1 This is what you must do whenever two people have a disagreement that is brought into court. The judges will hear the case and decide who's right and who's wrong. 2 If the person who's in the wrong deserves to be beaten, the judge will order him to lie down. Then the judge will have him beaten with as many lashes as the crime deserves. 3 Forty lashes may be given, but no more. If an Israelite were given more than that, he would be publicly humiliated. 4 Never muzzle an ox when it's threshing grain. 5 When brothers live together and one of them dies without having a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband's brother must marry her and sleep with her. He must do his duty as her brother-in-law. 6 Then the first son she has will carry the dead brother's name so that his name won't die out in Israel. 7 But if the man doesn't want to marry his brother's widow, she must go to the leaders of the city at the city gate. She must say, "My brother-in-law refuses to let his brother's name continue in Israel. He doesn't want to do his duty as my brother-in-law." 8 Then the leaders of the city must summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying that he doesn't want to marry her, 9 his brother's widow must go up to him in the presence of the leaders. She must take off one of his sandals and spit in his face. She must make this formal statement: "This is what happens to a man who refuses to continue his brother's family line." 10 Then in Israel his family will be called the Family of the Man Without a Sandal. 11 This is what you must do when two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from the man who is beating him. If she tries to stop the fight by grabbing the other man's genitals, 12 cut off her hand. Have no pity on her. 13 Never carry two sets of weights, a heavier one and a lighter one. 14 Never have two kinds of measures in your house, a larger one and a smaller one. 15 Use accurate and honest weights and measures. Then you will live for a long time in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 16 Everyone who uses dishonest weights and measures is disgusting to the LORD. 17 Remember what the Amalekites did to you on your trip from Egypt. 18 They attacked you when you were tired and exhausted and killed all those who were lagging behind. They weren't afraid of God. 19 So when the LORD your God gives you peace from all your enemies around you in the land that he is giving you as your own property, don't forget to erase every memory of the Amalekites from the earth. GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Quotations are used by permission. Copyright 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. | |