Portion 49 of 54 · Deuteronomy
כִּי־תֵצֵא
Ki Teitzei
More laws than any other portion, most of them about the small decencies nobody would notice you skipping.
Start by reading it
Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19
5 chapters. About 20 minutes at an unhurried pace.
Paired reading from the prophets: Isaiah 54:1–10
What happens
- 01
If you find something lost, you may not hide yourself from it. Take it back.
- 02
If your neighbour's animal has fallen under its load, help lift it.
- 03
Build a rail on your roof so nobody falls. Pay a hired worker before sundown.
- 04
Do not muzzle the ox while it treads the grain. Honest weights and measures.
The thing most people walk past
'Thou mayest not hide thyself'
The law against looking away is stated directly. Not 'you should help' but 'you may not pretend you did not see'. It is aimed at the exact way most people avoid inconvenience.
One verse to carry
day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it.
'Setteth his heart upon it' — the law is written from inside the worker's evening. Late pay is treated as something done to a person.
A question to sit with
A rail on the roof, in case someone falls. What would that standard of care look like in the things you build?
There is no answer key. This is the part you take with you.