“You must use accurate scales when you weigh out merchandise,
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall not have in your bag diverse weights, one heavy and one light.
- KJV Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.
- BSB You shall not have two differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light.
- NKJV “You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a heavy and a light.
- NASB “You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a large and a small.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israelites must not keep two differing weights, a heavy one and a light one, for cheating in trade. Honesty in business is required by God.
Overview
Merchants could defraud by using a heavier weight when buying and a lighter one when selling, and God forbids such deceit. Honest weights and measures are repeatedly commanded as marks of covenant integrity (Leviticus 19:35-36; Proverbs 11:1). This reflects the truthfulness of God Himself, who calls His people to deal uprightly in every transaction.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Prov 11:1A false balance is an abomination to Yahweh, but accurate weights are his delight.
- Amos 8:5Saying, ‘When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may market wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel large, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;
- Prov 16:11Honest balances and scales are Yahweh’s; all the weights in the bag are his work.
- Lev 19:35–37“‘You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measures of length, of weight, or of quantity.
- Mic 6:11–12Shall I be pure with dishonest scales, and with a bag of deceitful weights?
- Prov 20:10Differing weights and differing measures, both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh.
- Ezek 45:10–11You shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 25:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.