lord your God has commanded you to do these statutes and judgments. You must therefore keep and do them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 You have affirmed today that the Lord is your God and vowed to walk in His ways, and to keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His judgments, and to listen to His voice. 18 And the Lord has affirmed today that you are His special people, just as He has promised you, and that you should keep all His commandments. 19 He will exalt you above all nations which He has made, in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that you may be a holy people to the Lord your God, just as He has spoken.
The Altar on Mount Ebal
27 Then Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying: Keep all the commandments which I am commanding you today. 2 On the day when you cross over the Jordan into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you must set up for yourself great stones, and cover them with plaster. 3 Then you must write all the words of this law on them, when you cross over, so that you may enter into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord God of your fathers promised you. 4 Therefore, when you cross over the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, which I am commanding you today, on Mount Ebal, and you shall cover them with plaster. 5 There you must build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. You must not use any iron tool on them. 6 You must build the altar of the Lord your God with whole stones, and you must offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God. 7 You must offer peace offerings and eat there, and rejoice before the Lord your God. 8 You must write all the words of this law very clearly on the stones.
9 Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying: Be silent and listen, O Israel. Today you have become the people of the Lord your God. 10 Therefore, you must obey the voice of the Lord your God and do His commandments and His statutes, which I am commanding you today.
11 Moses commanded the people the same day, saying:
12 These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people when you cross over the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 13 And these must stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
14 The Levites will answer and say to all the men of Israel with a loud voice:
15 “Cursed is the man who makes any graven or molded image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and puts it in a secret place.” And all the people shall answer and say, “Amen.”
16 “Cursed is he who disrespects his father or his mother.” And all the people shall say, “Amen.”
17 “Cursed is he who removes his neighbor’s landmark.” And all the people shall say, “Amen.”
18 “Cursed is he who misleads the blind man on the road.” And all the people shall say, “Amen.”
19 “Cursed is he who perverts justice for the foreigner, orphan, and widow.” And all the people shall say, “Amen.”
20 “Cursed is he who lies with his father’s wife, for he dishonors his father.” And all the people shall say, “Amen.”
21 “Cursed is he who lies with any kind of beast.” And all the people shall say, “Amen.”
22 “Cursed is he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother.” And all the people shall say, “Amen.”
23 “Cursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law.” And all the people shall say, “Amen.”
24 “Cursed is he who strikes down his neighbor secretly.” And all the people shall say, “Amen.”
25 “Cursed is he who receives pay to slay an innocent person.” And all the people shall say, “Amen.”
26 “Cursed is he who does not confirm all the words of this law by doing them.” And all the people shall say, “Amen.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.