Various Laws

25 (A)If there is a dispute between people and they go to [a]court, and [b]the judges decide their case, (B)and they declare the righteous innocent and pronounce the wicked guilty, then it shall be if the wicked person [c](C)deserves to be beaten, the judge shall then make him lie down and have him beaten in his presence with the number of lashes according to his [d]wrongful act. (D)He may have him beaten forty times, but not more, so that he does not have him beaten with many more lashes than these, and that your brother does not (E)become contemptible in your eyes.

(F)You shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing.

“When brothers live together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a strange man. (G)Her husband’s brother shall have relations with her and take her to himself as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. It shall then be that the firstborn to whom she gives birth shall [e]assume the name of his father’s deceased brother, so that (H)his name will not be wiped out from Israel. (I)But if the man does not desire to take his brother’s widow, then his brother’s widow shall go up to the gate to the elders, and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to establish a name for his brother in Israel; he is not willing to perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’ Then the elders of his city shall summon him and speak to him. And if he persists and says, ‘I do not desire to take her,’ (J)then his brother’s widow shall come up to him in the sight of the elders, and pull his sandal off his foot and (K)spit in his face; and she shall [f]declare, ‘This is what is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house!’ 10 And in Israel [g]his family shall be called by the name, ‘The house of him whose sandal was removed.’

11 “If two men, a man and his countryman, have a fight [h]with each other, and the wife of one comes up to save her husband from the hand of the one who is hitting him, and she reaches out with her hand and grasps [i]that man’s genitals, 12 then you shall cut off her [j]hand; [k](L)you shall not show pity.

13 (M)You shall not have in your bag [l]differing weights, a large and a small. 14 You shall not have in your house [m]differing measures, a large and a small. 15 You shall have a correct and honest [n]weight; you shall have a correct and honest [o]measure, (N)so that your days may be prolonged [p]in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. 16 For (O)everyone who does these things, everyone who acts unjustly is an abomination to the Lord your God.

17 (P)Remember what Amalek did to you on the way when you came out of Egypt, 18 how he confronted you on the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were tired and weary; and he (Q)did not [q]fear God. 19 So it shall come about, when the Lord your God has given you (R)rest from all your surrounding enemies in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to [r]possess, that you shall wipe out the mention of the name Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 25:1 Lit the judgment
  2. Deuteronomy 25:1 Lit they judge them
  3. Deuteronomy 25:2 Lit is a son of beating
  4. Deuteronomy 25:2 Or guilt
  5. Deuteronomy 25:6 Lit stand on
  6. Deuteronomy 25:9 Lit answer and say
  7. Deuteronomy 25:10 Lit his name shall be called
  8. Deuteronomy 25:11 Lit together
  9. Deuteronomy 25:11 Lit his
  10. Deuteronomy 25:12 Lit palm
  11. Deuteronomy 25:12 Lit your eye
  12. Deuteronomy 25:13 Lit a stone and a stone
  13. Deuteronomy 25:14 Lit an ephah and an ephah
  14. Deuteronomy 25:15 Lit stone
  15. Deuteronomy 25:15 Lit ephah
  16. Deuteronomy 25:15 Lit on the ground
  17. Deuteronomy 25:18 Or revere
  18. Deuteronomy 25:19 Lit possess it

25 When people have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges(A) will decide the case,(B) acquitting(C) the innocent and condemning the guilty.(D) If the guilty person deserves to be beaten,(E) the judge shall make them lie down and have them flogged in his presence with the number of lashes the crime deserves, but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes.(F) If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes.(G)

Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.(H)

If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her.(I) The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.(J)

However, if a man does not want to marry his brother’s wife,(K) she shall go to the elders at the town gate(L) and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to carry on his brother’s name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me.”(M) Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, “I do not want to marry her,” his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals,(N) spit in his face(O) and say, “This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother’s family line.” 10 That man’s line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled.

11 If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, 12 you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity.(P)

13 Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light.(Q) 14 Do not have two differing measures in your house—one large, one small. 15 You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long(R) in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 16 For the Lord your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.(S)

17 Remember what the Amalekites(T) did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. 18 When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God.(U) 19 When the Lord your God gives you rest(V) from all the enemies(W) around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek(X) from under heaven. Do not forget!