1 Suppose two men don't agree about something. Then they must take their case to court. The judges will decide the case. They will let the one who isn't guilty go free. And they will punish the one who is guilty.
2 The guilty one might have done something that's worthy of a beating. Then the judge will make him lie down and be beaten with a whip right there in court. The number of strokes should fit the crime.
3 But the judge must not give the guilty man more than 40 strokes. If more than that are used, you will look down on your Israelite neighbor.
4 Don't stop an ox from eating while you use it to separate grain from straw.
5 Suppose two brothers are living near each other. And one of them dies without having a son. Then his widow must not get married to anyone outside the family. Her husband's brother should marry her. That's what a brother-in-law is supposed to do.
6 Her first baby boy will be named after her first husband. Then the dead man's name will not be wiped out in Israel.
7 But suppose the man doesn't want to get married to his brother's wife. Then she will go to the elders at the gate of the town. She will say, "My husband's brother refuses to keep his brother's name alive in Israel. He won't do for me what a brother-in-law is supposed to do."
8 Then the elders in his town will send for him. They will talk to him. But he still might say, "I don't want to marry her."
9 Then his brother's widow will go up to him in front of the elders. She'll pull one of his sandals off his foot. She'll spit in his face. And she'll say, "That's what we do to a man who won't build up his brother's family line."
10 That man's family line will be known in Israel as The Family of the Man Whose Sandal Was Pulled Off.
11 Suppose two men are fighting. And the wife of one of them comes to save her husband from his attacker. So she reaches out and grabs hold of his sex organs.
12 Then you must cut off her hand. Don't feel sorry for her.
13 Don't have two different scales. You must not have one that weighs things heavier than they really are and another that weighs them lighter than they are.
14 And don't have two different sets of measures. You must not have one set that measures things larger than they really are and another that measures them smaller than they are.
15 You must use weights and measures that are honest and exact. Then you will live a long time in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
16 He hates anyone who cheats.
17 Remember what the Amalekites did to you on your way out of Egypt.
18 You were tired and worn out. They met you on your journey. They attacked everyone who was lagging behind. They didn't have any respect for God.