Deuteronomy 25:5-10

New American Standard Bible

⁵“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. ^(A)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. ⁶It shall then be that the firstborn to whom she gives birth shall ^[a]assume the name of his father’s deceased brother, so that ^(B)his name will not be wiped out from Israel. ⁷^(C)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.’ ⁸Then 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,’ ⁹^(D)then his brother’s widow shall come up to him in the sight of the elders, and pull his sandal off his foot and ^(E)spit in his face; and she shall ^[b]declare, ‘This is what is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house!’ ¹⁰And in Israel ^[c]his family shall be called by the name, ‘The house of him whose sandal was removed.’

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Footnotes

Deuteronomy 25:6 Lit stand on
Deuteronomy 25:9 Lit answer and say
Deuteronomy 25:10 Lit his name shall be called

Deuteronomy 25:5-10

New Living Translation

⁵“If two brothers are living together on the same property and one of them dies without a son, his widow may not be married to anyone from outside the family. Instead, her husband’s brother should marry her and have intercourse with her to fulfill the duties of a brother-in-law. ⁶The first son she bears to him will be considered the son of the dead brother, so that his name will not be forgotten in Israel.

⁷“But if the man refuses to marry his brother’s widow, she must go to the town gate and say to the elders assembled there, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel—he refuses to fulfill the duties of a brother-in-law by marrying me.’ ⁸The elders of the town will then summon him and talk with him. If he still refuses and says, ‘I don’t want to marry her,’ ⁹the widow must walk over to him in the presence of the elders, pull his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. Then she must declare, ‘This is what happens to a man who refuses to provide his brother with children.’ ¹⁰Ever afterward in Israel his family will be referred to as ‘the family of the man whose sandal was pulled off’!

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Deuteronomy 25:5-10

New International Version

⁵If 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.^(A) ⁶The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.^(B)

⁷However, if a man does not want to marry his brother’s wife,^(C) she shall go to the elders at the town gate^(D) 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.”^(E) ⁸Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, “I do not want to marry her,” ⁹his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals,^(F) spit in his face^(G) and say, “This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother’s family line.” ¹⁰That man’s line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled.