1
If two people have an argument and go to court, the judges will decide the case. They will declare one person right and the other guilty.
2
If the guilty person has to be punished with a beating, the judge will make that person lie down and be beaten in front of him. The number of lashes should match the crime.
3
But don't hit a person more than forty times, because more than that would disgrace him before others.
4
When an ox is working in the grain, do not cover its mouth to keep it from eating.
5
If two brothers are living together, and one of them dies without having a son, his widow must not marry someone outside her husband's family. Her husband's brother must marry her, which is his duty to her as a brother-in-law.
6
The first son she has counts as the son of the dead brother so that his name will not be forgotten in Israel.
7
But if a man does not want to marry his brother's widow, she should go to the older leaders at the town gate. She should say, "My brother-in-law will not carry on his brother's name in Israel. He refuses to do his duty for me."
8
Then the older leaders of the town must call for the man and talk to him. But if he is stubborn and says, "I don't want to marry her,"