Deuteronomy 25
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 25
Restricted Punishment. 1 If there is a dispute between men and they take it to court for the judges to decide, let them proclaim as innocent the righteous and as guilty the wrongdoer. 2 If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, then the judge will have him lay down and beaten in front of him, giving him the number of lashes that his crime deserves. 3 He can be given up to forty lashes, but no more than that, for if he is given more than that, your brother might be shamed in your sight.
4 Do not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.[a]
Family Marriage.[b] 5 If brothers are living together, and one of them dies without having a son, then the widow of the deceased is not to marry outside of the family. Her husband’s brother will take her as his wife and thus perform the duty of her husband’s brother. 6 The first son will bear the name of the deceased brother, so his name not be extinguished in Israel. 7 However, if the man does not want to marry his brother’s wife, let the brother’s wife go to the elders of the town at the gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to ensure the continuance of his brother in Israel. He will not perform the duty expected of a husband’s brother.” 8 Then the elders of the town will summon him and speak to him. If he continues to say, “I will not marry her,” 9 then the brother’s widow will come up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his shoes from his feet, and spit in his face saying, “This is what a man deserves who will not build a house for his brother.” 10 His family will be known as “the family of the unsandaled one” in Israel.
11 Incidental Rules. If two men are fighting, and the wife of one of them comes forward to try to rescue her husband from the man who is beating him, and she reaches out and grabs him by his private parts, 12 you shall cut off her hand. You are to show her no pity.
13 You are not to have two different weights in your sack, one heavy and the other one light.
14 You are not to have two different measures in your house, one large and the other one small.
15 You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live a long time in the land that the Lord, your God, has given you, 16 for anyone who does these things, who deals with others dishonestly, is an abomination to the Lord, your God.
17 Remember what the Amalekites did to you as you were on your way when you came forth from the land of Egypt.[c] 18 They met you along the way and waylaid those who were lagging when you were weary and worn out. They had no fear of God. 19 When the Lord, your God, gives you rest from all of the enemies who surround you in the land that the Lord, your God, is giving to you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the memory of the Amalekites from under the heavens. Do not forget!
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 25:4 Threshing was done in the east with the help of animals. St. Paul applies this precept in 1 Cor 9:9 and 1 Tim 5:18 in explaining why those who live for the altar should live from the altar.
- Deuteronomy 25:5 The levirate (from Latin, levir, “husband’s brother”) was a common practice among many Eastern peoples (including the Assyrians and Hittites) and had for its purpose to ensure a posterity and, with this, the stability of inherited property (see the case proposed to Jesus by the Sadducees in Mt 22:23-26).
- Deuteronomy 25:17 Amalek had violated the laws of the desert. He will be punished by Saul (1 Sam 15).
Deuteronomy 25
World English Bible
25 If there is a controversy between men, and they come to judgment and the judges judge them, then they shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked. 2 It shall be, if the wicked man is worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down and to be beaten before his face, according to his wickedness, by number. 3 He may sentence him to no more than forty stripes. He shall not give more, lest if he should give more and beat him more than that many stripes, then your brother will be degraded in your sight.
4 You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain.
5 If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married outside to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her, and take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6 It shall be that the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead, that his name not be blotted out of Israel.
7 If the man doesn’t want to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders, and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to raise up to his brother a name in Israel. He will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.” 8 Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak to him. If he stands and says, “I don’t want to take her,” 9 then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, and loose his sandal from off his foot, and spit in his face. She shall answer and say, “So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.” 10 His name shall be called in Israel, “The house of him who had his sandal removed.”
11 When men strive against each other, and the wife of one draws near to deliver her husband out of the hand of him who strikes him, and puts out her hand, and grabs him by his private parts, 12 then you shall cut off her hand. Your eye shall have no pity.
13 You shall not have in your bag diverse weights, one heavy and one light. 14 You shall not have in your house diverse measures, one large and one small. 15 You shall have a perfect and just weight. You shall have a perfect and just measure, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. 16 For all who do such things, all who do unrighteously, are an abomination to Yahweh your God.
17 Remember what Amalek did to you by the way as you came out of Egypt, 18 how he met you by the way, and struck the rearmost of you, all who were feeble behind you, when you were faint and weary; and he didn’t fear God. 19 Therefore it shall be, when Yahweh your God has given you rest from all your enemies all around, in the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it, that you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky. You shall not forget.
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