^25:2Then,⁵ if the guilty person is sentenced to a beating,⁶ the judge shall force him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of blows his wicked behavior deserves.⁷^25:3The judge⁸ may sentence him to forty blows,⁹ but no more. If he is struck with more than these, you might view your fellow Israelite¹⁰ with contempt.

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Footnotes

5 Heb “and it will be.”
6 Heb “if the evil one is a son of smiting.”
7 Heb “according to his wickedness, by number.”
8 Heb “he”; the referent (the judge) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 Heb “Forty blows he may strike him”; however, since the judge is to witness the punishment (v. 2) it is unlikely the judge himself administered it.
10 Heb “your brothers” but not limited only to an actual sibling; cf. ) “your kinsman”; , “your neighbor.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

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. 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.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

If the guilty person deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make them lie down and have them flogged in his presence with the number of lashes the crime deserves, but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes. If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

If the guilty party deserves to be flogged, the judge will make him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes appropriate for his crime. He may be flogged with forty lashes, but no more. Otherwise, if he is flogged with more lashes than these, your brother will be degraded in your sight.

NLTNew Living Translation

If the person in the wrong is sentenced to be flogged, the judge must command him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of lashes appropriate to the crime. But never give more than forty lashes; more than forty lashes would publicly humiliate your neighbor.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

then it will happen if the guilty one deserves beating, then the judge shall make him lie, and he shall beat him before him, according to the prescribed number of lashes proportionate to the offense. He may beat him with forty lashes, and he shall not do more than these, so that he will not beat more in addition to these many blows, and your countryman would be degraded before your eyes.

KJV 1900King James Version

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. 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.

Public Domain