Liber Deuteronomii, 25

1. Si fuerit causa inter aliquos, et interpellaverint iudices, quem iustum esse perspexerint, illi iustitiae palmam dabunt; quem impium, condemnabunt impietatis.

1. "If there is a dispute between men, and they come into court, and the judges decide between them, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty,

2. Sin autem iudex eum, qui peccavit, dignum viderit plagis, prosternet et coram se faciet verberari; pro mensura peccati erit et plagarum modus,

2. then if the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with a number of stripes in proportion to his offense.

3. ita dumtaxat, ut quadragenarium numerum non excedant, ne ultra percussus plagis multis et foede laceratus ante oculos tuos abeat frater tuus.

3. Forty stripes may be given him, but not more; lest, if one should go on to beat him with more stripes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight.

4. Non ligabis os bovis terentis in area fruges tuas.

4. "You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.

5. Quando habitaverint fratres simul, et unus ex eis absque filio mortuus fuerit, uxor defuncti non nubet foras alteri, sed accipiet eam frater eius uxorem et suscitabit semen fratris sui;

5. "If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married outside the family 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.

6. et primogenitum ex ea filium nomine illius appellabit, ut non deleatur nomen eius ex Israel.

6. And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his brother who is dead, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel.

7. Sin autem noluerit accipere uxorem fratris sui, quae ei lege debetur, perget mulier ad portam civitatis et interpellabit maiores natu dicetque: “Non vult frater viri mei suscitare nomen fratris sui in Israel nec me in coniugium sumere”;

7. And if the man does not wish 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 perpetuate his brother's name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me.'

8. statimque accersiri eum facient et interrogabunt. Si responderit: “Nolo eam uxorem accipere”,

8. Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak to him: and if he persists, saying, `I do not wish to take her,'

9. accedet mulier ad eum coram senioribus et tollet calceamentum de pede eius spuetque in faciem illius et dicet: “Sic fit homini, qui non aedificat domum fratris sui”.

9. then his brother's wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, and pull his sandal off his foot, and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, `So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother's house.'

10. Et vocabitur nomen illius in Israel: “Domus discalceati”.

10. And the name of his house shall be called in Israel, The house of him that had his sandal pulled off.

11. Si habuerint inter se iurgium viri, et unus contra alterum rixari coeperit, volensque uxor alterius eruere virum suum de manu fortioris, miserit manum et apprehenderit verenda eius,

11. "When men fight with one another, and the wife of the one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him, and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts,

12. abscides manum illius nec flecteris super eam ulla misericordia.

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

13. Non habebis in sacculo tuo diversa pondera maius et minus;

13. "You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small.

14. nec erit in domo tua ephi maius et minus.

14. You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small.

15. Pondus habebis iustum et verum, et ephi iustum et verum erit tibi, ut multo vivas tempore super terram, quam Dominus Deus tuus dederit tibi.

15. A full and just weight you shall have, a full and just measure you shall have; that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.

16. Abominatur enim Dominus tuus eum, qui facit haec, et aversatur omnem iniustitiam.

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

17. Memento quae fecerit tibi Amalec in via, quando egrediebaris ex Aegypto;

17. "Remember what Am'alek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt,

18. quomodo occurrerit tibi et omnes extremos agminis tui, qui lassi residebant, ceciderit, quando tu eras fame et labore confectus, et non timuerit Deum.

18. how he attacked you on the way, when you were faint and weary, and cut off at your rear all who lagged behind you; and he did not fear God.

19. Cum ergo Dominus Deus tuus dederit tibi requiem a cunctis per circuitum inimicis tuis in terra, quam tibi daturus est, delebis nomen Amalec sub caelo: cave, ne obliviscaris!

19. Therefore when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your enemies round about, in the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the remembrance of Am'alek from under heaven; you shall not forget.