Deuteronomy 25

1 'When there is a strife between men, and they have come nigh unto the judgment, and they have judged, and declared righteous the righteous, and declared wrong the wrong-doer,

If there is a dispute between men and they go to court, and the judges judge them, then they will acquit the righteous and condemn the wicked.

2 then it hath come to pass, if the wrong-doer is to be smitten, that the judge hath caused him to fall down, and [one] hath smitten him in his presence, according to the sufficiency of his wrong-doing, by number;

If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, then the judge will make him lie down and be beaten in his presence with the ordered number of blows, as was his crime.

3 forty [times] he doth smite him — he is not adding, lest, he is adding to smite him above these — many stripes, and thy brother is lightly esteemed in thine eyes.

The judge may give him forty blows, but he may not exceed that number; for if he should exceed that number and beat him with many more blows, then your fellow Israelite would be humiliated before your eyes.

4 'Thou dost not muzzle an ox in its threshing.

You must not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain.

5 'When brethren dwell together, and one of them hath died, and hath no son, the wife of the dead is not without to a strange man; her husband's brother doth go in unto her, and hath taken her to him for a wife, and doth perform the duty of her husband's brother;

If brothers live together and one of them dies, not having any son, then the wife of the dead man must not be married off to someone else outside the family. Instead, her husband's brother must sleep with her and take her to himself as a wife, and do the duty of a husband's brother to her.

6 and it hath been, the first-born which she beareth doth rise for the name of his dead brother, and his name is not wiped away out of Israel.

This is so that the firstborn that she bears will succeed in the name of that man's dead brother, so that his name will not perish from Israel.

7 'And if the man doth not delight to take his brother's wife, then hath his brother's wife gone up to the gate, unto the elders, and said, My husband's brother is refusing to raise up to his brother a name in Israel; he hath not been willing to perform the duty of my husband's brother;

But if the man does not wish to take his brother's wife for himself, then his brother's wife must go up to the gate to the elders and say, 'My husband's brother refuses to raise up for his brother a name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me.'

8 and the elders of his city have called for him, and spoken unto him, and he hath stood and said, I have no desire to take her;

Then the elders of his city must call him and speak to him. But suppose that he insists and says, 'I do not wish to take her.'

9 'Then hath his brother's wife drawn nigh unto him, before the eyes of the elders, and drawn his shoe from off his foot, and spat in his face, and answered and said, Thus it is done to the man who doth not build up the house of his brother;

Then his brother's wife must come up to him in the presence of the elders, take off his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. She must answer him and say, 'This is what is done to the man who does not build up his brother's house.'

10 and his name hath been called in Israel — The house of him whose shoe is drawn off.

His name will be called in Israel, 'The house of him whose sandal has been taken off.'

11 'When men strive together, one with another, and the wife of the one hath drawn near to deliver her husband out of the hand of his smiter, and hath put forth her hand, and laid hold on his secrets,

If men fight with each other, and the wife of one comes to rescue her husband out of the hand of him who struck him, and if she stretches out her hand and takes him by the private parts,

12 then thou hast cut off her hand, thine eye doth not spare.

then you must cut off her hand; your eye must have no pity.

13 'Thou hast not in thy bag a stone and a stone, a great and a small.

You must not have in your bag different weights, a large and a small.

14 Thou hast not in thy house an ephah and an ephah, a great and a small.

You must not have in your house different measures, a large and a small.

15 Thou hast a stone complete and just, thou hast an ephah complete and just, so that they prolong thy days on the ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee;

A perfect and just weight you must have; a perfect and just measure you must have, so that your days may be long in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you.

16 for the abomination of Jehovah thy God [is] any one doing these things, any one doing iniquity.

For all who do such things, all that act unrighteously, are an abomination to Yahweh your God.

17 'Remember that which Amalek hath done to thee in the way, in your going out from Egypt,

Call to mind what Amalek did to you on the road as you came out of Egypt,

18 that he hath met thee in the way, and smiteth in all those feeble behind thee (and thou wearied and fatigued), and is not fearing God.

how he met you on the road and attacked those of you at the rear, all who were feeble in your rear, when you were faint and weary; he did not honor God.

19 And it hath been, in Jehovah thy God's giving rest to thee, from all thine enemies round about, in the land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee — an inheritance to possess it — thou dost blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens — thou dost not forget.

Therefore, when Yahweh your God has given you rest from all your enemies round about, in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you must not forget that you must blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.