Study Desk

Be careful! Don't say to yourself, "Soon it will be the seventh year, and then I won't be able to get my money back." It would be horrible for you to think that way and to be so selfish that you refuse to help the poor. They are your relatives, and if you don't help them, they may ask the Lord to decide whether you have done wrong. And he will say that you are guilty.

But one of your slaves may say, "I love you and your family, and I would be better off staying with you, so please don't make me leave."

Remember that you used to be slaves in Egypt, so obey these laws.

Moses said to Israel: After you have finished the grain harvest and the grape harvest, take your sons and daughters and all your servants to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. Celebrate the Festival of Shelters for seven days. Also invite the poor, including Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows. The Lord will give you big harvests and make you successful in everything you do. You will be completely happy, so celebrate this festival in honor of the Lord your God.

So when you hear that someone in your town is committing this disgusting sin, you must carefully find out if that person really is guilty.

The official copy of God's laws will be kept by the priests of the Levi tribe. So, as soon as anyone becomes king, he must go to the priests and write out a copy of these laws while they watch.

Each day the king must read and obey these laws, so that he will learn to worship the Lord with fear and trembling

So when I want to speak to them, I will choose one of them to be a prophet like you. I will give my message to that prophet, who will tell the people exactly what I have said.

you must choose three of your towns to be Safe Towns. Divide the land into three regions with one Safe Town near the middle of each, so that a Safe Town can be easily reached from anywhere in your land. Then, if one of you accidentally kills someone, you can run to a Safe Town and find protection from being put to death. But you must not have been angry with the person you killed.

You will need them, so innocent people won't be killed on your land while they are trying to reach a Safe Town that is too far away. You will be guilty of murder, if innocent people lose their lives because you didn't name enough Safe Towns in the land the Lord your God will give you.

But what if you really do commit murder? Suppose one of you hates a neighbor. So you wait in a deserted place, kill the neighbor, and run to a Safe Town.

Moses said to Israel: In the land the Lord is giving you, there are already stones set up to mark the property lines between fields. So don't move those stones.

When you are attacking a town, don't chop down its fruit trees, not even if you have had the town surrounded for a long time. Fruit trees aren't your enemies, and they produce food that you can eat, so don't cut them down.

Later on, if you are not happy with the woman, you can divorce her, and she can go free. But you have slept with her as your wife, so you cannot sell her as a slave or make her into your own slave.

you must not let it hang there overnight. Bury it the same day, because the dead body of a criminal will bring God's curse on the land. The Lord your God is giving this land to you, so don't make it unclean by leaving the bodies of executed criminals on display.

Oxen and donkeys that carry heavy loads can stumble and fall, and be unable to get up by themselves. So as you walk along the road, help anyone who is trying to get an ox or donkey back on its feet.

But the Lord your God loves you, so he refused to listen to Balaam and turned Balaam's curse into a blessing.

Moses said to Israel: I have told the priests what to do if any of you have leprosy, so do exactly what they say.

Suppose someone is so poor that a coat is the only thing that can be offered as a guarantee on a loan. Don't keep the coat overnight.

Instead, give it back before sunset, so the owner can keep warm and sleep and ask the Lord to bless you. Then the Lord your God will notice that you have done the right thing.