Deuteronomy 25 - Easy To Read Version

¹ “When two people have an argument, they should go to the court. The judges will decide which person is right and which person is wrong.

² If the judge decides a person must be beaten with a whip, then the judge must make that person lie face down. Someone will beat the guilty person while the judge watches. The number of times he must be hit depends on the crime.

³ You must never hit a person more than 40 times. If you beat a person more than 40 times, then that shows that person’s life is not important to you.

⁴ “When an animal is being used to separate grain, you must not cover its mouth to stop it from eating.

⁵ “If two brothers live together, and one of them dies and has no son, then the wife of the dead brother must not be married to a stranger outside the family. Her husband’s brother must take her as a wife and have sexual relations with her. Her husband’s brother must do the duty of a husband’s brother for her.

⁶ Then the first child that she gives birth to will take the place of the man’s dead brother. Then the dead brother’s name will not be taken out of Israel.

⁷ If the man does not want to take his brother’s wife, then the brother’s wife must go to the leaders at the town meeting place. His brother’s wife must say to the leaders, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to keep his brother’s name alive in Israel. He will not do the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’

⁸ Then the leaders of the city must call the man and talk to him. If the man is stubborn and says, ‘I don’t want to take her,’

⁹ then his brother’s wife must come to him in front of the leaders. She must take his shoe off his foot. Then she must spit in his face. She must say, ‘This is being done to the man who will not build up his brother’s family!’

¹⁰ Then that brother’s family will be known in Israel as ‘the family of the man who had his shoe taken off.’

¹¹ “Two men might be fighting against each other. One man’s wife might come to help her husband. But she must not grab the other man’s private parts.

¹² If she does that, then cut off her hand. Don’t feel sorry for her.

¹³ “{Don’t carry trick weights for cheating people.} Don’t use weights that are too heavy or too light.

¹⁴ Don’t keep measures in your house that are too large or too small.

¹⁵ You must use weights and measures that are correct and accurate. Then you will live a long time in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

¹⁶ The Lord your God hates people that cheat with false weights and measures. Yes, he hates all people who do wrong.

¹⁷ “Remember what the people of Amalek did to you when you were coming from Egypt.

¹⁸ The Amalekites did not respect God. They attacked you when you were weak and tired. They killed all your people who were slow and walking behind everyone else.

¹⁹ “You might be gathering your harvest in the field, and you might forget and leave some grain there. You must not go back to get it. It will be for the foreigners, the orphans, [154] and the widows. [155] If you leave some grain for them, then the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.