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25 If controversy arises between people,[a] they should go to court for judgment. When the judges[b] hear the case, they shall exonerate[c] the innocent but condemn[d] the guilty. Then,[e] if the guilty person is sentenced to a beating,[f] the judge shall force him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of blows his wicked behavior deserves.[g] The judge[h] may sentence him to forty blows,[i] but no more. If he is struck with more than these, you might view your fellow Israelite[j] with contempt.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 25:1 tn Heb “men.”
  2. Deuteronomy 25:1 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the judges) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  3. Deuteronomy 25:1 tn Heb “declare to be just”; KJV, NASB “justify the righteous”; NAB, NIV “acquitting the innocent.”
  4. Deuteronomy 25:1 tn Heb “declare to be evil”; NIV “condemning the guilty (+ party NAB).”
  5. Deuteronomy 25:2 tn Heb “and it will be.”
  6. Deuteronomy 25:2 tn Heb “if the evil one is a son of smiting.”
  7. Deuteronomy 25:2 tn Heb “according to his wickedness, by number.”
  8. Deuteronomy 25:3 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the judge) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  9. Deuteronomy 25:3 tn Heb “Forty blows he may strike him”; however, since the judge is to witness the punishment (v. 2) it is unlikely the judge himself administered it.
  10. Deuteronomy 25:3 tn Heb “your brothers” but not limited only to an actual sibling; cf. NAB) “your kinsman”; NRSV, NLT “your neighbor.”

25 When people have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges(A) will decide the case,(B) acquitting(C) the innocent and condemning the guilty.(D) If the guilty person deserves to be beaten,(E) the judge shall make them lie down and have them flogged in his presence with the number of lashes the crime deserves, but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes.(F) If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes.(G)

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