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You asked

how might modern economic systems make it harder or easier to follow this principle of timely payment?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Deuteronomy 24:14-15

“You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers, or one of your foreigners who are in your land within your gates. You shall give him his hire in his day, before the sun goes down, for he is poor, and sets his heart on it; lest he cry against you to Yahweh, and it be sin to you.”

This instruction comes from the book of Deuteronomy, a collection of Moses' speeches to the Israelites on the plains of Moab, just before they entered the Promised Land. It's part of a larger legal code designed to establish a just and compassionate society.

What responsibility does this passage suggest we hold towards those whose livelihood depends on our timely payments?

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

  • Leviticus 19:13

    Another Mosaic law echoing the prohibition against oppressing workers and delaying wages.

  • James 5:4

    A New Testament warning against withholding wages from laborers, linking it to a cry to the Lord.

  • Malachi 3:5

    Prophetic condemnation of those who exploit hired workers, promising divine judgment.

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