Fairness and Mercy

1“If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court, and the judges will hear their case. They will clear the innocent and condemn the •guilty. 2If the guilty party deserves to be flogged, the judge will make him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes appropriate for his crime. 3He may be flogged with 40 lashes, but no more. Otherwise, if he is flogged with more lashes than these, your brother will be degraded in your sight.

4“Do not muzzle an ox while it treads out grain.a

Preserving the Family Line

5“When brothers live on the same propertyb and one of them dies without a son, the wife of the dead man may not marry a stranger outside the family. Her brother-in-law is to take her as his wife, have sexual relations with her, and perform the duty of a brother-in-law for her. 6The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so his name will not be blotted out from Israel.c 7But if the man doesn’t want to marry his sister-in-law, she must go to the elders at the city •gated and say, ‘My brother-in-law refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel. He isn’t willing to perform the duty of a brother-in-law for me.’ 8The elders of his city will summon him and speak with him. If he persists and says, ‘I don’t want to marry her,’ 9then his sister-in-law will go up to him in the sight of the elders, remove his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. Then she will declare, ‘This is what is done to a man who will not build up his brother’s house.’ 10And his family name in Israel will be called ‘The house of the man whose sandal was removed.’e

11“If two men are fighting with each other, and the wife of one steps in to rescue her husband from the one striking him, and she puts out her hand and grabs his genitals, 12you are to cut off her hand. You must not show pity.

Honest Weights and Measures

13“You must not have two different weightsf in your bag, one heavy and one light.g 14You must not have two differing dry measures in your house, a larger and a smaller. 15You must have a full and honest weight, a full and honest dry measure, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. 16For everyone who does such things and acts unfairly is detestable to the LORD your God.h

Revenge on the Amalekites

17“Remember what the Amalekites did to you on the journey after you left Egypt.i 18They met you along the way and attacked all your stragglers from behind when you were tired and weary. They did not •fear God. 19When the LORD your God gives you restj from all the enemies around you in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance,k blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven. Do not forget.l