Deuteronomy 25
New King James Version
Laws of Social Responsibility
25 “If there is a (A)dispute between men, and they come to [a]court, that the judges may judge them, and they (B)justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, 2 then it shall be, if the wicked man (C)deserves to be beaten, that the judge will cause him to lie down (D)and be beaten in his presence, according to his guilt, with a certain number of blows. 3 (E)Forty blows he may give him and no more, lest he should exceed this and beat him with many blows above these, and your brother (F)be humiliated in your sight.
4 (G)“You shall not muzzle an ox while it [b]treads out the grain.
Marriage Duty of the Surviving Brother
5 (H)“If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband’s brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6 And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears (I)will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that (J)his name may not be blotted out of Israel. 7 But if the man does not want to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the (K)gate to the elders, and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to raise up a name to his brother in Israel; he will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother.’ 8 Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him. But if he stands firm and says, (L)‘I do not want to take her,’ 9 then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, (M)remove his sandal from his foot, spit in his face, and answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who will not (N)build up his brother’s house.’ 10 And his name shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal removed.’
Miscellaneous Laws
11 “If two men fight together, and the wife of one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of the one attacking him, and puts out her hand and seizes him by the genitals, 12 then you shall cut off her hand; (O)your eye shall not pity her.
13 (P)“You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a heavy and a light. 14 You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. 15 You shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure, (Q)that your days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. 16 For (R)all who do such things, all who behave unrighteously, are [c]an abomination to the Lord your God.
Destroy the Amalekites
17 (S)“Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, 18 how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he (T)did not fear God. 19 Therefore it shall be, (U)when the Lord your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will (V)blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 25:1 Lit. the judgment
- Deuteronomy 25:4 threshes
- Deuteronomy 25:16 detestable
Deuteronomy 25
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
25 If there be a controversy between men, and they call upon the judges: they shall give the prize of justice to him whom they perceive to be just: and him whom they find to be wicked, they shall condemn of wickedness.
2 And if they see that the offender be worthy of stripes: they shall lay him down, and shall cause him to be beaten before them. According to the measure of the sin shall the measure also of the stripes be:
3 Yet so, that they exceed not the number of forty: lest thy brother depart shamefully torn before thy eyes.
4 Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out thy corn on the floor.
5 When brethren dwell together, and one of them dieth without children, the wife of the deceased shall not marry to another: but his brother shall take her, and raise up seed for his brother:
6 And the first son he shall have of her he shall call by his name, that his name be not abolished out of Israel.
7 But if he will not take his brother's wife, who by law belongeth to him, the woman shall go to the gate of the city, and call upon the ancients, and say: My husband's brother refuseth to raise up his brother's name in Israel: and will not take me to wife.
8 And they shall cause him to be sent for forthwith, and shall ask him. If he answer: I will not take her to wife:
9 The woman shall come to him before the ancients, and shall take off his shoe from his foot, and spit in his face, and say: So shall it be done to the man that will not build up his brother's house:
10 And his name shall be called in Israel, the house of the unshod.
11 If two men have words together, and one begin to fight against the other, and the other's wife willing to deliver her husband out of the hand of the stronger, shall put forth her hand, and take him by the secrets,
12 Thou shalt cut off her hand, neither shalt thou be moved with any pity in her regard.
13 Thou shalt not have divers weights in thy bag, a greater and a less:
14 Neither shall there be in thy house a greater bushel and a less.
15 Thou shalt have a just and a true weight, and thy bushel shall be equal and true: that thou mayest live a long time upon the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee.
16 For the Lord thy God abhorreth him that doth these things, and he hateth all injustice.
17 Remember what Amalec did to thee in the way when thou camest out of Egypt:
18 How he met thee: and slew the hindmost of the army, who sat down, being weary, when thou wast spent with hunger and labour, and he feared not God.
19 Therefore when the Lord thy God shall give thee rest, and shall have subdued all the nations round about in the land which he hath promised thee: thou shalt blot out his name from under heaven. See thou forget it not.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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