Deuteronomy 24:14-15
The Lord's people must not delay the wages of poor workers whose lives depend on them, for God hears the cry of the oppressed and holds His people accountable for economic injustice.
14 You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the foreigners who are in your land within your gates.
15 In his day you shall give him his wages, neither shall the sun go down on it; for he is poor and sets his heart on it; lest he cry against you to Yahweh, and it be sin to you.
The LORD's people must not delay the wages of poor workers whose lives depend on them, for God hears the cry of the oppressed and holds His people accountable for economic injustice.
Moses commands Israel not to oppress a poor and needy hired worker, whether fellow Israelite or foreigner within the towns, but to pay his wages on the same day before sunset because his livelihood depends on them and the LORD will hear his cry against injustice.
Deuteronomy addresses Israel on the plains of Moab before entry into the land. As Moses expounds covenant life for Israel's settled existence, he regulates ordinary economic practices so that land possession does not become a theater for exploiting the poor, the hired worker, or the foreigner living within Israel's gates.
Justice for the Vulnerable and the Limits of Covenant Law
Covenant loyalty to Yahweh demands concrete legal protections for the vulnerable — the divorced, the poor, the widow, the orphan, the sojourner, and the wage laborer — because Israel was once a slave redeemed by grace.