1 If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, and the judges judge them, by justifying the righteous, and condemning the wicked, 2 then it shall be, if the wicked man deserve to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to the measure of his wickedness, by number. 3 Forty stripes he may give him, he shall not exceed; lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should be dishonoured before thine eyes. 4 Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. 5 If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not be married abroad unto one not of his kin; her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother unto her. 6 And it shall be, that the first-born that she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother that is dead, that his name be not blotted out of Israel. 7 And if the man like not to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall 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 a husband's brother unto me.' 8 Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him; and if he stand, and say: 'I like not to take her'; 9 then shall his brother's wife draw nigh unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say: 'So shall it be done unto the man that doth not build up his brother's house.' 10 And his name shall be called in Israel The house of him that had his shoe loosed. 11 When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets; 12 then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall have no pity. 13 Thou shalt not have in thy bag diverse weights, a great and a small. 14 Thou shalt not have in thy house diverse measures, a great and a small. 15 A perfect and just weight shalt thou have; a perfect and just measure shalt thou have; that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 16 For all that do such things, even all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the LORD thy God. 17 Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way as ye came forth out of Egypt; 18 how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, all that were enfeebled in thy rear, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God. 19 Therefore 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.
Deuteronomy · JPS Tanakh (1917)
Deuteronomy 25 JPS Tanakh (1917)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
- Numbers like (22-2) in the text give the Hebrew verse numbering where it differs.
Cross references (16)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Proverbs 17:15; Deuteronomy 1:16–17; Deuteronomy 17:8–9; Deuteronomy 19:17–19; Malachi 3:18
- 2 Luke 12:47–48; 1 Peter 2:20; Matthew 10:17; 1 Peter 2:24; Acts 5:40
- 3 Job 18:3; James 2:2–3; 2 Corinthians 11:24–25; Luke 15:30; Luke 18:9–12
- 4 1 Timothy 5:17–18; 1 Corinthians 9:9–10; Proverbs 12:10; Hosea 10:11; Isaiah 28:27
- 5 Luke 20:28; Matthew 22:24; Mark 12:19; Genesis 38:8–9; Ruth 1:12–13
- 6 Deuteronomy 21:19; Psalm 109:13; Psalm 9:5; Genesis 28:8–10; Ruth 4:1–7
- 7 Ruth 4:1–2; Ruth 4:5–6
- 8 Ruth 4:6
- 9 Ruth 4:7–8; Numbers 12:14; Isaiah 20:2; Isaiah 50:6; Mark 10:34
- 12 Deuteronomy 19:13; Deuteronomy 7:2; Deuteronomy 19:21
- 13 Proverbs 11:1; Proverbs 16:11; Leviticus 19:35–37; Amos 8:5; Ezekiel 45:10–11
- 15 Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 4:40; Deuteronomy 5:33; Deuteronomy 11:9; Ephesians 6:3
- 16 Proverbs 11:1; Revelation 21:27; 1 Thessalonians 4:6; Deuteronomy 22:5; Deuteronomy 18:12
- 17 Exodus 17:8–16; Numbers 25:17–18; Numbers 24:20
- 18 Psalm 36:1; Romans 3:18; Nehemiah 5:15; Proverbs 16:6; Nehemiah 5:9
- 19 Exodus 17:14; Deuteronomy 9:14; 1 Samuel 14:48; Exodus 17:16; Psalm 83:7–17
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
And even if we were born from the brother of Him that is dead, yet are we named after the name of Him who is dead. We were begotten by the one, but begotten to the other.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
… illustrations from common things, and had said, "Who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk thereof?" then he brings in the Scriptures also, saying, "It is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn;" and again, "Even so hath the Lord ordained, that they which preach the gospel should …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
One ought also to observe this, that the law was that when a man died without seed, this man's brother should take to wife the wife of the dead man and raise up seed to his brother.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 9 (1899)
The Apostle hath said, that of the preachers of the Gospel must be understood that which hath been written, "Of the ox treading out corn the mouth thou shalt not muzzle. Doth God care for oxen?" Therefore great are those rams, great the oxen.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
The wife of him that died childless was to be given to his brother. For since death was an incurable ill, and all was contrived for life's sake; He makes a law that the living brother should marry her, and should call the child that is born by the name of the dead, so that his house should not utterly …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)