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Pentateuch · WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE

Deuteronomy 25

Moses renews the covenant and calls Israel to remember, love, and obey God.

Old Testament

Deuteronomy 25

1If 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.

2It 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.

3He 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.

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

5If 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.

6It 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.

7If 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.”

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

9then 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.”

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

11When 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,

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

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

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

15You 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.

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

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

18how 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.

19Therefore 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.

READ IN CONTEXT

Before applying this chapter

Moses renews the covenant and calls Israel to remember, love, and obey God. Read Deuteronomy 25 within the complete Deuteronomy overview, and use the contextual Bible reading guide before forming a personal application. Chapter divisions aid navigation, but the literary unit may begin earlier or continue into the next chapter.

Observe first

Mark repeated words, changes of speaker, commands, promises, contrasts, questions, and the relationship between paragraphs.

Apply responsibly

Distinguish description from command and immediate audience from later readers before forming a personal application.

TEXT-DERIVED READING NOTES

What to notice in Deuteronomy 25

Deuteronomy 25 contains 19 verses and about 547 words in this translation. These observations come from the chapter itself; they are prompts for close reading, not claims about its only possible meaning.

The opening movement

Verse 1 begins: “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.” Ask what situation, voice, image, or argument this opening establishes for everything that follows.

The closing movement

Verse 19 closes: “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…” Compare the ending with the opening and note what changed, resolved, intensified, or remained open.

Vocabulary worth tracing

Recurring or prominent content words include brother, wife, husband’s, name, brother’s, take. Follow where each word appears and whether its meaning shifts with the speaker or setting.

COMMON QUESTIONS

About Deuteronomy 25

Which Bible translation is shown here?+

This page reproduces the World English Bible Protestant edition (WEBP), a modern-English translation dedicated to the public domain.

How should I cite a specific verse?+

Use the book, chapter, and verse—for example, Deuteronomy 25:1—and name the World English Bible if the wording matters. Each verse number above is a direct anchor link.

Does the chapter number define the complete literary unit?+

Not always. Chapter and verse numbers were added for navigation. Check the paragraphs, scenes, poetic stanzas, or argument before and after this chapter.

A SMALL NEXT STEP

You do not have to have everything figured out.

Begin with one honest question, one passage read carefully, and one faithful next step.

Start with prayer