Deuteronomy 25
1 “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.
“If there is a case between persons, and they apply to the judges, they shall give the palm of justice to the one whom they perceive to be just, and they shall condemn of impiety the one who is impious.
2 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.
But if they see that the one who has sinned is worthy of stripes, they shall prostrate him and cause him to be beaten before them. According to the measure of the sin, so shall the measure of the stripes be.
3 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.
Even so, these shall not exceed the number of forty. Otherwise, your brother may depart, having been wounded shamefully before your eyes.
4 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].
You shall not muzzle an ox as it is treading out your crops in the field.
5 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.
When brothers are living together, and one of them dies without children, the wife of the deceased shall not marry another. Instead, his brother shall take her, and he shall raise up offspring for his brother.
6 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.
And the first son from her, he shall call by his brother’s name, so that his name will not be abolished from Israel.
7 “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.’
But if he is not willing to take his brother’s wife, who by law must go to him, the woman shall go to the gate of the city, and she shall call upon those greater by birth, and she shall say: ‘The brother of my husband is not willing to raise up his brother’s name in Israel; nor will he join with me.’
8 Then the elders must summon that man and talk to him. If he still refuses to marry that widow,
And immediately, they shall summon him to be sent, and they shall question him. If he responds, ‘I am not willing to accept her as a wife,’
9 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.’
then the woman shall approach him in the sight of the elders, and she shall remove his shoe from his foot, and she shall spit in his face, and she shall say: ‘So shall it be done to the man who was not willing to build up his brother’s house.’
10 After that happens, that man’s family will be known as ‘the family of the man whose sandal was pulled off’.
And his name shall be called in Israel: The House of the Unshod.
11 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,
If two men have a conflict between themselves, and one begins to do violence to the other, and if the other’s wife, wanting to rescue her husband from the hand of the stronger one, extends her hand and grasps him by his private parts,
12 do not act mercifully toward her; cut off her hand.
then you shall cut off her hand. Neither shall you weep over her with any mercy.
13 “[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].
You shall not have differing weights, greater and lesser, in your bag.
Neither shall there be in your house a greater and a lesser measure.
15 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.
You shall have a just and a true weight, and your measure shall be equal and true, so that you may live for a long time upon the land, which the Lord your God will give to you.
16 Yahweh hates all those who act dishonestly, [and he will punish them].
For the Lord your God abominates him who does these things, and he loathes all injustice.
17 Continue to remember what the Amalek people-group did to your ancestors when they were coming out of Egypt.
Remember what Amalek did to you, along the way, when you were departing from Egypt:
18 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.
how he met you and cut down the stragglers of the troops, who were sitting down, exhausted, when you were consumed by hunger and hardship, and how he did not fear God.
19 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]!”
Therefore, when the Lord your God will give you rest, and you will have subdued all the surrounding nations, in the land which he has promised to you, you shall delete his name from under heaven. Take care not to forget this.”
