The Bible, Douay-Rheims Part 123

23:8. They that are born of them, in the third generation shall enter into the church of the Lord.

23:9. When thou goest out to war against thy enemies, thou shalt keep thyself from every evil thing.

23:10. If there be among you any man, that is defiled in a dream by night, he shall go forth out of the camp,

23:11. And shall not return, before he be washed with water in the evening: and after sunset he shall return into the camp.

23:12. Thou shalt have a place without the camp, to which thou mayst go for the necessities of nature,

23:13. Carrying a paddle at thy girdle. And when thou sittest down, thou shalt dig round about, and with the earth that is dug up thou shalt cover

23:14. That which thou art eased of: (for the Lord thy G.o.d walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thy enemies to thee:) and let thy camp be holy, and let no uncleanness appear therein, lest he go away from thee.

No uncleanness... This caution against suffering any filth in the camp, was to teach them to fly the filth of sin, which driveth G.o.d away from the soul.

23:15. Thou shalt not deliver to his master the servant that is fled to thee.

23:16. He shall dwell with thee in the place that shall please him, and shall rest in one of thy cities: give him no trouble.

23:17. There shall be no wh.o.r.e among the daughters of Israel, nor wh.o.r.emonger among the sons of Israel.

23:18. Thou shalt not offer the hire of a strumpet, nor the price of a dog, in the house of the Lord thy G.o.d, whatsoever it be that thou hast vowed: because both these are an abomination to the Lord thy G.o.d.

23:19. Thou shalt not lend to thy brother money to usury, nor corn, nor any other thing:

23:20. But to the stranger. To thy brother thou shalt lend that which he wanteth, without usury: that the Lord thy G.o.d may bless thee in all thy works in the land, which thou shalt go in to possess.

To the stranger... This was a dispensation granted by G.o.d to his people, who being the Lord of all things, can give a right and t.i.tle to one upon the goods of another. Otherwise the scripture everywhere condemns usury, as contrary to the law of G.o.d, and a crying sin. See Ex. 22.25; Lev.

25.36, 37; 2 Esd. 5.7; Ps. 14.5; Ezech. 18.8, 13, etc.

23:21. When thou hast made a vow to the Lord thy G.o.d, thou shalt not delay to pay it: because the Lord thy G.o.d will require it. And if thou delay, it shall be imputed to thee for a sin.

23:22. If thou wilt not promise, that shalt be without sin.

23:23. But that which is once gone out of thy lips, thou shalt observe, and shalt do as thou hast promised to the Lord thy G.o.d, and hast spoken with thy own will and with thy own mouth.

23:24. Going into thy neighbour's vineyard, thou mayst eat as many grapes as thou pleasest: but must carry none out with thee:

23:25. If thou go into thy friend's corn, thou mayst break the ears, and rub them in thy hand: but not reap them with a sickle.

Deuteronomy Chapter 24

Divorce permitted to avoid greater evil: the newly married must not go to war: of men stealers, of leprosy, of pledges, of labourers' hire, of justice, and of charity to the poor.

24:1. If a man take a wife, and have her, and she find not favour in his eyes, for some uncleanness: he shall write a bill of divorce, and shall give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.

24:2. And when she is departed, and marrieth another husband,

24:3. And he also hateth her, and hath given her a bill of divorce, and hath sent her out of his house or is dead:

24:4. The former husband cannot take her again to wife: because she is defiled, and is become abominable before the Lord: lest thou cause thy land to sin, which the Lord thy G.o.d shall give thee to possess.

24:5. When a man hath lately taken a wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall any public business be enjoined him, but he shall be free at home without fault, that for one year he may rejoice with his wife.

24:6. Thou shalt not take the nether, nor the upper millstone to pledge: for he hath pledged his life to thee.

24:7. If any man be found soliciting his brother of the children of Israel, and selling him shall take a price, he shall be put to death, and thou shalt take away the evil from the midst of thee.

24:8. Observe diligently that thou incur not the stroke of the leprosy, but thou shalt do whatsoever the priests of the Levitical race shall teach thee, according to what I have commanded them, and fulfil thou it carefully.

24:9. Remember what the Lord your G.o.d did to Mary, in the way when you came out of Egypt.

24:10. When thou shalt demand of thy neighbour any thing that he oweth thee, thou shalt not go into his house to take away a pledge:

24:11. But thou shalt stand without, and he shall bring out to thee what he hath.

24:12. But if he be poor, the pledge shall not lodge with thee that night,

24:13. But thou shalt restore it to him presently before the going down of the sun: that he may sleep in his own raiment and bless thee, and thou mayst have justice before the Lord thy G.o.d.

24:14. Thou shalt not refuse the hire of the needy, and the poor, whether he be thy brother, or a stranger that dwelleth with thee in the land, and is within thy gates:

24:15. But thou shalt pay him the price of his labour the same day, before the going down of the sun, because he is poor, and with it maintaineth his life: lest he cry against thee to the Lord, and it be reputed to thee for a sin.

24:16. The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children for the fathers, but every one shall die for his own sin,

24:17. Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger nor of the fatherless, neither shalt thou take away the widow's raiment for a pledge.

24:18. Remember that thou wast a slave in Egypt, and the Lord thy G.o.d delivered thee from thence. Therefore I command thee to do this thing.

24:19. When thou hast reaped the corn in thy field, and hast forgot and left a sheaf, thou shalt not return to take it away: but thou shalt suffer the stranger, and the fatherless and the widow to take it away: that the Lord thy G.o.d may bless thee in all the works of thy hands.

24:20. If thou have gathered the fruit of thy olive trees, thou shalt not return to gather whatsoever remaineth on the trees: but shalt leave it for the stranger, for the fatherless, and the widow.

24:21. If thou make the vintage of thy vineyard, thou shalt not gather the cl.u.s.ters that remain, but they shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.

24:22. Remember that thou also wast a bondman in Egypt, and therefore I command thee to do this thing.

Deuteronomy Chapter 25

Stripes must not exceed forty. The ox is not to be muzzled. Of raising seed to the brother. Of the immodest woman. Of unjust weight. Of destroying the Amalecites.

25:1. If there be a controversy between men, and they call upon the judges: they shall give the prize of justice to him whom they perceive to be just: and him whom they find to be wicked, they shall condemn of wickedness.

25:2. And if they see that the offender be worthy of stripes: they shall lay him down, and shall cause him to be beaten before them. According to the measure of the sin shall the measure also of the stripes be:

25:3. Yet so, that they exceed not the number of forty: lest thy brother depart shamefully torn before thy eyes.

25:4. Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out thy corn on the floor.