If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.
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Deuteronomy 25
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And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number.
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Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.
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If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband's brother unto her.
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And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.
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And if the man like not to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband's brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband's brother.
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Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him: and if he stand to it, and say, I like not to take her;
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Then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother's house.
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When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets:
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But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
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For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the LORD thy God.
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How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.
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Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.
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Chapter Study & Analysis
Overview
Deuteronomy 25 limits corporal punishment, commands the "Levirate marriage" to preserve family lines, requires just weights and measures in trade, and concludes with a command to blot out the memory of Amalek.
CONTEMPORARY APPLICATIONS
1. Measured Justice: Punishment was limited to forty stripes to ensure the brother did not "seem vile" (v. 3). Justice must be corrective and limited, never intended to utterly degrade the image of God in a person.2. Honesty in Business: "Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights" (v. 13-15). God detests deceptive business practices; honesty in the marketplace is a form of worship.
3. Mercy for the Worker: "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn" (v. 4). This principle extends to human laborers, affirming that those who work have a right to share in the fruit of their labor.
Practical Lessons
FORMAL PRAYER
Almighty God, who lovest truth and justice: grant us to be honest in all our scales and measures. Teach us to treat every person with the dignity they deserve as Thy creation, and to be just in all our ways. Amen.