Updated on

DEU

Deuteronomy 25

OriginalSimple EnglishSimpleNew Summary

Read Deuteronomy Chapter 25

Up and down arrows move from one verse to the next.

1If 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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;

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.

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

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:

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

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

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

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

17Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth 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.

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.

You are readingKing James Version

Explanation

Deuteronomy 25

In short

This chapter gives Moses' laws on several matters: how judges should handle punishment, how to treat working animals, what happens when a man's brother dies, rules about honest scales and weights, and a command to remember and destroy the nation of Amalek. These rules cover both everyday fairness and ancient wrongs.

What the text says

Verses 1-3 describe court judgment: judges are to declare the righteous innocent and the guilty person guilty. If beating is the penalty, it must not exceed forty stripes, so the guilty person is not degraded in the eyes of others.

Verse 4 says not to muzzle an ox while it works at threshing grain, meaning not to prevent it from eating as it works.

Verses 5-10 describe the rule of levirate marriage. If brothers live together and one dies without children, his widow must marry the dead man's brother. The firstborn son born to her takes the dead brother's name so his line continues. If the brother refuses, the widow goes to the town elders and makes her case. If he still refuses, she removes his shoe and spits in his face before the elders. He will be known as "the man whose shoe was loosed."

Verses 11-12 state: if a wife grabs a man's intimate parts while defending her husband from a fight, her hand shall be cut off with no mercy.

Verses 13-15 forbid dishonest scales and measures. Instead, weights and measures must be perfect and just, so that long life follows in the land.

Verse 16 says those who act unrighteously are an abomination to God.

Takeaways

  • These laws cover punishment, animals, family duty, honest trade, and old enemies, treating them as equally important to a nation's life.
  • Some rules protect the weak: limits on beating prevent cruelty, and the widow's right to bring her case to elders gives her a voice.
  • God's people are to be fair in business and remember God's past conflicts as their own future responsibility.

Explanation written with the help of AI. The Bible text above is not changed. Context and interpretation are flagged as such; always come back to the text itself.

Need words for what you are living?

Describe it and receive a prayer written for you, with verses to hold on to.

Write a prayer