Deuteronomy 25:5-10

New International Reader's Version

⁵ Suppose two brothers are living near each other. And one of them dies without having a son. Then his widow must not marry 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 continue in Israel.

⁷ But suppose the man doesn’t want to marry 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.