Deuteronomy 25-26

New King James Version

Laws of Social Responsibility

25 “If there is a ^(A)dispute between men, and they come to ^[a]court, that the judges may judge them, and they ^(B)justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, ² then it shall be, if the wicked man ^(C)deserves to be beaten, that the judge will cause him to lie down ^(D)and be beaten in his presence, according to his guilt, with a certain number of blows. ^3 (E)Forty blows he may give him and no more, lest he should exceed this and beat him with many blows above these, and your brother ^(F)be humiliated in your sight.

^4 (G)“You shall not muzzle an ox while it ^[b]treads out the grain.

Marriage Duty of the Surviving Brother

^5 (H)“If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not be married to a stranger outside the family; her husband’s brother shall go in to her, take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. ⁶ And it shall be that the firstborn son which she bears ^(I)will succeed to the name of his dead brother, that ^(J)his name may not be blotted out of Israel. ⁷ But if the man does not want to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the ^(K)gate to the elders, and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to raise up a name to his brother in Israel; he will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother.’ ⁸ Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him. But if he stands firm and says, ^(L)‘I do not want to take her,’ ⁹ then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, ^(M)remove his sandal from his foot, spit in his face, and answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who will not ^(N)build up his brother’s house.’ ¹⁰ And his name shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal removed.’

Miscellaneous Laws

¹¹ “If two men fight together, and the wife of one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of the one attacking him, and puts out her hand and seizes him by the genitals, ¹² then you shall cut off her hand; ^(O)your eye shall not pity her.

^13 (P)“You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a heavy and a light. ¹⁴ You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. ¹⁵ You shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure, ^(Q)that your days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁶ For ^(R)all who do such things, all who behave unrighteously, are ^[c]an abomination to the Lord your God.

Destroy the Amalekites

^17 (S)“Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, ¹⁸ how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he ^(T)did not fear God. ¹⁹ Therefore it shall be, ^(U)when the Lord your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will ^(V)blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.

Offerings of Firstfruits and Tithes

26 “And it shall be, when you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it, ^2 (W)that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you shall bring from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and put it in a basket and ^(X)go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. ³ And you shall go to the one who is priest in those days, and say to him, ‘I declare today to the Lord ^[d]your God that I have come to the country which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’

⁴ “Then the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God. ⁵ And you shall answer and say before the Lord your God: ‘My father was ^(Y)a ^[e]Syrian, ^(Z)about to perish, and ^(AA)he went down to Egypt and ^[f]dwelt there, ^(AB)few in number; and there he became a nation, ^(AC)great, mighty, and populous. ⁶ But the ^(AD)Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us. ^7 (AE)Then we cried out to the Lord God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression. ⁸ So ^(AF)the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, ^(AG)with great terror and with signs and wonders. ⁹ He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, ^(AH)“a land flowing with milk and honey”; ¹⁰ and now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which you, O Lord, have given me.’

“Then you shall set it before the Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God. ¹¹ So ^(AI)you shall rejoice in every good thing which the Lord your God has given to you and your house, you and the Levite and the stranger who is among you.

¹² “When you have finished laying aside all the ^(AJ)tithe of your increase in the third year—^(AK)the year of tithing—and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be filled, ¹³ then you shall say before the Lord your God: ‘I have removed the ^[g]holy tithe from my house, and also have given them to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed Your commandments, ^(AL)nor have I forgotten them. ^14 (AM)I have not eaten any of it ^[h]when in mourning, nor have I removed any of it ^[i]for an unclean use, nor given any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that You have commanded me. ^15 (AN)Look down from Your holy ^[j]habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, ^(AO)“a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’

A Special People of God

¹⁶ “This day the Lord your God commands you to observe these statutes and judgments; therefore you shall be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. ¹⁷ Today you have ^(AP)proclaimed the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you will ^(AQ)obey His voice. ¹⁸ Also today ^(AR)the Lord has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments, ¹⁹ and that He will set you ^(AS)high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be ^(AT)a ^[k]holy people to the Lord your God, just as He has spoken.”