Deuteronomy 25:5-10

Easy-to-Read Version

⁵ “If two brothers live together, and one of them dies without a son, the wife of the dead man must not marry a stranger outside the family. Her husband’s brother must take her as his wife and have sexual relations with her. He must do the duty of a husband’s brother for her. ⁶ Then the first son she has will be considered the dead man’s son in order to keep the dead man’s name alive in Israel. ⁷ If the man does not want to take his brother’s wife, she must go to the town meeting place and tell the leaders, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to keep his brother’s name alive in Israel. He will not do the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’ ⁸ Then the leaders of the city must call the man and talk to him. If the man is stubborn and says, ‘I don’t want to take her,’ ⁹ then his brother’s wife must come to him in front of the leaders. She must take his sandal off his foot and spit in his face. She must say, ‘This is being done to the man who will not give his brother a son!’ ¹⁰ From then on, the brother’s family will be known in Israel as, ‘the family of the man whose sandal was removed.’