Study Desk

"When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens, if she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some ^(C1)indecency in her, that ^(C2)he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and ^(F1)sends her away from his house,

and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man's wife,

and the latter husband ^(F1)turns against her, writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand, and ^(F2)sends her away from his house, or if the latter husband who took her to be his wife dies,

then her ^(C1)former husband who ^(F1)sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, after ^(F2)she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

"^(C1)When a man takes a new wife, he is not to go out with the army, nor be assigned any duty; he shall be free at home for one year and shall ^(C2)make his wife whom he has taken happy.

"No one shall seize a handmill or an upper millstone as a pledge for a loan, since he would be seizing the debtor's ^(F1)means of life as a pledge.

"^(C1)If someone is ^(F1)caught kidnapping any of his countrymen of the sons of Israel, and he treats him as merchandise and sells him, then that thief shall die; so you shall eliminate the evil from among you.

"^(C1)Be careful about an infestation of leprosy, that you are very attentive and act in accordance with everything that the Levitical priests teach you; just as I have commanded them, you shall be careful to act.

"Remember what the LORD your God did ^(C1)to Miriam on the way as you came out of Egypt.

"^(C1)When you make your neighbor a loan of any kind, you shall not enter his house to take his pledge.

"You shall stand outside, and the person to whom you are making the loan shall bring the pledge outside to you.

"And if he is a poor man, you shall not sleep with his pledge.

"^(C1)When the sun goes down you shall certainly return the pledge to him, so that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you; and ^(C2)it will be righteousness for you before the LORD your God.

"^(C1)You shall not exploit a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your countrymen or one of your strangers who are in your land in your ^(F1)towns.

"^(C1)You shall give him his wages on his day ^(F1)before the sun sets—for he is poor and sets his ^(F2)heart on it—so that ^(C2)he does not cry out against you to the LORD, and it becomes a sin in you.

"^(C1)Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin alone.

"^(C1)You shall not pervert the justice ^(F1)due a stranger or ^(F2)an orphan, nor ^(C2)seize a widow's garment as a ^(F3)pledge.

"But you are to remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and that the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing.

"^(C1)When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you are not to go back to get it; it shall belong ^(C2)to the stranger, the ^(F1)orphan, and to the widow, in order that the LORD your God ^(C3)may bless you in all the work of your hands.

"^(C1)When you beat the olives off your olive tree, you are not to search through the branches ^(F1)again; that shall be left ^(C2)for the stranger, the ^(F2)orphan, and for the widow.

"When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you are not to ^(F1)go over it again; that shall be left for the stranger, the ^(F2)orphan, and the widow.

"And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing.

"^(C1)If there is a dispute between people and they go to ^(F1)court, and ^(F2)the judges decide their case, ^(C2)and they declare the righteous innocent and pronounce the wicked guilty,

then it shall be if the wicked person ^(F1)(C1)deserves to be beaten, the judge shall then make him lie down and have him beaten in his presence with the number of lashes according to his ^(F2)wrongful act.

"^(C1)He may have him beaten forty times, but not more, so that he does not have him beaten with many more lashes than these, and that your brother does not ^(C2)become contemptible in your eyes.

"^(C1)You shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing.

"When brothers live together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a strange man. ^(C1)Her husband's brother shall have relations with her and take her to himself as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her.

"It shall then be that the firstborn to whom she gives birth shall ^(F1)assume the name of his father's deceased brother, so that ^(C1)his name will not be wiped out from Israel.

"^(C1)But if the man does not desire to take his brother's widow, then his brother's widow shall go up to the gate to the elders, and say, 'My husband's brother refuses to establish a name for his brother in Israel; he is not willing to perform the duty of a husband's brother to me.'

"Then the elders of his city shall summon him and speak to him. And if he persists and says, 'I do not desire to take her,'

^(C1)then his brother's widow shall come up to him in the sight of the elders, and pull his sandal off his foot and ^(C2)spit in his face; and she shall ^(F1)declare, 'This is what is done to the man who does not build up his brother's house!'

"And in Israel ^(F1)his family shall be called by the name, 'The house of him whose sandal was removed.'

"If two men, a man and his countryman, have a fight ^(F1)with each other, and the wife of one comes up to save her husband from the hand of the one who is hitting him, and she reaches out with her hand and grasps ^(F2)that man's genitals,

then you shall cut off her ^(F1)hand; ^(F2)(C1)you shall not show pity.

"^(C1)You shall not have in your bag ^(F1)differing weights, a large and a small.

"You shall not have in your house ^(F1)differing measures, a large and a small.

"You shall have a correct and honest ^(F1)weight; you shall have a correct and honest ^(F2)measure, ^(C1)so that your days may be prolonged ^(F3)in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.

"For ^(C1)everyone who does these things, everyone who acts unjustly is an abomination to the LORD your God.

"^(C1)Remember what Amalek did to you on the way when you came out of Egypt,

how he confronted you on the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were tired and weary; and he ^(C1)did not ^(F1)fear God.

"So it shall come about, when the LORD your God has given you ^(C1)rest from all your surrounding enemies in the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance to ^(F1)possess, that you shall wipe out the mention of the name Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget.

"Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you take possession of it and live in it,

that you shall take some of ^(C1)the first of all the produce of the ground which you bring in from your land that the LORD your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and ^(C2)go to the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name.

"And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, 'I declare today to the LORD ^(F1)my God that I have entered the land which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.'

"Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it before the altar of the LORD your God.

"And you shall respond and say before the LORD your God, '^(C1)My father was a ^(F1)wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and ^(F2)resided there, ^(C2)few in number; but there he became a ^(C3)great, mighty, and populous nation.

'And the ^(C1)Egyptians treated us badly and oppressed us, and imposed hard labor on us.

'Then ^(C1)we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our wretched condition, our trouble, and our oppression;

^(C1)and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, an outstretched arm, and with great terror, and with signs and wonders;

and He has brought us to this place, and has given us this land, ^(C1)a land flowing with milk and honey.

'And now behold, I have brought the first of the produce of the ground ^(C1)which You, LORD have given me.' Then you shall set it before the LORD your God, and worship before the LORD your God;

and you, ^(C1)the Levite, and the stranger who is among you shall ^(C2)rejoice in all the good which the LORD your God has given you and your household.

"^(C1)When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the ^(F1)orphan, and to the widow, so that they may eat in your ^(F2)towns and be satisfied.

"And you shall say before the LORD your God, 'I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and have also given it to the Levite, the stranger, the ^(F1)orphan, and the widow, in accordance with all Your commandments which You have commanded me; ^(C1)I have not violated or forgotten any of Your commandments.

'I have not eaten of it while mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor offered any of it to the dead. I have listened to the voice of the LORD my God; I have acted in accordance with everything that You have commanded me.

'^(C1)Look down from Your holy dwelling place, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel, and the ground which You have given us, ^(C2)a land flowing with milk and honey just as You swore to our fathers.'

"This day the LORD your God commands you to perform these statutes and ordinances. Therefore you shall be careful to perform them ^(C1)with all your heart and with all your soul.

"^(C1)Today you have declared the LORD to be your God, and ^(F1)that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His ordinances, and listen to His voice.

"And the LORD has today declared you to be ^(C1)His people, His personal possession, just as He promised you, and ^(F1)that you are to keep all His commandments;

and ^(F1)that He will ^(C1)put you high above all the nations which He has made, for glory, fame, and honor; and that you shall be ^(C2)a consecrated people to the LORD your God, just as He has spoken."

Then Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, "Keep all the commandments which I am commanding you today.

"^(C1)So it shall be on the day when you cross the Jordan to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, that you shall set up for yourself large stones and coat them with lime

and write on them all the words of this Law, when you cross over, so that you may enter the land which the LORD your God is giving you, ^(C1)a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, ^(F1)promised you.

"So it shall be when you cross the Jordan, you shall set up these stones ^(C1)on Mount Ebal, ^(F1)as I am commanding you today, and you shall coat them with lime.

"Moreover, you shall build there an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones; you ^(C1)shall not wield an iron tool on them.

"You shall build the altar of the LORD your God of ^(F1)uncut stones, and you shall offer on it burnt offerings to the LORD your God;

and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and eat there, and ^(C1)rejoice before the LORD your God.

"You shall write on the ^(F1)stones all the words of this Law very clearly."

Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying, "Be silent and listen, Israel! This day you have become a people for the LORD your God.

"So you shall ^(F1)obey the LORD your God, and do His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today."

Moses also commanded the people on that day, saying,

"When you cross the Jordan, these tribes shall stand on ^(C1)Mount Gerizim to bless the people: ^(C2)Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.

"For the curse, these tribes shall stand on Mount Ebal: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

"The Levites shall then respond and say to all the people of Israel with a loud voice,

'Cursed is the person who makes ^(C1)a carved image or cast metal image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.' And ^(C2)all the people shall reply and say, 'Amen.'

'^(C1)Cursed is one who treats his father or mother contemptuously.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

'^(C1)Cursed is one who displaces his neighbor's boundary marker.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

'^(C1)Cursed is one who misleads a person who is blind on the road.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

'^(C1)Cursed is one who distorts the justice due a stranger, an ^(F1)orphan, or a widow.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

'^(C1)Cursed is he who sleeps with his father's wife, because he has ^(F1)uncovered his father's garment.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

'^(C1)Cursed is one who has sexual intercourse with any animal.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

'^(C1)Cursed is he who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

'^(C1)Cursed is he who sleeps with his mother-in-law.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

'^(C1)Cursed is he who attacks his neighbor in secret.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

'^(C1)Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to attack an innocent person.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

'^(C1)Cursed is anyone who does not fulfill the words of this Law by doing them.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'