Deuteronomy 24:1-22

Remember the Vulnerable

Read the passage

1If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds some indecency in her, he may write her a certificate of divorce, hand it to her, and send her away from his house.

2If, after leaving his house, she goes and becomes another man’s wife,

3and the second man hates her, writes her a certificate of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house, or if he dies,

4then the husband who divorced her first may not remarry her after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination to the LORD. You must not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

5If a man is newly married, he must not be sent to war or be pressed into any duty. For one year he is free to stay at home and bring joy to the wife he has married.

6Do not take a pair of millstones or even an upper millstone as security for a debt, because that would be taking one’s livelihood as security.

7If a man is caught kidnapping one of his Israelite brothers, whether he treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. So you must purge the evil from among you.

8In cases of infectious skin diseases, be careful to diligently follow everything the Levitical priests instruct you. Be careful to do as I have commanded them.

9Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam on the journey after you came out of Egypt.

10When you lend anything to your neighbor, do not enter his house to collect security.

11You are to stand outside while the man to whom you are lending brings the security out to you.

12If he is a poor man, you must not go to sleep with the security in your possession;

13be sure to return it to him by sunset, so that he may sleep in his own cloak and bless you, and this will be credited to you as righteousness before the LORD your God.

14Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.

15You are to pay his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and depends on them. Otherwise he may cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

16Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.

17Do not deny justice to the foreigner or the fatherless, and do not take a widow’s cloak as security.

18Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you from that place. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.

19If you are harvesting in your field and forget a sheaf there, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

20When you beat the olives from your trees, you must not go over the branches again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow.

21When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you must not go over the vines again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow.

22Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.

Berean Standard Bible

Read aloud

Moses begins with a limit on remarriage: after a divorced woman marries another man, she may not return to her first husband if that second marriage ends. A newly married man is then given a year free from war and other imposed duties to bring joy to his wife. These laws address relationships and obligations that affect another person's life.

A creditor must not take a millstone as security, because it provides the means of making bread. He must wait outside a borrower's house rather than enter to take a pledge, and a poor man's cloak must be returned by sunset so he can sleep in it. Having a legitimate claim does not give permission to strip someone of privacy or necessities.

Israel must follow the priests' instructions about skin disease and remember Miriam. Kidnapping an Israelite for enslavement or sale carries the death penalty. Fathers and children must not be executed for one another's sins; each is answerable for his own wrongdoing.

Poor workers, including resident foreigners, must receive their wages before sunset because they depend on them. Justice must not be denied to the foreigner or fatherless, and a widow's cloak must not be taken as security.

At harvest, a forgotten sheaf must remain for the foreigner, fatherless, and widow. Olive trees and vines must not be stripped a second time; the remaining fruit is for them. Israel must remember its own slavery and the LORD's redemption, letting that mercy shape how others are treated.

Questions

1 What could not be taken as a pledge for a debt?

AnswerA millstone could not be taken because it was the family's means of making bread and sustaining life.

2 Why were wages to be paid promptly?

AnswerA poor worker depended on the wage, and keeping it overnight would become a cry against the employer before God.

3 Who was to receive protection in court and in the fields?

AnswerForeigners, fatherless children, and widows were to receive justice and access to gleaned food.

4 What memory was to guide Israel's generosity?

AnswerIsrael was to remember slavery in Egypt and how the LORD redeemed them.

What This Means for Us

Need changes how we handle possessions, pay, rules, and leftovers. A system can be technically orderly while still taking away the one thing a vulnerable person needs to live.

Look at what your household calls surplus and who has been asked to survive without it. Generosity becomes credible when it is built into the way we work, lend, harvest, and share.

Prayer

LORD, remember those who depend on timely help and fair judgment. Teach us to protect dignity, pay what is owed, share what remains, and let gratitude for redemption make us generous. Amen.

Your reading

Keep your place.

Save this passage to your private reading history.