| King James Bible | New International Version |
| 1If 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. | 1When people have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty. |
| 2And 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. | 2If the guilty person deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make them lie down and have them flogged in his presence with the number of lashes the crime deserves, |
| 3Forty 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. | 3but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes. If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes. |
| 4Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. | 4Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain. |
| 5If 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. | 5If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband's brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. |
| 6And 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. | 6The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel. |
| 7And 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. | 7However, if a man does not want to marry his brother's wife, she shall go to the elders at the town gate and say, "My husband's brother refuses to carry on his brother's name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me." |
| 8Then 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; | 8Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, "I do not want to marry her," |
| 9Then 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. | 9his brother's widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, "This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother's family line." |
| 10And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed. | 10That man's line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled. |
| 11When 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: | 11If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, |
| 12Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her. | 12you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity. |
| 13Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. | 13Do not have two differing weights in your bag--one heavy, one light. |
| 14Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small. | 14Do not have two differing measures in your house--one large, one small. |
| 15But 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. | 15You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. |
| 16For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the LORD thy God. | 16For the LORD your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly. |
| 17Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; | 17Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. |
| 18How 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. | 18When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. |
| 19Therefore 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. | 19When the LORD your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget! |
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