Deuteronomy 25

¹If there is an argument between men and they go to law with one another, let the judges give their decision for the upright, and against the wrongdoer.

²And if the wrongdoer is to undergo punishment by whipping, the judge will give orders for him to go down on his face and be whipped before him, the number of the blows being in relation to his crime.

³He may be given forty blows, not more; for if more are given, your brother may be shamed before you.

⁴Do not keep the ox from taking the grain when he is crushing it.

⁵If brothers are living together and one of them, at his death, has no son, the wife of the dead man is not to be married outside the family to another man: let her husband's brother go in to her and make her his wife, doing as it is right for a brother-in-law to do.

⁶Then the first male child she has will take the rights of the brother who is dead, so that his name may not come to an end in Israel.

⁷But if the man says he will not take his brother's wife, then let the wife go to the responsible men of the town, and say, My husband's brother will not keep his brother's name living in Israel; he will not do what it is right for a husband's brother to do.

⁸Then the responsible men of the town will send for the man, and have talk with him: and if he still says, I will not take her;

⁹Then his brother's wife is to come to him, before the responsible men of the town, and take his shoe off his foot, and put shame on him, and say, So let it be done to the man who will not take care of his brother's name.

¹⁰And his family will be named in Israel, The house of him whose shoe has been taken off.

¹¹If two men are fighting, and the wife of one of them, coming to the help of her husband, takes the other by the private parts;

¹²Her hand is to be cut off; have no pity on her.

¹³Do not have in your bag different weights, a great and a small;

¹⁴Or in your house different measures, a great and a small.

¹⁵But have a true weight and a true measure: so that your life may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

¹⁶For all who do such things, and all whose ways are not upright, are disgusting to the Lord your God.

¹⁷Keep in mind what Amalek did to you on your way from Egypt;

¹⁸How, meeting you on the way, he made an attack on you when you were tired and without strength, cutting off all the feeble ones at the end of your line; and the fear of God was not in him.

¹⁹So when the Lord your God has given you rest from all who are against you on every side, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage, see to it that the memory of Amalek is cut off from the earth; keep this in mind.

Deuteronomy 25

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.

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.

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.

⁴Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.

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.

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.

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.

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;

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.

¹⁰And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.

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:

¹²Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her.

¹³Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.

¹⁴Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a 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.

¹⁶For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the Lord thy God.

¹⁷Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth 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.

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.

Deuteronomy 25

¹If there is an argument between men and they go to law with one another, let the judges give their decision for the upright, and against the wrongdoer.

³He may be given forty blows, not more; for if more are given, your brother may be shamed before you.

⁴Do not keep the ox from taking the grain when he is crushing it.

⁶Then the first male child she has will take the rights of the brother who is dead, so that his name may not come to an end in Israel.

⁸Then the responsible men of the town will send for the man, and have talk with him: and if he still says, I will not take her;

¹⁰And his family will be named in Israel, The house of him whose shoe has been taken off.

¹¹If two men are fighting, and the wife of one of them, coming to the help of her husband, takes the other by the private parts;

¹²Her hand is to be cut off; have no pity on her.

¹³Do not have in your bag different weights, a great and a small;

¹⁴Or in your house different measures, a great and a small.

¹⁵But have a true weight and a true measure: so that your life may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

¹⁶For all who do such things, and all whose ways are not upright, are disgusting to the Lord your God.

¹⁷Keep in mind what Amalek did to you on your way from Egypt;

¹⁸How, meeting you on the way, he made an attack on you when you were tired and without strength, cutting off all the feeble ones at the end of your line; and the fear of God was not in him.

Deuteronomy 25:1

BBE

If there is an argument between men and they go to law with one another, let the judges give their decision for the upright, and against the wrongdoer.

KJV

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.

BBE

And if the wrongdoer is to undergo punishment by whipping, the judge will give orders for him to go down on his face and be whipped before him, the number of the blows being in relation to his crime.

KJV

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.

BBE

He may be given forty blows, not more; for if more are given, your brother may be shamed before you.

KJV

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.

BBE

Do not keep the ox from taking the grain when he is crushing it.

KJV

Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.

BBE

If brothers are living together and one of them, at his death, has no son, the wife of the dead man is not to be married outside the family to another man: let her husband's brother go in to her and make her his wife, doing as it is right for a brother-in-law to do.

KJV

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.

BBE

Then the first male child she has will take the rights of the brother who is dead, so that his name may not come to an end in Israel.

KJV

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.

BBE

But if the man says he will not take his brother's wife, then let the wife go to the responsible men of the town, and say, My husband's brother will not keep his brother's name living in Israel; he will not do what it is right for a husband's brother to do.

KJV

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.

BBE

Then the responsible men of the town will send for the man, and have talk with him: and if he still says, I will not take her;

KJV

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;

BBE

Then his brother's wife is to come to him, before the responsible men of the town, and take his shoe off his foot, and put shame on him, and say, So let it be done to the man who will not take care of his brother's name.

KJV

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.

BBE

And his family will be named in Israel, The house of him whose shoe has been taken off.

KJV

And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.

BBE

If two men are fighting, and the wife of one of them, coming to the help of her husband, takes the other by the private parts;

KJV

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:

BBE

Her hand is to be cut off; have no pity on her.

KJV

Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her.

BBE

Do not have in your bag different weights, a great and a small;

KJV

Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.

BBE

Or in your house different measures, a great and a small.

KJV

Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small.

BBE

But have a true weight and a true measure: so that your life may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

KJV

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.

BBE

For all who do such things, and all whose ways are not upright, are disgusting to the Lord your God.

KJV

For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the Lord thy God.

BBE

Keep in mind what Amalek did to you on your way from Egypt;

KJV

Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt;

BBE

How, meeting you on the way, he made an attack on you when you were tired and without strength, cutting off all the feeble ones at the end of your line; and the fear of God was not in him.

KJV

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.

BBE

So when the Lord your God has given you rest from all who are against you on every side, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage, see to it that the memory of Amalek is cut off from the earth; keep this in mind.

KJV

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.

Understanding Bible in Basic English vs King James Version in Deuteronomy 25

Bible in Basic English (BBE)

A simplified translation using a limited English vocabulary for clarity and accessibility. Helpful for new readers, ESL learners, and quick comprehension. Great for devotional reading and getting the big picture of each passage.

King James Version (KJV)

The classic 1611 English translation known for its majestic prose and literary influence. Ideal for traditional study and memorization thanks to its formal style. A foundational English Bible used for centuries.

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