Deuteronomy 25
About DeuteronomyWritten by AI
Deuteronomy is mostly a set of farewell speeches. Moses stands with Israel on the plains of Moab, across the Jordan from the promised land, near the end of his life. He retells their story since Sinai, repeats and applies God's law for life in the land, and calls the new generation to renew the covenant. The book has long been credited to Moses, with the account of his death added by another hand. Many scholars think it reached its final form centuries later. Christians hold both views.
At its heart is a call to love God with everything: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.” Again and again Moses says remember, do not forget, and choose life.
Watch for God's care for the poor, the widow, the orphan and the foreigner, and for warnings that Israel will fail and promises that God will not. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy more than almost any other book.
Before you read Deuteronomy 25Written by AI
Punishment must not go past forty lashes, so a person is not degraded. Do not muzzle an ox while it threshes, a verse Paul quotes in 1 Corinthians 9:9. A widow without a son may marry her husband's brother to carry on the family name, the background to the book of Ruth. Use honest weights.
Fairness and Mercy
If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court to be judged, so that the innocent may be acquitted and the guilty condemned.
If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall have him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime warrants. He may receive no more than forty lashes, lest your brother be beaten any more than that and be degraded in your sight.
Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.
Widowhood and Marriage
When brothers dwell together and one of them dies without a son, the widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother is to take her as his wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law for her. The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.
But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, she is to go to the elders at the city gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel. He is not willing to perform the duty of a brother-in-law for me.”
Then the elders of his city shall summon him and speak with him. If he persists and says, “I do not want to marry her,” his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal, spit in his face, and declare, “This is what is done to the man who will not maintain his brother’s line.” And his family name in Israel will be called “The House of the Unsandaled.”
If two men are fighting, and the wife of one comes to rescue her husband from the one striking him, and she reaches out her hand and grabs his genitals, you are to cut off her hand. You must show her no pity.
Standard Weights and Measures
You shall not have two differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light. You shall not have two differing measures in your house, one large and one small.
You must maintain accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. For everyone who behaves dishonestly in regard to these things is detestable to the LORD your God.
Revenge on the Amalekites
Remember what the Amalekites did to you along your way from Egypt, how they met you on your journey when you were tired and weary, and they attacked all your stragglers; they had no fear of God.
When the LORD your God gives you rest from the enemies around you in the land that He is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you are to blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!