Study Desk

When you walk along a path in someone else's grainfield, you may eat all the grain you can pull off with your hands, but you must not cut any grain with a sickle.

He may be given as many as forty lashes, but no more; more than that would humiliate him publicly.

But if the dead man's brother does not want to marry her, she is to go before the town leaders and say, ‘My husband's brother will not do his duty; he refuses to give his brother a descendant among the people of Israel.'

Then, in the Lord 's presence you will recite these words: ‘My ancestor was a wandering Aramean, who took his family to Egypt to live. They were few in number when they went there, but they became a large and powerful nation.

"The Lord will defeat your enemies when they attack you. They will attack from one direction, but they will run from you in all directions.

He will send rain in season from his rich storehouse in the sky and bless all your work, so that you will lend to many nations, but you will not have to borrow from any.

But you must never disobey them in any way, or worship and serve other gods.

"But if you disobey the Lord your God and do not faithfully keep all his commands and laws that I am giving you today, all these evil things will happen to you:

"The Lord will give your enemies victory over you. You will attack them from one direction, but you will run from them in all directions, and all the people on earth will be terrified when they see what happens to you.

The Lord will send boils on you, as he did on the Egyptians. He will make your bodies break out with sores. You will be covered with scabs, and you will itch, but there will be no cure.

"You will be engaged to a young woman—but someone else will marry her. You will build a house—but never live in it. You will plant a vineyard—but never eat its grapes.

Your cattle will be butchered before your very eyes, but you will not eat any of the meat. Your donkeys will be dragged away while you look on, and they will not be given back to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and there will be no one to help you.

A foreign nation will take all the crops that you have worked so hard to grow, while you receive nothing but constant oppression and harsh treatment.

"You will plant plenty of seed, but reap only a small harvest, because the locusts will eat your crops.

You will plant vineyards and take care of them, but you will not gather their grapes or drink wine from them, because worms will eat the vines.

Olive trees will grow everywhere in your land, but you will not have any olive oil, because the olives will drop off.

You will have sons and daughters, but you will lose them, because they will be taken away as prisoners of war.

They will have money to lend you, but you will have none to lend them. In the end they will be your rulers.

The Lord blessed you in every way, but you would not serve him with glad and joyful hearts.

The Lord will send you back to Egypt in ships, even though he said that you would never have to go there again. There you will try to sell yourselves to your enemies as slaves, but no one will want to buy you."