Deuteronomy - The Old Testament

¹ 'Suppose a man has taken a wife and consummated the marriage; but she has not pleased him and he has found some impropriety of which to accuse her; he has therefore made out a writ of divorce for her and handed it to her and then dismissed her from his house;

² she leaves his home and goes away to become the wife of another man.

³ Then suppose this second man who has married her takes a dislike to her and makes out a writ of divorce for her and hands it to her and dismisses her from his house or if this other man who took her as his wife dies,

⁴ her first husband, who has repudiated her, may not take her back as his wife now that she has been made unclean in this way. For that is detestable in Yahweh's eyes and you must not bring guilt on the country which Yahweh your God is giving you as your heritage.

⁵ 'If a man is newly married, he must not join the army, nor must he be pestered at home; he must be left at home, free of all obligations for one year, to make his new wife happy.

⁶ 'No one may take a mill or a millstone in pledge; that would be to take life itself in pledge.

⁷ 'If anyone is caught, having kidnapped one of his brother-Israelites, whether he makes him his slave or sells him, that thief must die. You must banish this evil from among you.

⁸ 'In a case of a virulent skin-disease, take care you faithfully observe and exactly carry out everything that the levitical priests direct you to do. You must keep and observe everything that I have commanded them.

⁹ Remember what Yahweh your God did to Miriam when you were on your way out of Egypt.

¹⁰ 'If you are making your brother a loan on pledge, you must not go into his house and seize the pledge, whatever it may be.

¹¹ You must stay outside, and the man to whom you are making the loan must bring the pledge out to you.

¹² And if the man is poor, you must not go to bed with his pledge in your possession;

¹³ you must return it to him at sunset so that he can sleep in his cloak and bless you; and it will be an upright action on your part in God's view.

¹⁴ 'You must not exploit a poor and needy wage-earner, be he one of your brothers or a foreigner resident in your community.

¹⁵ You must pay him his wages each day, not allowing the sun to set before you do, since he, being poor, needs them badly; otherwise he may appeal to Yahweh against you, and you would incur guilt.

¹⁶ 'Parents may not be put to death for their children, nor children for parents, but each must be put to death for his own crime.

¹⁷ 'You must not infringe the rights of the foreigner or the orphan; you must not take a widow's clothes in pledge.

¹⁸ Remember that you were once a slave in Egypt and that Yahweh your God redeemed you from that. That is why I am giving you this order.

¹⁹ 'If, when reaping the harvest in your field, you overlook a sheaf in that field, do not go back for it. The foreigner, the orphan and the widow shall have it, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all your undertakings.

²⁰ 'When you beat your olive tree, you must not go over the branches twice. The foreigner, the orphan and the widow shall have the rest.

²¹ 'When you harvest your vineyard, you must not pick it over a second time. The foreigner, the orphan and the widow shall have the rest.

²² 'Remember that you were once a slave in Egypt. That is why I am giving you this order.'