Laws Concerning Divorce
1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and ehe writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, 2 and if she goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, 4 then fher former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the Lord. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.
Miscellaneous Laws
5 g“When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be liable for any other public duty. He shall be free at home one year hto be happy with his wife1 whom he has taken.
6 “No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge.
7 i“If a man is found stealing one of his brothers of the people of Israel, and if he jtreats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die. kSo you shall purge the evil from your midst.
8 “Take care, in la case of leprous2 disease, to be very careful to do according to all that the Levitical priests shall direct you. As I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do. 9 Remember what the Lord your God did to mMiriam non the way as you came out of Egypt.
10 “When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to collect his pledge. 11 You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you. 12 And if he is a poor man, you shall not sleep in his pledge. 13 oYou shall restore to him the pledge as the sun sets, that he may sleep in his cloak and pbless you. And qit shall be righteousness for you before the Lord your God.
14 “You shall not roppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. 15 sYou shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), tlest he cry against you to the Lord, and you be guilty of sin.
16 u“Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.
17 v“You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, wor take a widow’s garment in pledge, 18 but xyou shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.
19 y“When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, zthat the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 22 xYou shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.
1 “If there is a adispute between men and they come into court and the judges decide between them, bacquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty, 2 then if the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with a number of stripes in proportion to his offense. 3 cForty stripes may be given him, but not more, lest, if one should go on to beat him with more stripes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight.
4 d“You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.
Laws Concerning Levirate Marriage
5 e“If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her fhusband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6 And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that ghis name may not be blotted out of Israel. 7 And if the man does not wish to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall hgo up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to perpetuate his brother’s name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’ 8 Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists, saying, i‘I do not wish to take her,’ 9 then his brother’s wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders and jpull his sandal off his foot and kspit in his face. And she shall answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who does not lbuild up his brother’s house.’ 10 And the name of his house3 shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal pulled off.’
Miscellaneous Laws
11 “When men fight with one another and the wife of the one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts, 12 then you shall cut off her hand. mYour eye shall have no pity.
13 “You nshall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small. 14 You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small. 15 A full and fair4 weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, othat your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 16 For pall who do such things, all who act dishonestly, qare an abomination to the Lord your God.
17 r“Remember what Amalek did to you son the way as you came out of Egypt, 18 how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and tcut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God. 19 Therefore uwhen the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you, in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess, you shall vblot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget.
1 aA false balance is an abomination to the Lord,
bbut a just weight is his delight.
2 cWhen pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with dthe humble is wisdom.
3 eThe integrity of the upright guides them,
fbut the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.
4 gRiches do not profit in the day of wrath,
hbut righteousness delivers from death.
5 The righteousness of the blameless ikeeps his way straight,
but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.
6 hThe righteousness of the upright delivers them,
but the treacherous jare taken captive by their lust.
7 When the wicked dies, his khope will perish,
and lthe expectation of wealth1 perishes too.
8 mThe righteous is delivered from trouble,
and the wicked walks into it instead.
9 With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor,
but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.
10 nWhen it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,
and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness.
11 By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,
but oby the mouth of the wicked pit is overthrown.
12 Whoever qbelittles his neighbor lacks sense,
but a man of understanding remains silent.
13 Whoever rgoes about slandering reveals secrets,
but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.
14 Where there is sno guidance, a people falls,
sbut in an abundance of counselors there is safety.
15 tWhoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer harm,
but he who hates striking hands in pledge is secure.
16 uA gracious woman gets honor,
and vviolent men get riches.
17 wA man who is kind benefits himself,
but a cruel man hurts himself.
18 The wicked earns deceptive wages,
but one who xsows righteousness gets a sure reward.
19 Whoever is steadfast in righteousness ywill live,
but zhe who pursues evil will die.
20 Those of acrooked heart are ban abomination to the Lord,
but those of cblameless ways are dhis delight.
21 eBe assured, fan evil person will not go unpunished,
but gthe offspring of the righteous will be delivered.
22 Like ha gold ring in a pig’s snout
is a beautiful woman without discretion.
23 The desire of the righteous ends only in good,
ithe expectation of the wicked in wrath.
24 jOne gives kfreely, yet grows all the richer;
another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.
25 lWhoever brings blessing mwill be enriched,
and none who waters will himself be watered.
26 oThe people curse him who holds back grain,
but pa blessing is on the head of him who qsells it.
27 Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor,2
but evil comes to rhim who searches for it.
28 Whoever strusts in his riches will fall,
but the righteous will tflourish like a green leaf.
29 Whoever utroubles his own household will vinherit the wind,
and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.
30 The fruit of the righteous is wa tree of life,
and whoever xcaptures souls is wise.
31 If ythe righteous is repaid on earth,
how much more the wicked and the sinner!
Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble?
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of fthe Sons of Korah.
1 gHear this, all peoples!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 hboth low and high,
rich and poor together!
3 My mouth shall speak iwisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to ja proverb;
I will solve my kriddle to the music of the lyre.
5 lWhy should I fear in mtimes of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6 those who ntrust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly no man ocan ransom another,
or pgive to God qthe price of his life,
8 for rthe ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever
and snever see the pit.
10 For he sees tthat even the wise die;
uthe fool and the stupid alike must perish
and vleave their wealth to others.
11 Their wgraves are their homes forever,1
their dwelling places xto all generations,
though they ycalled lands by their own names.
12 Man in his pomp zwill not remain;
ahe is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the path of those who have bfoolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts.2 Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright cshall rule over them in the morning.
dTheir form shall be consumed ein Sheol, with no place to dwell.
15 But God will fransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will greceive me. Selah
16 Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
17 hFor when he dies he will icarry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
18 For though, while he lives, he counts himself jblessed
—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19 his soul will kgo to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again lsee light.
20 mMan in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
