The Old Testament - The Middle Books - The New Testament with the Prophets

The 1527 Original Word of God In English


God's Truth To Us

 

 

The Fifth Book of Moses

also called Deuteronomy

 

Chapters 1-4 | 5-10 | 11-16 | 17-23 | 24-28 | 29-34 | Next Book


 

The 24th Chapter

      When a man hath taken a wife and married her, if she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath spied some uncleanness in her: Then let him write her a bill of divorcement and put it in her hand and send her out of his house.
      If when she is departed out of his house, she go and be another mans wife and the second husband hate her and write her a letter of divorcement and put it in her hand and send her out of his house: or if the second man die which took her to wife, her first man which sent her away may not take her again to be his wife, inasmuch as she is defiled. For that is abomination in the sight of the Lord: that thou defile not the land with sin, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to inherit.
      When a man taketh a new wife, he shall not go a warfare neither shall be charged with any business: but shall be free at home one year and rejoice with his wife which he hath taken. No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge, for then he taketh a mans life to pledge. If any man be found stealing any of his brethren the children of Israel, and maketh chevesaunce of him or selleth him, the thief shall die. And thou shalt put evil away from thee. Take heed to thyself as concerning the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently to do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach thee, as I commanded them so ye shall observe to do. Remember what the Lord thy God did unto Miriam by the way, after that ye were come out of Egypt.
      If thou lend thy brother any manner succour, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch a pledge: but shalt stand without and the man to whom thou lendest, shall bring thee the pledge out at the door. Furthermore if it be a poor body, go not to sleep with his pledge: but deliver him the pledge again by that the *son go down, and let him sleep in his own raiment and bless thee.
      And it shall be righteousness unto thee, before the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not defraud an hired servant that is needy and poor, whether he be of thy brethren or a stranger that is in thy land within thy cities. Give him his hire the same day, and let not the *son go down theron. For he is needy and therewith sustaineth his life, lest he cry against thee unto the Lord and it be sin unto thee. The fathers shall not die for the children nor the children for the fathers: but every man shall die for his own sin.
      Hinder not the right of the stranger nor of the fatherless, nor take widows raiment to pledge. But remember that thou wast a servant in Egypt, and how the Lord thy God delivered thee thence. Wherefore I command thee to do this thing.
      When thou cuttest down thine harvest in the field and hast forgotten a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again and fetch it: But it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand. When thou beatest down thine olive trees thou shalt not make clean riddance after thee: but it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. And when thou gatherest thy vineyard, thou shalt not gather clean after thee: but it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt: wherefore I command thee to do this thing.


*son: this is exactly as it appears; also in both PP

 

 

 

 

The 25th Chapter

     If there is strife between men, let them come unto the law, and let the judges justify the righteous and condemn the trespasser. And if the trespasser be worthy of stripes, then let the judge cause to take him down and to beat him before his face according to his trespass, unto a certain number. Forty stripes he shall give him and not pass: lest if he should exceed and beat him above that with many stripes, thy brother should appear ungoodly before thine eyes.
      Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn.
      When brethren dwell together and one of them die and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not be given out unto a stranger: but her brother in law shall go in unto her and take her to wife and marry her. And the eldest son which she beareth, shall stand up in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out in Israel.
      But and if the man will not take his sister in law, then let her go to the gate unto the elders and say: My brother in law refuseth to stir up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not marry me. Then let the elders of his city call unto him and commune with him. If he stand and say: I will not take her, then let his sister in law go unto him in the presence of the elders and loose his shoe off his foot and spit in his face and answer and say: So shall it be done unto that man that will not build his brothers house. And his name shall be called in Israel, the unshoed house.
      If when men strive together, one with another, the wife of the one run to, for to rid her husband out of the hands of him that smiteth him and put forth her hand and take him by the secrets: cut off her hand, and let not thine eye pity her.
      Thou shalt not have in thy bag two manner weights, a great and a small: neither shalt thou have in thine house diverse measures, a great and a small. But thou shalt have a perfect and a just measure: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. For all that do such things and all that do unright, are abomination unto the Lord thy God. Remember what Amalech did unto thee by the way after thou camest out of Egypt, he met thee by the way and smote the hindmost of you, all that were over labored and dragged behind, when thou wast fainted and weary, and he feared not God. Therefore when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to inherit and possess: see that thou put out the name of Amalech from under heaven, and forget not.

 

 

 

The 26th Chapter

      When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to inherit and hast enjoyed it and dwellest therein: take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou hast brought in out of the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee and put it in a *maund and go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to make his name dwell there. And thou shalt come unto the priest that shall be in those days and say unto him: I knowledge this day unto the Lord thy God, that I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us.
       And the priest shall take the maund out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the Lord thy God. And thou shalt answer and say before the Lord thy God: The Sirians would have destroyed my father, and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there with a few folk and grew there unto a nation great, mighty and full of people. And the Egyptians vexed us and troubled us, and laded us with cruel bondage. And we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and looked on our adversity, labor and oppression. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and a stretched out arm and with great terribleness and with signs and wonders. And he hath brought us into this place and hath given us this land that floweth with milk and honey. And now lo, I have brought the first fruits of the land which the Lord hath given me. And set it before the Lord thy God and worship before the Lord thy God and rejoice over all the good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee and unto thine house, both thou the Levite and the stranger that is among you.
      When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, the year of tithing: and hast given to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, and they have eaten in thy gates and filled themselves. Then say before the Lord thy God: I have brought thee hallowed things out of mine house, and have given them unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow according to all the commandments which thou commandest me: I have not overskipped thy commandments, nor forgotten them. I have not eaten thereof in my mourning nor taken away thereof unto any uncleanness, nor spent thereof about any dead corpse: but have hearkened unto the voice of the Lord my God, and have done after all that he commanded me, look down from thy holy habitation heaven and bless thy people Israel and the land which thou hast given us (as thou swearest unto our fathers) a land that floweth with milk and honey.
      This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these ordinances and laws. Keep them therefore and do them with all thine heart and all thy soul. Thou hast set up the Lord this day to be thy God and to walk in his ways and to keep his ordinances, his commandments and his laws, and to hearken unto his voice. And the Lord hath set thee up this day, to be a several people unto him (as he hath promised thee) and that thou keep his commandments, and to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, in name and honor: that thou mayst be an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath said.


*maund: vessel, used later in the washing of the feet ; perhaps a basket lined with baked clay.

 

 

 

The 27th Chapter

      And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people saying: keep all the commandments which I command you this day. And when ye be come over Jordan unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, set up great stones and plaster them with plaster, and write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art come over: that thou mayst come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee: a land that floweth with milk and honey, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee. When ye be come over Jordan, see that ye set up these stones which I command you this day in mount Ebal, and plaster them with plaster. And there build unto the Lord thy God an altar of stones and see thou lift up no iron upon them: But thou shalt make the altar of the Lord thy God of rough stones and offer burntofferings theron unto the Lord thy God. And thou shalt offer peaceofferings and shalt eat there and rejoice before the Lord thy God. And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law, manifestly and well.
      And Moses with the priests the Levites spake unto all Israel saying: take heed and hear Israel, this day thou art become the people of the Lord thy God. Hearken therefore unto the voice of the Lord thy God and do his commandments and his ordinances which I command you this day. And Moses charged the people the same day saying. These shall stand upon mount Garizim to bless the people, when ye are come over Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Juda, Isachar, Joseph and BenJamin. And these shall stand upon mount Ebal to curse: Ruben, Gad, Asser, Zabulon, Dan and Nephthali. And the Levites shall begin and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice.
       Cursed be he that maketh any carved image or image of metal (an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman) and putteth it in a secret place: And all the people shall answer and say Amen.
      Cursed be he that curseth his father or his mother, and all the people shall say Amen.
      Cursed be he that removeth his neighbors mark, and all the people shall say Amen.
      Cursed be he that maketh the blind go out of his way, and all the people shall say Amen.
      Cursed be he that hindreth the right of the stranger, fatherless and widow, and all the people shall say Amen.
      Cursed be he that lieth with his fathers wife because he hath opened his fathers covering, and all the people shall say Amen.
      Cursed be he that lieth with any manner beast, and all the people shall say Amen.
      Cursed be he that lieth with his sister whether she be the daughter of his father or of his mother, and all the people shall say Amen.
      Cursed be he that lieth with his mother in law, and all the people shall say Amen.
      Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbor secretly, and all the people shall say Amen.
      Cursed be he that taketh a reward to slay innocent blood, and all the people shall say Amen.
      Cursed be he that maintaineth not all the words of this law to do them, and all the people shall say Amen.

 

 

 

The 28th Chapter

      If thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day. The Lord will set thee on high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come on thee and over take thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the town and blessed in the fields, blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, the fruit of thy ground and the fruit of thy cattle, the fruit of thine oxen, and thy flocks of sheep, blessed shall thine *aulmery be and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be, both when thou goest out, and blessed when thou comest in. The Lord shall smite thine enemies that rise against thee before thy face. They shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. The Lord shall command the blessing to be with thee in thy store houses and in all that thou settest thine hand to, and will bless the in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
       The Lord shall make thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee: if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God and walk in his ways.
      And all nations of the earth shall see that thou art called after the name of the Lord, and they shall be afeared of thee. And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, in the fruit of thy cattle and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
      The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, even the heaven, to give rain unto thy land in due season and to bless all the labors of thine hand. And thou shalt lend unto many nations, but shalt not need to borrow thyself. And the Lord shall set thee before and not behind, and thou shalt be above only and not beneath: if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God which I command thee this day to keep and to do them. And see that thou bow not from any of these words which I command thee this day either to the right hand or to the left, that thou wouldest go after strange gods to serve them.
      But and if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to keep and to do all his commandments and ordinances which I command thee this day: then all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the town, and cursed in the field, cursed shall thine almery be and thy store. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body and the fruit of thy land be and the fruit of thine oxen and the flocks of thy sheep. And cursed shalt thou be when thou goest in, and when thou goest out. And the Lord shall send upon thee cursing, going to nought and complaining in all that thou settest thine hand to, whatsoever thou doest: until thou be destroyed and brought to nought quickly, because of the wickedness of thine inventions in that thou hast forsaken the Lord. And the Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from the land whither thou goest to enjoy it. And the Lord shall smite thee with swelling, with fevers, heat, burning, weathering, with smiting and blasting. And they shall follow thee, until thou perish.
      And the heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee iron. And the Lord shall turn the rain of the land unto powder and dust: even from heaven they shall come down upon thee, until thou be brought to nought. And the Lord shall plague thee before thine enemies: Thou shalt come out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them, and shalt be scattered among all the kingdoms of the earth. And thy carcass shall be meat unto all manner fowls of the air and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall *fray them away.
      And the Lord will smite thee with the botches of Egypt and the *emerods, scale and manginess, that thou shalt not be healed thereof. And the Lord shall smite thee with madness, blindness and dazing of heart. And thou shalt grope at noonday as the blind gropeth in darkness, and shalt not come to the right way. And thou shalt suffer wrong only and be *polled evermore, and no man shall *succour thee: thou shalt be betrothed unto a wife, and another shall lie with her. Thou shalt build an house and another shall dwell therein. Thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not make it common. Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof. Thine ass shall be violently taken away even before thy face, and shall not be restored thee again. Thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and no man shall help thee. Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another nation, and thine eyes shall see and daze upon them all day long, but shalt have no might in thine hand. The fruit of thy land and all thy labors shall a nation which thou knowest not, eat, and thou shalt but suffer violence only and be oppressed always: that thou shalt be clean beside thyself for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
       The Lord shall smite thee with a mischievous botch in the knees and legs, so that thou canst not be healed: even from the sole of the foot unto the top of the head.
      The Lord shall bring both thee and thy king which thou hast set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, and there thou shalt serve strange Gods: even wood and stone. And thou shalt go to waste and be made an example and a jesting stock unto all nations whither the Lord shall carry thee. Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in: for the grasshoppers shall destroy it. Thou shalt plant a vineyard and dress it, but shalt neither drink of the wine neither gather of the grapes, for the worms shall eat it. Thou shalt have olive trees in all thy coasts, but shalt not be anointed with the oil, for thine olive trees shall be rooted out. Thou shalt get sons and daughters, but shalt not have them: for they shall be carried away captive. All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall be marred with blasting.
      The strangers that are among you shall climb above thee up on high, and thou shalt come down beneath alow. He shall lend thee and thou shalt not lend him, he shall be before and thou behind.
      Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee and shall follow thee and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed: because thou hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and ordinances which he commanded thee, and they shall be upon thee as miracles and wonders and upon thy seed for ever. And because thou served not the Lord thy God with joyfulness and with a good heart for the abundance of all things, therefore thou shalt serve thine enemy which the Lord shall send upon thee: in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and in need of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thine neck, until he have brought thee to nought.
      And the Lord shall bring a nation upon thee from afar, even from the end of the world, as swift as an eagle flieth: a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand: a hard favored nation which shall not regard the person of the old nor have compassion on the young. And he shall eat the fruit of thy land and the fruit of thy cattle until he have destroyed thee: so that he shall leave thee neither corn, wine, nor oil, neither the increase of thine oxen nor the flocks of thy sheep: until he have brought thee to nought. And he shall keep thee in all thy cities, until thy high and strong walls be come down wherein thou trusted, through all thy land. And he shall besiege thee in all thy cities throughout all thy land which the Lord thy God hath given thee.
      And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body: the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in that straightness and siege wherewith thine enemy shall besiege thee: so that it shall grieve the man that is tender and exceeding delicate among you, to look on his brother and upon his wife that lieth in his bosom and on the remnant of his children, which he hath yet left, for fear of giving unto any of them of the flesh of his children, which he eateth, because he hath nought left him in that straightness and siege wherewith thine enemy shall besiege thee in all thy cities.
      Yea and the woman that is so tender and delicate among you that she dare not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for softness and tenderness, shall be grieved to look on the husband that lieth in her bosom and on her son and on her daughter: even because of the afterbirth, that is come out from between her legs, and because of her children which she hath borne, because she would eat them for need of all things secretly, in the straightness and siege wherewith thine enemy shall besiege thee in thy cities.
      If thou wilt not be diligent to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, for to fear this glorious and fearful name of the Lord thy God: the Lord will smite both thee and thy seed with wonderful plagues and with great plagues and of long continuance, and with evil sicknesses and of long durance. Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt which thou wast afraid of, and they shall cleave unto thee. Thereto all manner sicknesses and all manner plagues which are not written in the book of this law, will the Lord bring upon thee until thou be come to nought. And ye shall be left few in number, wheretofore ye were as the stars of heaven in multitude: because thou wouldest not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.
      And as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and to multiply you: even so he will rejoice over you, to destroy you and to bring you to nought. And ye shall be wasted from off the land whither thou goest to enjoy it. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all nations from the one end of the world unto the other, and there thou shalt serve strange gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known: even wood and stone.
      And among these nations thou shalt be no small season, and yet shalt have no rest for the sole of thy foot. For the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart and dazing eyes and sorrow of mind. And thy life shall hang before thee, and thou shalt fear both day and night and shalt have no trust in thy life. In the morning thou shalt say, would God it were night. And at night thou shalt say, would God it were morning. For fear of thine heart which thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
      And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way which I bade thee that thou shouldst see it no more. And there ye shall be sold unto your enemies, for bondmen and bondwomen: and yet no man shall buy you.

 

*aulmery: from the root word aul comes awl, a tool used in leather work, aulmery may mean tool house.*polled: from the old tradition: the horns are removed meaning to: lose strength or of a modern definition: questioned continually. *fray (scare) *emerods (boils) *succour (secure)

 

Chapters 1-4 | 5-10 | 11-16 | 17-23 | 24-28 | 29-34 | Next Book


 

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