Deuteronomy 25
Living Bible
25 1-3 “If a man is guilty of a crime and the penalty is a beating, the judge shall command him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with up to forty stripes in proportion to the seriousness of the crime; but no more than forty stripes may be given lest the punishment seem too severe, and your brother be degraded in your eyes.
4 “Don’t muzzle an ox as it treads out the grain.
5 “If a man’s brother dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family; instead, her husband’s brother must marry her and sleep with her. 6 The first son she bears to him shall be counted as the son of the dead brother, so that his name will not be forgotten. 7 But if the dead man’s brother refuses to do his duty in this matter, refusing to marry the widow, then she shall go to the city elders and say to them, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to let his brother’s name continue—he refuses to marry me.’ 8 The elders of the city will then summon him and talk it over with him, and if he still refuses, 9 the widow shall walk over to him in the presence of the elders, pull his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. She shall then say, ‘This is what happens to a man who refuses to build his brother’s house.’ 10 And ever afterwards his house shall be referred to as ‘the home of the man who had his sandal pulled off’!
11 “If two men are fighting and the wife of one intervenes to help her husband by grabbing the testicles of the other man, 12 her hand shall be cut off without pity.
13-15 “In all your transactions you must use accurate scales and honest measurements, so that you will have a long, good life in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 16 All who cheat with unjust weights and measurements are detestable to the Lord your God.
17 “You must never forget what the people of Amalek did to you as you came from Egypt. 18 Remember that they fought with you and struck down those who were faint and weary and lagging behind, with no respect or fear of God. 19 Therefore, when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies in the Promised Land, you are utterly to destroy the name of Amalek from under heaven. Never forget this.
Deuteronomy 25
King James Version
25 If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.
2 And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number.
3 Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.
4 Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.
5 If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband's brother unto her.
6 And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.
7 And if the man like not to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband's brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband's brother.
8 Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him: and if he stand to it, and say, I like not to take her;
9 Then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother's house.
10 And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.
11 When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets:
12 Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her.
13 Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.
14 Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small.
15 But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
16 For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the Lord thy God.
17 Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt;
18 How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.
19 Therefore it shall be, when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.