Deuteronomy 25
Expanded Bible
25 If two people have an argument and go to court, the judges will decide the case. They will ·declare one person right [acquit the innocent] and ·the other [convict the] guilty. 2 If the guilty person has to be ·punished with a beating [struck; flogged], the judge will make that person lie down and be ·beaten [struck; flogged] in front of him. The number of lashes should match the crime. 3 But don’t ·hit [strike] a person more than forty times, because more than that would disgrace ·him [your relative/neighbor] before others [2 Cor. 11:24].
4 When an ox is ·working in the grain [treading the grain], do not ·cover its mouth to keep it from eating [muzzle it; 1 Cor. 9:9].
5 If two brothers are living together, and one of them dies without having a son, his widow must not marry ·someone [a stranger] outside her husband’s family. Her husband’s brother must marry her, which is his duty to her as a brother-in-law. 6 The first son she has ·counts as the son of the dead [will raise up the name of his] brother so that his name will not be ·forgotten [blotted/wiped out] in Israel [Gen. 38; Ruth 4].
7 But if a man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, she should go to the elders at the town gate. She should say, “My brother-in-law will not ·carry on [raise up] his brother’s name in Israel. He refuses to do his duty for me.”
8 Then the elders of the town must call for the man and talk to him. But if he ·is stubborn [L stands] and says, “I don’t want to marry her,” 9 the woman must go up to him in ·front of the leaders [the presence of the elders]. She must take off one of his sandals and spit in his face and say, “This is for the man who won’t ·continue [L build] his brother’s ·family [L house]!” 10 Then that man’s ·family [L house] shall be known in Israel as the ·Family [L House] of the Unsandaled.
11 If two men are fighting and one man’s wife comes to ·save [protect] her husband from his attacker, grabbing the attacker by his ·sex organs [genitals], 12 you must cut off her hand. ·Show her no mercy [L Do not let your eyes show compassion on her].
13 Don’t carry two ·sets of weights [L stones] ·with you [L in your bag/pouch], one heavy and one light. 14 Don’t have two different sets of measures in your house, one large and one small. 15 You must have ·true [whole; full] and ·honest [accurate] weights and measures so that you will live a long time in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 16 The Lord your God ·hates [detests] anyone who ·is dishonest and uses dishonest measures [L does such things—who acts crookedly/does bad things; Lev. 19:35–37; Prov. 11:1; Ezek. 45:10–12; Amos 8:5; Mic. 6:10–12].
17 Remember what the Amalekites did to you when you came out of Egypt [Ex. 17:8–16]. 18 When you were tired and worn out, they met you on the road and ·attacked [picked off] all ·those lagging behind [the stragglers]. They were not afraid of God. 19 When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he ·is giving you [L makes you inherit] as your ·own [possession], you shall ·destroy [blot/wipe out] any memory of the Amalekites ·on the earth [L from under the heavens]. Do not forget [C Saul forgot (1 Sam. 15), but the Amalekites (called Agagites) come to an end in the book of Esther (Esth. 3:1)]!
Deuteronomy 25
Amplified Bible
Various Laws
25 “If there is a controversy between men, and they go to court, and the judges decide [the issue] between them, and they judge in favor of the innocent and condemn the guilty, 2 then it shall be that if the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make him lie down and be beaten in his presence with a [certain] number of stripes in proportion to his offense. 3 He may have him beaten forty times, but no more. He is not to be beaten with more stripes than these and he is not to be degraded [that is, treated like an animal] in your sight.
4 “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing [to prevent him from eating any of the grain].(A)
5 “If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, the widow of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall be intimate with her after taking her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6 It shall be that her firstborn [son] will [a]be given the name of the dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out of Israel. 7 But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s [widowed] wife, then she shall go up to the gate [of the city, where court is held] to the elders, and say, ‘My brother-in-law refuses to continue his brother’s name in Israel; he is not willing to perform the duty of a husband’s brother.’ 8 Then the elders of his city will summon him and speak to him. And if he stands firm and says, ‘I do not want to marry her,’ 9 then his brother’s widow shall approach him in the presence of the elders, and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, ‘So it is done to that man who does not build up his brother’s household.’ 10 In Israel his [family] name shall be, ‘The house of him whose sandal was removed.’
11 “If [two] men, a man and his countryman, are fighting and the wife of one approaches to rescue her husband from the man who is striking him, and she reaches out with her hand and grabs the aggressor’s genitals, 12 then you shall cut off her hand; you shall not show pity [for her].
13 “You shall not have in your bag inaccurate weights, a heavy and a light [so you can cheat others]. 14 You shall not have in your house inaccurate measures, a large and a small. 15 You shall have a perfect (full) and just weight, and a perfect and just measure, so that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you. 16 For everyone who does such things, everyone who acts unjustly [without personal integrity] is utterly repulsive to the Lord your God.
17 “Remember what Amalek did to you along the road when you came from Egypt, 18 how he met you along the road and attacked all the stragglers at your rear when you were tired and weary; and he did not [b]fear God.(B) 19 Therefore when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your surrounding enemies, in the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance to possess, you shall wipe out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 25:6 Lit stand on.
- Deuteronomy 25:18 Or reverence.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
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