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)]!
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