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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!

25 (A)If there is a dispute between men and they go to court for judgment, and [a]the judges judge their case, (B)and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, then it shall be if the wicked man [b](C)deserves to be struck, the judge shall then make him lie down and be struck in his presence with the number of stripes according to his [c]guilt. (D)He may strike him forty times but no more, lest he strike him with many more stripes than these and your brother be (E)dishonored in your eyes.

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

“If brothers live together and one of them dies and has no son, then the wife of the one who died shall not be married outside the family to a strange man. (G)Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her to himself as wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. And it will be that the firstborn whom she bears shall [d]assume the name of his dead brother, so that (H)his name will not be blotted out from Israel. (I)But if the man does not desire to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to raise up 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 stands and says, ‘I do not desire to take her,’ (J)then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the sight of the elders and pull his sandal off his foot and (K)spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, ‘Thus it is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.’ 10 And in Israel his name shall be called, ‘The house of him whose sandal is removed.’

11 “If two men, a man and his brother, are struggling together, and the wife of one comes near to deliver her husband from the hand of the one who is striking him, and she puts out her hand and seizes his genitals, 12 then you shall cut off her [e]hand; [f](L)you shall not show pity.

13 (M)You shall not have in your bag [g]differing weights, a large and a small. 14 You shall not have in your house [h]differing measures, a large and a small. 15 You shall have a full and just weight; you shall have a full and just [i]measure, (N)that your days may be prolonged in the [j]land which Yahweh your God gives you. 16 For (O)everyone who does these things, everyone who acts unjustly, is an abomination to Yahweh your God.

17 (P)Remember what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out from Egypt, 18 how he met you along the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear, but you were faint and weary; and he (Q)did not [k]fear God. 19 Therefore it will be, when Yahweh your God has given you (R)rest from all your surrounding enemies, in the land which Yahweh your God gives you as an inheritance to [l]possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 25:1 Lit they judge them
  2. Deuteronomy 25:2 Lit is a son of beating
  3. Deuteronomy 25:2 Or wickedness
  4. Deuteronomy 25:6 Lit stand on
  5. Deuteronomy 25:12 Lit palm
  6. Deuteronomy 25:12 Lit your eye
  7. Deuteronomy 25:13 Lit a stone and a stone
  8. Deuteronomy 25:14 Lit an ephah and an ephah
  9. Deuteronomy 25:15 Lit ephah
  10. Deuteronomy 25:15 Lit ground
  11. Deuteronomy 25:18 Or reverence
  12. Deuteronomy 25:19 Lit possess it