Deuteronomy 25

1 If there is a controversy between men, and they come to judgment and the judges judge them, then they shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked.

2 It shall be, if the wicked man is worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down and to be beaten before his face, according to his wickedness, by number.

3 He may sentence him to no more than forty stripes. He shall not give more, lest if he should give more and beat him more than that many stripes, then your brother will be degraded in your sight.

4 You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain.

5 If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married outside to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her, and take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her.

6 It shall be that the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead, that his name not be blotted out of Israel.

7 If the man doesn’t want to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders, and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to raise up to his brother a name in Israel. He will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.”

8 Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak to him. If he stands and says, “I don’t want to take her,”

9 then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, and loose his sandal from off his foot, and spit in his face. She shall answer and say, “So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.”

10 His name shall be called in Israel, “The house of him who had his sandal removed.”

11 When men strive against each other, and the wife of one draws near to deliver her husband out of the hand of him who strikes him, and puts out her hand, and grabs him by his private parts,

12 then you shall cut off her hand. Your eye shall have no pity.

13 You shall not have in your bag diverse weights, one heavy and one light.

14 You shall not have in your house diverse measures, one large and one small.

15 You shall have a perfect and just weight. You shall have a perfect and just measure, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you.

16 For all who do such things, all who do unrighteously, are an abomination to the LORD your God.

17 Remember what Amalek did to you by the way as you came out of Egypt,

18 how he met you by the way, and struck the rearmost of you, all who were feeble behind you, when you were faint and weary; and he didn’t fear God.

19 Therefore it shall be, when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your enemies all around, in the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it, that you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky. You shall not forget.

Around Deuteronomy 25

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

Deuteronomy 25 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

The chapter opens in a courtroom. The judges justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, and if a beating is called for, it is limited to forty stripes, so that your brother is not degraded in your sight. Even in punishment there is a floor of dignity.

Then a brief line about work: you shall not muzzle the ox when it treads out the grain. After it comes the law of the brother's widow. When a man dies with no son, his brother is to marry the widow so the name is not blotted out of Israel. If he refuses, she brings it to the elders, removes his sandal and spits in his face, and his house gets a new name.

Some verses are hard, including a harsh penalty in verses 11 and 12. Then the market is made a matter of honesty, with no heavy and light weights in the bag, since dishonest dealing is an abomination to the LORD.

The last words recall Amalek, who struck the weary stragglers and did not fear God.

Background

The levirate law is shown at work in Genesis 38 and in the book of Ruth, and the Sadducees raise it with Jesus in Mark 12. Paul quotes the line about the ox in 1 Corinthians 9 and 1 Timothy 5, as a principle that workers deserve their keep. Verses 17 to 19 refer back to Exodus 17 and look forward to 1 Samuel 15. The command about Amalek is a hard text, and readers have long debated how to take it.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 26 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes