Deuteronomy 25

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.

1If two men have a fight about something, they go to the judges. The judges decide who is right and who is wrong.

2And 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.

2If the guilty man should be hit as punishment, the judge makes him lie down. He is hit while the judge watches. The number of hits must fit what he did.

3Forty 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.

3He may be given up to forty hits, but never more. More than that would shame him in front of everyone.

NoteThe KJV says "forty stripes." A stripe is one hit with a whip or a rod. The rule sets a limit so the punishment cannot go on and on.

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

4When an ox walks on grain to knock the seeds loose, do not tie his mouth shut.

NoteThe KJV word "corn" means grain, like wheat or barley. It does not mean corn on the cob. Oxen walked over cut grain to knock the seeds loose, and an unmuzzled ox could eat some as it worked.

5If 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.

5Say two brothers live near each other, and one dies with no son. His wife must not marry a man outside the family. The dead man's brother must marry her and care for her.

6And 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.

6The first son she has will carry the dead brother's name. That way his name is not lost from Israel.

7And 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.

7But the brother may not want to marry her. Then she goes to the town gate, where the elders meet. Elders were the older leaders of the town. She tells them he will not do his duty.

8Then 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;

8Then the elders call the man in and talk with him. He may still say, "I do not want to marry her."

9Then 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.

9Then, while the elders watch, she pulls the sandal off his foot. She spits in his face. She says, "This is what happens to a man who will not build up his brother's family."

10And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.

10From then on, people in Israel will call his family "The House of the Man Who Had His Sandal Pulled Off."

11When 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:

11Say two men are fighting. The wife of one man comes to save her husband from the man hitting him. She reaches out and grabs that man by his private parts.

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

12Then you must cut off her hand. Do not feel sorry for her.

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

13Do not carry two different weights in your bag, one heavy and one light.

NotePeople weighed things with a balance and small stones. A seller with one heavy stone and one light stone could cheat buyers.

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

14Do not keep two different measuring baskets in your house, one big and one small.

15But 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 the LORD thy God giveth thee.

15Use weights and measures that are correct and honest. Then you will live a long time in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

16For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the LORD thy God.

16The LORD your God hates it when people cheat like this. He hates every dishonest thing people do.

17Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt;

17Remember what the people of Amalek did to you. It happened on your way out of Egypt.

18How 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.

18They met you on the road when you were tired and worn out. They attacked the weak people who were falling behind. They did not care about God at all.

19Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine 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 heaven; thou shalt not forget it.

19The LORD your God will give you the land as your own. He will give you rest from the enemies all around you. Then you must wipe out every memory of Amalek from the earth. Do not forget to do this.