Chronological
Chapter 24
Marriage Laws.[a] 1 If a man marries a woman, and after they are married she becomes displeasing to him because he has discovered something indecent about her, and he writes a bill of divorce and puts it in her hand, and he sends her forth from his house, 2 then after she has left his house, she can become the wife of another man. 3 If this second husband is displeased with her and writes her a bill of divorce and he puts it in her hand and he sends her forth from his house, or if the second man who took her to be his wife should die, 4 then her first husband who had sent her away cannot take her back to be his wife again, for she has been defiled. This would be an abomination to the Lord. You shall not cause the sin to come upon the land that the Lord, your God, is giving to you as an inheritance.
5 If a man has recently been married, he is not to go off to battle nor have any other duty laid on him. He will be free to stay at home for one year so that he can bring happiness to the wife whom he has married.
Additional Laws. 6 Do not take a lower or upper millstone as a pledge against a debt, for that would mean that you were taking the man’s livelihood as a pledge.[b]
7 If anyone kidnaps one of his fellow Israelites, mistreating him and selling him, then that kidnapper is to be put to death, and you shall purge the evil from your midst.
8 During an outbreak of leprosy, take heed to observe and carefully fulfill all that the priests, the Levites, tell you to do. Observe what they command of you and do it. 9 Remember what the Lord, your God, did to Miriam on the way after you came up out of Egypt.
10 Be willing to lend your brother anything, and do not go to his house to obtain his pledge against the loan. 11 Stand outside his house, and the man to whom you made the loan will bring the pledge out to you. 12 If a man is poor, you are not to keep his pledge overnight. 13 You are to return his pledge to him when the sun goes down so that he can sleep in his own garment and bless you. This is righteous to the Lord, your God.
14 You shall not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he be one of your brethren or a foreigner who lives on the land within your town gates. 15 You are to give him his wages on the same day before the sun goes down, for he is poor and he has his heart set on it. Otherwise he might cry out against you to the Lord and it would be your sin.
16 Fathers are not to be put to death in the place of their sons, nor are sons to be put to death in place of their fathers. Each man is to be put to death for his own sin.
17 You are not to pervert justice toward a foreigner or an orphan, nor are you to take a widow’s garment as a pledge against a loan. 18 Remember that you were once a slave in Egypt and the Lord, your God, redeemed you from there. This is why I command you to do this.
19 When you reap a harvest in the field and you miss a sheaf of grain, do not turn around to take it. Leave it for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow. Then you will be blessed by the Lord, your God, in all of your undertakings. 20 When you beat your olive trees, do not go back over the branches a second time. Leave it for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow. 21 When you harvest grapes in your vineyard, do not go back over it a second time. Leave it for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow. 22 Remember that you were once a slave in the land of Egypt. This is why I command you to do this.
Chapter 25
Restricted Punishment. 1 If there is a dispute between men and they take it to court for the judges to decide, let them proclaim as innocent the righteous and as guilty the wrongdoer. 2 If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, then the judge will have him lay down and beaten in front of him, giving him the number of lashes that his crime deserves. 3 He can be given up to forty lashes, but no more than that, for if he is given more than that, your brother might be shamed in your sight.
4 Do not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.[c]
Family Marriage.[d] 5 If brothers are living together, and one of them dies without having a son, then the widow of the deceased is not to marry outside of the family. Her husband’s brother will take her as his wife and thus perform the duty of her husband’s brother. 6 The first son will bear the name of the deceased brother, so his name not be extinguished in Israel. 7 However, if the man does not want to marry his brother’s wife, let the brother’s wife go to the elders of the town at the gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to ensure the continuance of his brother in Israel. He will not perform the duty expected of a husband’s brother.” 8 Then the elders of the town will summon him and speak to him. If he continues to say, “I will not marry her,” 9 then the brother’s widow will come up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his shoes from his feet, and spit in his face saying, “This is what a man deserves who will not build a house for his brother.” 10 His family will be known as “the family of the unsandaled one” in Israel.
11 Incidental Rules. If two men are fighting, and the wife of one of them comes forward to try to rescue her husband from the man who is beating him, and she reaches out and grabs him by his private parts, 12 you shall cut off her hand. You are to show her no pity.
13 You are not to have two different weights in your sack, one heavy and the other one light.
14 You are not to have two different measures in your house, one large and the other one small.
15 You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live a long time in the land that the Lord, your God, has given you, 16 for anyone who does these things, who deals with others dishonestly, is an abomination to the Lord, your God.
17 Remember what the Amalekites did to you as you were on your way when you came forth from the land of Egypt.[e] 18 They met you along the way and waylaid those who were lagging when you were weary and worn out. They had no fear of God. 19 When the Lord, your God, gives you rest from all of the enemies who surround you in the land that the Lord, your God, is giving to you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the memory of the Amalekites from under the heavens. Do not forget!
Chapter 26
Thanksgiving for God’s Gifts. 1 When you have entered the land that the Lord, your God, is giving to you as an inheritance and you have taken possession of it and are dwelling in it, 2 you shall take the firstfruits of the produce of the earth in the land that the Lord, your God, is giving you, and you shall put them in a basket. You shall then bring them to the place that the Lord, your God, has chosen as a dwelling place for his name. 3 Go to the priest then in office and say, “I declare today to the Lord, your God, that I have come into the land that the Lord promised to our fathers to give us.” 4 The priest will then take the basket out of your hand and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord, your God. 5 You shall declare before the Lord, your God, “My father was a wandering Aramean,[f] and he went down into Egypt with a few people and he dwelt there becoming a great nation, powerful and numerous. 6 The Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us and forced us to do hard labor. 7 We cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and took notice of our affliction, labor, and oppression. 8 The Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with terrifying and awesome signs and wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us a land, this land that is flowing with milk and honey. 10 Now I have brought the firstfruits of the land that you, O Lord, have given me.” Then place it before the Lord, your God, and worship the Lord, your God. 11 You and the Levites and the foreigner who lives with you will rejoice over every good thing that the Lord, your God, has given to you and your household.
12 When you have finished setting aside a tenth of the produce every third year, you are to give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow who live in your town so that they might eat it and be satisfied. 13 Then you will declare before the Lord, your God, “I have brought these dedicated things from my house and have given them to the Levite, the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow, just as you commanded me. I have not violated your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. 14 I have not eaten any of it while I was in mourning, nor did I remove any of it while I was unclean. I did not offer any of it to the dead. I have harkened to the voice of the Lord, my God, and have done everything that you have commanded me.[g] 15 Look down from the heavens, your holy dwelling place, and bless the people of Israel and the land that you have given us as you had promised to our fathers, a land that is flowing with milk and honey.”
16 Covenant with God. The Lord, your God, commands you today to observe these statutes and decrees. Carefully fulfill them with all of your heart and all of your soul. 17 You have solemnly declared today that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in his ways, that you will observe his statutes, commandments, and decrees, and that you will obey him, 18 and the Lord has solemnly promised you today that you will be his chosen people, as he had promised, and that you are to observe all of his commandments. 19 He will raise you up above every other nation in praise, fame, and honor. You will be a holy people[h] to the Lord, your God, as he has promised.
Chapter 27
Altar on Mount Ebal.[i][j] 1 Moses and the elders of Israel said to the people: Observe all of the commandments that I give you today. 2 When you cross over the Jordan into the land that the Lord, your God, has given you, set up some large stones for yourselves and plaster them over. 3 When you cross over to enter the land that the Lord, your God, has promised you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, write all of these laws on them. 4 When you have crossed over the Jordan, I command you today, you are to set them up on Mount Ebal and plaster them over. 5 Build an altar there to the Lord, your God, an altar of stone. Do not use any iron tool upon them. 6 Build an altar of unhewn stones there to the Lord, your God. You shall offer your burnt offerings to the Lord, your God, there. 7 You are also to offer up peace offerings and eat them there, rejoicing in the presence of the Lord, your God. 8 You will write all of the words of the law upon these stones in a very clear manner.
9 Then Moses and the priests, the Levites, said to all of Israel: Take heed, O Israel, and listen, for today you have become the people of the Lord, your God. 10 Obey the command of the Lord, your God, and observe the commandments and the statutes that I give you today.
11 On the same day Moses said to the people: 12 When you cross over the Jordan, these are the ones who will stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 13 These are the ones who will stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce curses: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
14 The Twelve Curses.[k] The Levites will proclaim to all of the people of Israel,
15 “Cursed be the person who carves or casts an idol, an abomination to the Lord, the work of human hands, and sets it up in secret.” Then all of the people will proclaim, “Amen.”[l] 16 “Cursed is the one who dishonors father or mother.” All of the people will proclaim, “Amen.”
17 “Cursed is the one who moves a neighbor’s boundary stone.” All of the people will proclaim, “Amen.”
18 “Cursed is the one who leads a blind person astray on the road.” All of the people will proclaim, “Amen.”
19 “Cursed is the one who withholds justice from the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow.” All of the people will proclaim, “Amen.”
20 “Cursed is the man who sleeps with his father’s wife, dishonoring his father’s bed.” All the people will proclaim, “Amen.”
21 “Cursed is the one who has sex with an animal.” All the people will proclaim, “Amen.” 22 “Cursed is the man who sleeps with his sister, either the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.” All the people will proclaim, “Amen.”
23 “Cursed is the man who sleeps with his mother-in-law.” All of the people will proclaim, “Amen.”
24 “Cursed is the one who kills a neighbor in secret.” All of the people will proclaim, “Amen.”
25 “Cursed is the one who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.” All the people will proclaim, “Amen.”
26 “Cursed is the one who does not uphold the words of this law and observe them.” All the people will proclaim, “Amen.”
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