The Fifth Book of Moses: Deuteronomy

⭑ Berean Study Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 25 -

If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court to be judged, so that the innocent may be acquitted and the guilty condemned.

If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall have him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime warrants.

He may receive no more than forty lashes, lest your brother be beaten any more than that and be degraded in your sight.

Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.(a)

Widowhood and Marriage

When brothers dwell together and one of them dies without a son, the widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother is to take her as his wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law for her.(b)

The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.

But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, she is to go to the elders at the city gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel. He is not willing to perform the duty of a brother-in-law for me.”

Then the elders of his city shall summon him and speak with him. If he persists and says, “I do not want to marry her,”

his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal, spit in his face, and declare, “This is what is done to the man who will not maintain his brother’s line.”

And his family name in Israel will be called “The House of the Unsandaled.”

If two men are fighting, and the wife of one steps in to rescue her husband from the one striking him, and she reaches out her hand and grabs his genitals,

you are to cut off her hand. You must show her no pity.

Standard Weights and Measures

(Proverbs 11:1–3; Ezekiel 45:10–12)

You shall not have two differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light.

You shall not have two differing measures in your house, one large and one small.

You must maintain accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

For everyone who behaves dishonestly in regard to these things is detestable to the LORD your God.

Revenge on the Amalekites

Remember what the Amalekites did to you along your way from Egypt,

how they met you on your journey when you were tired and weary, and they attacked all your stragglers; they had no fear of God.

When the LORD your God gives you rest from the enemies around you in the land that He is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you are to blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!

Footnotes

(a)25:4 Cited in 1 Corinthians 9:9 and 1 Timothy 5:18

(b)25:5 Cited in Matthew 22:24, Mark 12:19, and Luke 20:28

If there is a controversy between men, and they come to judgment and the judges judge them, then they shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked.

It shall be, if the wicked man is worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down and to be beaten before his face, according to his wickedness, by number.

He may sentence him to no more than forty stripes. He shall not give more, lest if he should give more and beat him more than that many stripes, then your brother will be degraded in your sight.

You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain.

Widowhood and Marriage

If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married outside 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.

It shall be that the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead, that his name not be blotted out of Israel.

If the man doesn’t want 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 to his brother a name in Israel. He will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.”

Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak to him. If he stands and says, “I don’t want to take her,”

then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, and loose his sandal from off his foot, and spit in his face. She shall answer and say, “So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.”

His name shall be called in Israel, “The house of him who had his sandal removed.”

When men strive against each other, and the wife of one draws near to deliver her husband out of the hand of him who strikes him, and puts out her hand, and grabs him by his private parts,

then you shall cut off her hand. Your eye shall have no pity.

Standard Weights and Measures

(Proverbs 11:1–3; Ezekiel 45:10–12)

You shall not have in your bag diverse weights, one heavy and one light.

You shall not have in your house diverse measures, one large and one small.

You shall have a perfect and just weight. You shall have a perfect and just measure, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you.

For all who do such things, all who do unrighteously, are an abomination to the LORD your God.

Revenge on the Amalekites

Remember what Amalek did to you by the way as you came out of Egypt,

how he met you by the way, and struck the rearmost of you, all who were feeble behind you, when you were faint and weary; and he didn’t fear God.

Therefore it shall be, when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your enemies all around, in the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it, that you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky. You shall not forget.