1Suppose two people don’t agree about something. Then they must take their case to court. The judges will decide the case. They will let the one who isn’t guilty go free. And they will punish the one who is guilty.2The guilty one might have done something that’s worthy of a beating. Then the judge will make them lie down and be beaten with a whip right there in court. The number of strokes should fit the crime.3But the judge must not give the guilty person more than 40 strokes. If more than that are used, you will have disrespected your Israelite neighbour.4Don’t stop an ox from eating while you use it to separate corn from straw.5Suppose two brothers are living near each other. And one of them dies without having a son. Then his widow must not marry anyone outside the family. Her husband’s brother should marry her. That’s what a brother-in-law is supposed to do.6Her first baby boy will be named after her first husband. Then the dead man’s name will continue in Israel.7But suppose the man doesn’t want to marry his brother’s wife. Then she will go to the elders at the gate of the town. She will say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to keep his brother’s name alive in Israel. He won’t do for me what a brother-in-law is supposed to do.’8Then the elders in his town will send for him. They will talk to him. But he still might say, ‘I don’t want to marry her.’9Then his brother’s widow will go up to him in front of the elders. She’ll pull one of his sandals off his foot. She’ll spit in his face. And she’ll say, ‘That’s what we do to a man who won’t build up his brother’s family line.’10That man’s family line will be known in Israel as The Family of the Man Whose Sandal Was Pulled Off.11Suppose two men are fighting. And the wife of one of them comes to save her husband from his attacker. So she reaches out and grabs hold of his attacker’s private parts.12Then you must cut off her hand. Don’t feel sorry for her.13Don’t have two different scales. Don’t have scales that cause things to seem heavier or lighter than they really are.14And don’t have two different sets of measures. Don’t have measures that cause things to seem larger or smaller than they really are.15You must use weights and measures that are honest and exact. Then you will live a long time in the land the LORD your God is giving you.16He hates anyone who cheats.17Remember what the Amalekites did to you on your way out of Egypt.18You were tired and worn out. They met up with you on your journey. They attacked everyone who was lagging behind. They didn’t have any respect for God.19The LORD your God will give you peace and rest from all the enemies around you. He’ll do this in the land he’s giving you to take over as your very own. No one on earth will mention the Amalekites ever again because you will destroy them. Do not forget!
Deuteronomy 25
English Standard Version
1“If there is a dispute between men and they come into court and the judges decide between them, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty, (De 19:17; 1Ki 8:32; Pr 17:15)2then if the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with a number of stripes in proportion to his offense.3Forty stripes may be given him, but not more, lest, if one should go on to beat him with more stripes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight. (2Co 11:24)4“You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain. (1Co 9:9; 1Ti 5:18)
Laws Concerning Levirate Marriage
5“If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. (Ge 38:8; Ru 1:12; Ru 3:9; Mt 22:24; Mr 12:19; Lu 20:28)6And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. (Ru 4:10)7And if the man does not wish 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 perpetuate his brother’s name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’ (Ru 4:1)8Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists, saying, ‘I do not wish to take her,’ (Ru 4:6)9then his brother’s wife shall go up to 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 shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.’ (Nu 12:14; Ru 4:7; Ru 4:11; Job 30:10; Isa 50:6)10And the name of his house[1] shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal pulled off.’
Miscellaneous Laws
11“When men fight with one another and the wife of the one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts,12then you shall cut off her hand. Your eye shall have no pity. (De 7:16)13“You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small. (Le 19:35; Pr 16:11; Eze 45:10; Am 8:5; Mic 6:11)14You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small.15A full and fair[2] weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. (De 4:40)16For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are an abomination to the Lord your God. (De 18:12; De 22:5; Pr 11:1)17“Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, (Ex 17:8; De 24:9)18how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God. (Jos 10:19)19Therefore when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you, in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget. (Ex 17:8; 1Sa 15:2)