Deuteronomy 24

1 This is what you must do if a husband writes out a certificate of divorce, gives it to his wife, and makes her leave his house. (He divorced her because he found out something indecent about her and she no longer pleased him.)

2 She might marry another man after she leaves his house.

3 If her second husband doesn't love her and divorces her, or if he dies,

4 her first husband is not allowed to marry her again. She has become unclean. This would be disgusting in the LORD's presence. Don't pollute with sin the land that the LORD your God is giving you as your property.

5 A man who has recently been married will be free from military duty or any other public service. For one year he is free to stay at home and make his new wife happy.

6 Never let a family's handmill for grinding flour--or even part of a handmill--be taken to guarantee a loan. The family wouldn't be able to prepare food in order to stay alive.

7 Whoever kidnaps another Israelite must die. The kidnapper must die, whether he treated the other person like a slave or sold him. You must get rid of this evil.

8 Guard against outbreaks of serious skin diseases. Be very careful to do exactly as the Levitical priests instruct you. Make sure you do what I commanded them.

9 Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam on your trip from Egypt.

10 When you make a loan to your neighbor, don't go into his house to take a security deposit.

11 Wait outside, and the person to whom you're making the loan will bring the deposit out to you.

12 If the person is poor, don't keep the coat you took as a deposit overnight.

13 Make sure you bring it back to him at sunset. When he wears his coat to bed [that night], he'll bless you. You will have done the right thing in the presence of the LORD your God.

14 Don't withhold pay from hired workers who are poor and needy, whether they are Israelites or foreigners living in one of your cities.

15 Pay them each day before sunset because they are poor and need their pay. Otherwise, they will complain to the LORD about you, and you will be condemned for your sin.

16 Parents must never be put to death for the crimes of their children, and children must never be put to death for the crimes of their parents. Each person must be put to death for his own crime.

17 Never deprive foreigners and orphans of justice. And never take widows' clothes to guarantee a loan.

18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God freed you from slavery. So I'm commanding you to do this.

19 This is what you must do when you're harvesting wheat in your field. If you forget to bring in one of the bundles of wheat, don't go back to get it. Leave it there for foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do.

20 When you harvest olives from your trees, never knock down all of them. Leave some for foreigners, orphans, and widows.

21 When you pick the grapes in your vineyard, don't pick all of them. Leave some for foreigners, orphans, and widows.

22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. So I'm commanding you to do this.

Deuteronomy 24 Commentary

Chapter 24

Of divorce. (1-4) Of new-married persons, Of man-stealers, Of pledges. (5-13) Of justice and generosity. (14-22)

Verses 1-4 Where the providence of God, or his own wrong choice in marriage, has allotted to a Christian a trial instead of a help meet; he will from his heart prefer bearing the cross, to such relief as tends to sin, confusion, and misery. Divine grace will sanctify this cross, support under it, and teach so to behave, as will gradually render it more tolerable.

Verses 5-13 It is of great consequence that love be kept up between husband and wife; that they carefully avoid every thing which might make them strange one to another. Man-stealing was a capital crime, which could not be settled, as other thefts, by restitution. The laws concerning leprosy must be carefully observed. Thus all who feel their consciences under guilt and wrath, must not cover it, or endeavour to shake off their convictions; but by repentance, and prayer, and humble confession, take the way to peace and pardon. Some orders are given about pledges for money lent. This teaches us to consult the comfort and subsistence of others, as much as our own advantage. Let the poor debtor sleep in his own raiment, and praise God for thy kindness to him. Poor debtors ought to feel more than commonly they do, the goodness of creditors who do not take all the advantage of the law against them, nor should this ever be looked upon as weakness.

Verses 14-22 It is not hard to prove that purity, piety, justice, mercy, fair conduct, kindness to the poor and destitute, consideration for them, and generosity of spirit, are pleasing to God, and becoming in his redeemed people. The difficulty is to attend to them in our daily walk and conversation.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 24

This chapter contains various laws concerning divorces, De 24:1-4; the discharge of a newly married man from war and business, De 24:5; about taking pledges, De 24:6,10-13; man stealing, De 24:7; the plague of leprosy, De 24:8,9; and giving servants their hire in due time, De 24:14,15; concerning doing justice in capital cases, and towards the stranger, fatherless, and widow, De 24:16-18; and of charity to the poor, in allowing them the forgotten sheaf, and the gleanings of their oliveyards and vineyards, De 24:19-22.