Deuteronomy 24:1-10

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.

Deuteronomy 24:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

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.