Meditate

Deuteronomy 24

24. Miscellaneous Laws

Laws concerning Marriage and Divorce

24

Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman, but she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her, and so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; she then leaves his house²and goes off to become another man’s wife.³Then suppose the second man dislikes her, writes her a bill of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house (or the second man who married her dies);⁴her first husband, who sent her away, is not permitted to take her again to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that would be abhorrent to the Lord, and you shall not bring guilt on the land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession.

Miscellaneous Laws

⁵ When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be charged with any related duty. He shall be free at home one year, to be happy with the wife whom he has married.

⁶ No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge.

⁷ If someone is caught kidnaping another Israelite, enslaving or selling the Israelite, then that kidnaper shall die. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

⁸ Guard against an outbreak of a leprous skin disease by being very careful; you shall carefully observe whatever the levitical priests instruct you, just as I have commanded them.⁹Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on your journey out of Egypt.

¹⁰ When you make your neighbor a loan of any kind, you shall not go into the house to take the pledge.¹¹You shall wait outside, while the person to whom you are making the loan brings the pledge out to you.¹²If the person is poor, you shall not sleep in the garment given you as the pledge.¹³You shall give the pledge back by sunset, so that your neighbor may sleep in the cloak and bless you; and it will be to your credit before the Lord your God.

¹⁴ You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy laborers, whether other Israelites or aliens who reside in your land in one of your towns.¹⁵You shall pay them their wages daily before sunset, because they are poor and their livelihood depends on them; otherwise they might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt.

¹⁶ Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their parents; only for their own crimes may persons be put to death.

¹⁷ You shall not deprive a resident alien or an orphan of justice; you shall not take a widow’s garment in pledge.¹⁸Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.

¹⁹ 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 left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all your undertakings.²⁰When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow.

²¹ When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow.²²Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this.

2 Corinthians 7:8-16

7. Paul's Hardships and Joys

⁸For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it (though I did regret it, for I see that I grieved you with that letter, though only briefly).⁹Now I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance; for you felt a godly grief, so that you were not harmed in any way by us.¹⁰For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.¹¹For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves guiltless in the matter.¹²So although I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did the wrong, nor on account of the one who was wronged, but in order that your zeal for us might be made known to you before God.¹³In this we find comfort.

In addition to our own consolation, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his mind has been set at rest by all of you.¹⁴For if I have been somewhat boastful about you to him, I was not disgraced; but just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting to Titus has proved true as well.¹⁵And his heart goes out all the more to you, as he remembers the obedience of all of you, and how you welcomed him with fear and trembling.¹⁶I rejoice, because I have complete confidence in you.

 

Psalm 13

13. Psalm 13

Psalm 13

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

1

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

2

How long must I bear pain in my soul,

and have sorrow in my heart all day long?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

 

3

Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!

Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,

4

and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”;

my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

 

5

But I trusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

6

I will sing to the Lord,

because he has dealt bountifully with me.