Deuteronomy 25

1If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, and the judges judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.

1When two people have a legal dispute and go to court, the judges must decide the case by clearing the innocent person and punishing the guilty one.

2And 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 wickedness, by number.

2If the guilty person deserves to be beaten, the judge must make him lie down and have him whipped in his presence. The number of lashes must match the seriousness of the crime.

3Forty stripes he may give him, he shall not exceed; lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.

3The judge may give him up to forty lashes, but no more. If he is whipped more than that, your fellow Israelite will be humiliated in your eyes.

4Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the grain.

4Do not put a muzzle on an ox to keep it from eating while it is treading out the grain.

5If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married 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 a husband’s brother unto her.

5If brothers are living together and one of them dies without having a son, his widow must not marry someone outside the family. Her husband’s brother must marry her and fulfill his duty to her as a brother-in-law.

6And it shall be, that the first-born that she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother that is dead, that his name be not blotted out of Israel.

6The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so that his name is not wiped out from Israel.

7And if the man like not to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall 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 a husband’s brother unto me.

7But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, she must go to the town elders at the city gate and say, 'My husband’s brother refuses to keep his brother’s name alive in Israel. He will not fulfill his duty to me.'

8Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him: and if he stand, and say, I like not to take her;

8Then the elders of his city must call him and talk to him. If he persists and says, 'I do not want to marry her,'

9then 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 she shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto the man that doth not build up his brother’s house.

9the widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, pull the sandal off his foot, and spit in his face. She shall say, 'This is what happens to a man who will not build up his brother's family line.'

10And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.

10From then on, that man's family will be known in Israel as 'The Family of the Unsandaled One.'

11When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets;

11If two men are fighting and the wife of one tries to help her husband by reaching out and grabbing the private parts of the man who is hitting him,

12then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall have no pity.

12you must cut off her hand. Show her no mercy.

13Thou shalt not have in thy bag diverse weights, a great and a small.

13Do not carry two different sets of weights in your bag—one heavy and one light.

14Thou shalt not have in thy house diverse measures, a great and a small.

14Do not have two different measures in your house—one large and one small.

15A perfect and just weight shalt thou have; a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be long in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee.

15You must use accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live a long time in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

16For all that do such things, even all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto Jehovah thy God.

16The LORD your God finds anyone who does these things and acts dishonestly to be disgusting.

17Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way as ye came forth out of Egypt;

17Remember what the Amalekites did to you on your journey after you came out of Egypt.

18how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.

18When you were exhausted and weary, they attacked you from behind and struck down all those who were lagging at the back. They had no fear of God.

19Therefore it shall be, when Jehovah thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which Jehovah 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.

19When the LORD your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as your own, you must wipe out every memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!