Deuteronomy 25
1 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.
“If [two] Israelis have a dispute and they go to a court, the judge will [probably] decide/declare that one of them (is innocent/did not do any wrong) and the other one is guilty.
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.
If the judge says that the guilty person must be punished, he shall command him to lie [with his face] on the ground and be whipped. The number of times he is struck with a whip will depend on [what kind of] crime he committed.
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.
It is permitted that he be struck as many as 40 times, but no more than that. If he is struck more than 40 times, he would be humiliated publicly.
4 Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the grain.
When your ox is treading/walking on the grain [to separate the chaff from the grain], do not (muzzle it/put a covering on its mouth) [to prevent it from eating some of the grain].
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.
If two brothers live on the same property, and one of them who has no son dies, the man’s widow should not marry someone who is not a member of his family. The dead man’s brother must marry her and have sex [EUP] with her. It is his duty to do that.
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.
If she later gives birth to a son, that son is to be considered [MTY] the son of the man who died, in order that the dead man’s name will not disappear from 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.
“But if the dead man’s brother does not want to marry that woman, she must stand at the (gate/central meeting place) of the town and say to the [town] elders, ‘My husband’s brother will not do (his duty/what he is supposed to do). He refuses to [marry me in order that I may give birth to a son who will] prevent my dead husband’s name from disappearing in Israel.’
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;
Then the elders must summon that man and talk to him. If he still refuses to marry that widow,
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.
she must go up to him while the elders are watching, and take off one of his sandals [to symbolize/show that he would not receive any of her property], and spit in his face, and say to him, ‘This is what happens to the man who refuses to do what is needed [to allow his dead brother to have a son] in order that our family name does not disappear.’
10 And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.
After that happens, that man’s family will be known as ‘the family of the man whose sandal was pulled off’.
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:
When [two] men are fighting with each other, and the one man’s wife comes near to help her husband by grabbing hold of the other man’s genitals,
12 Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her.
do not act mercifully toward her; cut off her hand.
13 Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.
“[When you are buying or selling things], do not try to cheat people by having two kinds of weights, [one which you use when you buy something and one which you use when you sell something], and two kinds of measuring baskets, [one which you use when you buy something and one which you use when you sell something].
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 Yhwh thy God giveth thee.
Always use correct weights and correct measuring baskets, in order that Yahweh our God will allow you to live a long time in the land that he is giving to you.
16 For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto Yhwh thy God.
Yahweh hates all those who act dishonestly, [and he will punish them].
17 Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt;
Continue to remember what the Amalek people-group did to your ancestors when they were coming 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.
They attacked your ancestors as your ancestors were traveling, when they were weak and exhausted. Those people were not afraid of God at all, so they attacked your ancestors from the rear and killed all those who were unable to walk as fast as the others.
19 Therefore it shall be, when Yhwh thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which Yhwh 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.
Therefore, when Yahweh our God has given you the land [that he promised to give you], and when he has enabled you to rest from [fighting] all your enemies around you, kill all the Amalek people-group, with the result that no one will remember them any more. Do not forget [to do this]!”
