The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 If a man takes a wife, and after they are married she is unpleasing to him because of some bad quality in her, let him give her a statement in writing and send her away from his house.
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"Suppose a man marries a woman and later decides that he doesn't want her, because he finds something about her that he doesn't like. So he writes out divorce papers, gives them to her, and sends her away from his home.
2 And when she has gone away from him, she may become another man's wife.
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Then suppose she marries another man,
3 And if the second husband has no love for her and, giving her a statement in writing, sends her away; or if death comes to the second husband to whom she was married;
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and he also decides that he doesn't want her, so he also writes out divorce papers, gives them to her, and sends her away from his home. Or suppose her second husband dies.
4 Her first husband, who had sent her away, may not take her back after she has been wife to another; for that is disgusting to the Lord: and you are not to be a cause of sin in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage.
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In either case, her first husband is not to marry her again; he is to consider her defiled. If he married her again, it would be offensive to the Lord. You are not to commit such a terrible sin in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
5 A newly married man will not have to go out with the army or undertake any business, but may be free for one year, living in his house for the comfort of his wife.
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"When a man is newly married, he is not to be drafted into military service or any other public duty; he is to be excused from duty for one year, so that he can stay at home and make his wife happy.
6 No one is to take, on account of a debt, the stones with which grain is crushed: for in doing so he takes a man's living.
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"When you lend someone something, you are not to take as security his millstones used for grinding his grain. This would take away the family's means of preparing food to stay alive.
7 If a man takes by force one of his countrymen, the children of Israel, using him as his property or getting a price for him, that thief is to be put to death: so you are to put away evil from among you.
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"If any of you kidnap Israelites and make them your slaves or sell them into slavery, you are to be put to death. In this way your nation will get rid of this evil.
8 In connection with the leper's disease, take care to keep and do every detail of the teaching of the priests, the Levites: as I gave them orders, so you are to do.
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"When you are suffering from a dreaded skin disease, be sure to do exactly what the levitical priests tell you; follow the instructions that I have given them.
9 Keep in mind what the Lord your God did to Miriam on the way, when you came out of Egypt.
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Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam as you were coming from Egypt.
10 If you let your brother have the use of anything which is yours, do not go into his house and take anything of his as a sign of his debt;
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"When you lend someone something, do not go into his house to get the garment he is going to give you as security;
11 But keep outside till he comes out and gives it to you.
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wait outside and let him bring it to you himself.
12 If he is a poor man, do not keep his property all night;
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If he is poor, do not keep it overnight;
13 But be certain to give it back to him when the sun goes down, so that he may have his clothing for sleeping in, and will give you his blessing: and this will be put to your account as righteousness before the Lord your God.
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return it to him each evening, so that he can have it to sleep in. Then he will be grateful, and the Lord your God will be pleased with you.
14 Do not be hard on a servant who is poor and in need, if he is one of your countrymen or a man from another nation living with you in your land.
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"Do not cheat poor and needy hired servants, whether they are Israelites or foreigners living in one of your towns.
15 Give him his payment day by day, not keeping it back over night; for he is poor and his living is dependent on it; and if his cry against you comes to the ears of the Lord, it will be judged as sin in you.
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Each day before sunset pay them for that day's work; they need the money and have counted on getting it. If you do not pay them, they will cry out against you to the Lord, and you will be guilty of sin.
16 Fathers are not to be put to death for their children or children for their fathers: every man is to be put to death for the sin which he himself has done.
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"Parents are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their children, and children are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their parents; people are to be put to death only for a crime they themselves have committed.
17 Be upright in judging the cause of the man from a strange country and of him who has no father; do not take a widow's clothing on account of a debt:
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"Do not deprive foreigners and orphans of their rights; and do not take a widow's garment as security for a loan.
18 But keep in mind that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God made you free: for this is why I give you orders to do this.
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Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God set you free; that is why I have given you this command.
19 When you get in the grain from your field, if some of the grain has been dropped by chance in the field, do not go back and get it, but let it be for the man from a strange land, the child without a father, and the widow: so that the blessing of the Lord your God may be on all the work of your hands.
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"When you gather your crops and fail to bring in some of the grain that you have cut, do not go back for it; it is to be left for the foreigners, orphans, and widows, so that the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.
20 When you are shaking the fruit from your olive-trees, do not go over the branches a second time: let some be for the man from a strange land, the child without a father, and the widow.
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When you have picked your olives once, do not go back and get those that are left; they are for the foreigners, orphans, and widows.
21 When you are pulling the grapes from your vines, do not take up those which have been dropped; let them be for the man from a strange land, the child without a father, and the widow.
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When you have gathered your grapes once, do not go back over the vines a second time; the grapes that are left are for the foreigners, orphans, and widows.
22 Keep in mind that you were a servant in the land of Egypt: for this is why I give you orders to do this.
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Never forget that you were slaves in Egypt; that is why I have given you this command.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.