Deuteronomy 25

1 If there be a controversy between men, and they come nigh unto a court of justice, and they judge them; and they justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked:

If there is an argument between men and they go to law with one another, let the judges give their decision for the upright, and against the wrongdoer.

2 Then shall it be, if the guilty man deserve to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to the degree of his fault, by a [certain] number.

And if the wrongdoer is to undergo punishment by whipping, the judge will give orders for him to go down on his face and be whipped before him, the number of the blows being in relation to his crime.

3 Forty stripes may he give him, not more; so that he shall not exceed to have him beaten above these with too many stripes, and thy brother be thus rendered vile before thy eyes.

He may be given forty blows, not more; for if more are given, your brother may be shamed before you.

4 Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he thresheth out the corn.

Do not keep the ox from taking the grain when he is crushing it.

5 If brothers dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child: then shall the wife of the dead not be married abroad, unto a stranger; her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to himself for wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother unto her.

If brothers are living together and one of them, at his death, has no son, the wife of the dead man is not to be married outside the family to another man: let her husband's brother go in to her and make her his wife, doing as it is right for a brother-in-law to do.

6 And it shall be, that the first-born whom she may bear shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead; so that his name be not blotted out of Israel.

Then the first male child she has will take the rights of the brother who is dead, so that his name may not come to an end in Israel.

7 And if the man have no desire to take his sister-in-law: then shall his sister-in-law 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 on me the duty of a husband's brother.

But if the man says he will not take his brother's wife, then let the wife go to the responsible men of the town, and say, My husband's brother will not keep his brother's name living in Israel; he will not do what it is right for a husband's brother to do.

8 Then shall the elders of his city call him, and speak unto him; and if he persist, and say, I have no desire to take her:

Then the responsible men of the town will send for the man, and have talk with him: and if he still says, I will not take her;

9 Then shall his sister-in-law come nigh unto him in the presence of the elders, and pull his shoe from off his foot, and spit out before him, and shall commence and say, Thus shall be done unto that man that will not build up his brother's house.

Then his brother's wife is to come to him, before the responsible men of the town, and take his shoe off his foot, and put shame on him, and say, So let it be done to the man who will not take care of his brother's name.

10 And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of the barefooted.

And his family will be named in Israel, The house of him whose shoe has been taken off.

11 When men strive together one with the other, 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:

If two men are fighting, and the wife of one of them, coming to the help of her husband, takes the other by the private parts;

12 Then shalt thou cut off her hand, thy eye shall not have pity.

Her hand is to be cut off; have no pity on her.

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

Do not have in your bag different weights, a great and a small;

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

Or in your house different measures, a great and a small.

15 A perfect and just weight shalt thou have, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have; in order that thy days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee;

But have a true weight and a true measure: so that your life may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

16 For an abomination of the Lord thy God is every one that doth such things, every one that acteth unrighteously.

For all who do such things, and all whose ways are not upright, are disgusting to the Lord your God.

17 Remember what 'Amalek did unto thee, by the way, at your coming forth out of Egypt;

Keep in mind what Amalek did to you on your way from Egypt;

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

How, meeting you on the way, he made an attack on you when you were tired and without strength, cutting off all the feeble ones at the end of your line; and the fear of God was not in him.

19 And it shall come to pass, when the Lord thy God giveth thee rest from all thy 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 the heavens: thou shalt not forget.

So when the Lord your God has given you rest from all who are against you on every side, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage, see to it that the memory of Amalek is cut off from the earth; keep this in mind.