Various Laws

25 (A)If there is a dispute between people and they go to [a]court, and [b]the judges decide their case, (B)and they declare the righteous innocent and pronounce the wicked guilty, then it shall be if the wicked person [c](C)deserves to be beaten, the judge shall then make him lie down and have him beaten in his presence with the number of lashes according to his [d]wrongful act. (D)He may have him beaten forty times, but not more, so that he does not have him beaten with many more lashes than these, and that your brother does not (E)become contemptible in your eyes.

(F)You shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing.

“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. (G)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. It shall then be that the firstborn to whom she gives birth shall [e]assume the name of his father’s deceased brother, so that (H)his name will not be wiped out from Israel. (I)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.’ Then 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,’ (J)then his brother’s widow shall come up to him in the sight of the elders, and pull his sandal off his foot and (K)spit in his face; and she shall [f]declare, ‘This is what is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house!’ 10 And in Israel [g]his family shall be called by the name, ‘The house of him whose sandal was removed.’

11 “If two men, a man and his countryman, have a fight [h]with each other, and the wife of one comes up to save her husband from the hand of the one who is hitting him, and she reaches out with her hand and grasps [i]that man’s genitals, 12 then you shall cut off her [j]hand; [k](L)you shall not show pity.

13 (M)You shall not have in your bag [l]differing weights, a large and a small. 14 You shall not have in your house [m]differing measures, a large and a small. 15 You shall have a correct and honest [n]weight; you shall have a correct and honest [o]measure, (N)so that your days may be prolonged [p]in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. 16 For (O)everyone who does these things, everyone who acts unjustly is an abomination to the Lord your God.

17 (P)Remember what Amalek did to you on the way when you came out of Egypt, 18 how he confronted you on the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were tired and weary; and he (Q)did not [q]fear God. 19 So it shall come about, when the Lord your God has given you (R)rest from all your surrounding enemies in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to [r]possess, that you shall wipe out the mention of the name Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 25:1 Lit the judgment
  2. Deuteronomy 25:1 Lit they judge them
  3. Deuteronomy 25:2 Lit is a son of beating
  4. Deuteronomy 25:2 Or guilt
  5. Deuteronomy 25:6 Lit stand on
  6. Deuteronomy 25:9 Lit answer and say
  7. Deuteronomy 25:10 Lit his name shall be called
  8. Deuteronomy 25:11 Lit together
  9. Deuteronomy 25:11 Lit his
  10. Deuteronomy 25:12 Lit palm
  11. Deuteronomy 25:12 Lit your eye
  12. Deuteronomy 25:13 Lit a stone and a stone
  13. Deuteronomy 25:14 Lit an ephah and an ephah
  14. Deuteronomy 25:15 Lit stone
  15. Deuteronomy 25:15 Lit ephah
  16. Deuteronomy 25:15 Lit on the ground
  17. Deuteronomy 25:18 Or revere
  18. Deuteronomy 25:19 Lit possess it

25 “Suppose two people take a dispute to court, and the judges declare that one is right and the other is wrong. If the person in the wrong is sentenced to be flogged, the judge must command him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of lashes appropriate to the crime. But never give more than forty lashes; more than forty lashes would publicly humiliate your neighbor.

“You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.

“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. The 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.

“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.’ The 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,’ the 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.’ 10 Ever afterward in Israel his family will be referred to as ‘the family of the man whose sandal was pulled off’!

11 “If two Israelite men get into a fight and the wife of one tries to rescue her husband by grabbing the testicles of the other man, 12 you must cut off her hand. Show her no pity.

13 “You must use accurate scales when you weigh out merchandise, 14 and you must use full and honest measures. 15 Yes, always use honest weights and measures, so that you may enjoy a long life in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 16 All who cheat with dishonest weights and measures are detestable to the Lord your God.

17 “Never forget what the Amalekites did to you as you came from Egypt. 18 They attacked you when you were exhausted and weary, and they struck down those who were straggling behind. They had no fear of God. 19 Therefore, when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies in the land he is giving you as a special possession, you must destroy the Amalekites and erase their memory from under heaven. Never forget this!