¹If a man marries a woman and she does not please him because he has found something offensive in her, then he may draw up a divorce document, give it to her, and evict her from his house.[#tn Heb “nakedness of a thing.” The Hebrew phrase עֶרְוַת דָּבָר (’ervat davar) refers here to some gross sexual impropriety (see note on “indecent” in Deut 23:14). Though the term usually has to do only with indecent exposure of the genitals, it can also include such behavior as adultery (cf. Lev 18:6-18; 20:11, 17, 20-21; Ezek 22:10; 23:29; Hos 2:10).]

²When she has left him she may go and become someone else’s wife.[#tn Heb “his house.”]

³If the second husband rejects her and then divorces her, gives her the papers, and evicts her from his house, or if the second husband who married her dies,[#tn Heb “hates.” See note on the word “other” in Deut 21:15.; #tn Heb “writes her a document of divorce.”]

⁴her first husband who divorced her is not permitted to remarry her after she has become ritually impure, for that is offensive to the Lord . You must not bring guilt on the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.[#tn Heb “to return to take her to be his wife.”; #sn The issue here is not divorce and its grounds per se but prohibition of remarriage to a mate whom one has previously divorced.; #tn Heb “cause the land to sin” (so KJV, ASV).]

⁵When a man is newly married, he need not go into the army nor be obligated in any way; he must be free to stay at home for a full year and bring joy to the wife he has married.[#tn Heb “go out with.”; #tc For the MT’s reading Piel שִׂמַּח (simmakh, “bring joy to”), the Syriac and others read שָׂמַח (samakh, “enjoy”).]

⁶One must not take either lower or upper millstones as security on a loan, for that is like taking a life itself as security.[#sn Taking millstones as security on a loan would amount to taking the owner’s own life in pledge, since the millstones were the owner’s means of earning a living and supporting his family.]

⁷If a man is found kidnapping a person from among his fellow Israelites, and regards him as mere property and sells him, that kidnapper must die. In this way you will purge evil from among you.[#tn Heb “from his brothers, from the sons of Israel.” The terms “brothers” and “sons of Israel” are in apposition; the second defines the first more specifically.; #tn Or “and enslaves him.”; #tn Heb “that thief.”; #tn Heb “burn.” See note on the word “purge” in Deut 19:19.]

Respect for Human Dignity

⁸Be careful during an outbreak of leprosy to follow precisely all that the Levitical priests instruct you; as I have commanded them, so you should do.[#tn Heb “to watch carefully and to do.”]

⁹Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam along the way after you left Egypt.[#sn What the Lord your God did to Miriam. The reference is to Miriam’s having contracted leprosy because of her intemperate challenge to Moses’ leadership (Num 12:1-15). The purpose for the allusion here appears to be the assertion of the theocratic leadership of the priests who, like Moses, should not be despised.]

¹⁰When you make any kind of loan to your neighbor, you may not go into his house to claim what he is offering as security.[#tn Heb “his pledge.” This refers to something offered as pledge of repayment, i.e., as security for the debt.]

¹¹You must stand outside and the person to whom you are making the loan will bring out to you what he is offering as security.[#tn Heb “his pledge.”]

¹²If the person is poor you may not use what he gives you as security for a covering.[#tn Heb “may not lie down in his pledge.” What is in view is the use of clothing as guarantee for the repayment of loans, a matter already addressed elsewhere (Deut 23:19-20; 24:6; cf. Exod 22:25-26; Lev 25:35-37). Cf. NAB “you shall not sleep in the mantle he gives as a pledge”; NRSV “in the garment given you as the pledge.”]

¹³You must by all means return to him at sunset the item he gave you as security so that he may sleep in his outer garment and bless you for it; it will be considered a just deed by the Lord your God.[#tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “by all means.”; #tn Or “righteous” (so NIV, NLT).]

¹⁴You must not oppress a lowly and poor servant, whether one from among your fellow Israelites or from the resident foreigners who are living in your land and villages.[#tn Heb “your brothers,” but not limited only to actual siblings; cf. NASB “your (+ own NAB) countrymen.”; #tn Heb “who are in your land in your gates.” The word “living” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.]

¹⁵You must pay his wage that very day before the sun sets, for he is poor and his life depends on it. Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

¹⁶Fathers must not be put to death for what their children do, nor children for what their fathers do; each must be put to death for his own sin.[#tn Heb “sons” (so NASB; twice in this verse). Many English versions, including the KJV, read “children” here.]

¹⁷You must not pervert justice due a resident foreigner or an orphan, or take a widow’s garment as security for a loan.

¹⁸Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do all this.

¹⁹Whenever you reap your harvest in your field and leave some unraked grain there, you must not return to get it; it should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow so that the Lord your God may bless all the work you do.[#tn Heb “in the field.”; #tn Heb “of your hands.” This law was later applied in the story of Ruth who, as a poor widow, was allowed by generous Boaz to glean in his fields (Ruth 2:1-13).]

²⁰When you beat your olive tree you must not repeat the procedure; the remaining olives belong to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow.[#tn Heb “knock down after you.”]

²¹When you gather the grapes of your vineyard you must not do so a second time; they should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow.[#tn Heb “glean after you.”]

²²Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt; therefore, I am commanding you to do all this.