Deuteronomy 25
1 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.
If there is some legal argument between two people, they are to go to court to have the case judged, in order to justify the one who is right and condemn the one who is wrong.
2 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.
If the person who is guilty is sentenced to be flogged, the judge shall order them to lie down and be flogged before him with the number of lashes the crime deserves.
3 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.
They are not to receive more than forty lashes. More than that would be to publicly humiliate them.
4 You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain.
Don't muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.
5 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.
When two brothers live near to each other and one of them dies without having a son, the widow is not to marry a stranger outside the family. Her husband's brother is to marry her and sleep with her, fulfilling the requirements of a brother-in-law to provide her with children.
6 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.
The first son she has will be named after the dead brother, so that his name won't be forgotten in Israel.
7 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.”
However, if the man refuses to marry his brother's widow, she shall go to the elders at the town gate and tell them, “My husband's brother is refusing to keep his brother's name alive in Israel. He doesn't want to perform the requirements of a brother-in-law for me.”
8 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,”
The town elders are to summon him and talk with him. If he continues to refuse and says, “I don't want to marry her,”
9 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 brother's widow is to confront him in the presence of the elders, pull off his sandal, spit in his face, and announce, “This is what happens to the man who refuses to keep his brother's family name alive.”
10 His name shall be called in Israel, “The house of him who had his sandal removed.”
From then on his family name in Israel will be called “The Family of the Pulled-off Sandal.”
11 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,
If two men are fighting, and one of their wives intervenes to save her husband from being beaten, and she grabs hold of the attacker's genitals,
12 then you shall cut off her hand. Your eye shall have no pity.
you are to cut her hand off. Don't show her any mercy.
13 You shall not have in your bag diverse weights, one heavy and one light.
Don't have two different measuring weights in your bag, one that's heavy and one that's light.
14 You shall not have in your house diverse measures, one large and one small.
Don't have two different measuring containers in your house, one that's large and one that's small.
15 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 Yahweh your God gives you.
Make sure you always use accurate and true weights and measures. In that way you will have long lives in the country the Lord your God is giving you.
16 For all who do such things, all who do unrighteously, are an abomination to Yahweh your God.
Anyone who doesn't do so and cheats like this offends the Lord your God.
17 Remember what Amalek did to you by the way as you came out of Egypt,
Remember what the Amalekites did to you on your way out of Egypt.
18 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.
The came out to confront you when you were tired and weary from your journey, and they attacked all those of you who were lagging behind. They didn't have any respect for God.
19 Therefore it shall be, when Yahweh your God has given you rest from all your enemies all around, in the land which Yahweh 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.
Once the Lord your God gives you peace after fighting your enemies in the country that he's giving you to take over and own, you are to wipe out even the memory of the Amalekites from the earth. Don't forget!
