This passage describes several of the protections that God gave to the poor.

What Does It Say?

1. If we borrow money from a bank, we may be required to have some form of collateral (money or possession) as a guarantee that we will pay the loan back.  In this passage, the collateral or guarantee for the loan is called a _____________.
2. The Israelites are warned against withholding wages from the poor.  They are told to give him his ___________.
3. Children are not to be put to death for their ____________.
4. Israel is to remember that they were a slave or bondman in ____________.
5. The gleanings of the harvest referred to the parts of the harvest that were initially missed and left behind.  These gleanings were not to be harvested but were to be left for the _____________, the ______________, and the _______________.

What Does It Mean?

1. The pledge was the guarantee that a loan would be paid back.  What kinds of protections did God give to the poor who had to give a pledge (v.19-13)?  How can you see this kind of protection in our laws today?
2. Compare verse 16 with Exodus 34:7Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
   See All... which states, “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”  What is the difference between the two verses?
3. Why does God say that He gives these protections for the poor?  Explain this answer.

What Does It Mean To Me?

1. Who are the poor?  In what ways can we be a blessing to the poor today?
2. God says that He blesses the “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
   See All...).  Compare the characteristics of the poor here in Deuteronomy with the characteristics of those believers who are poor in spirit.