Deuteronomy 25:1
If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked. If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.
Deuteronomy 25:1 stands in the fifth and last book of the Pentateuch, which consists mainly of three addresses given by Moses just before his death. It belongs to the second address in chapters 5 to 26, which reviews the law for the new generation and gives the book its name meaning second law or duplicate of the law, while by contrast chapters 1 to 4:40 rehearse God's goodness to Israel and chapters 27 to 30 renew the covenant. It is part of the legal instruction in chapters 18-26 that gives principles for deciding questions and laws governing Israel. Within that instruction, it belongs to the repetition of various laws in chapters 23-26 concerning duties between man and man and between man and God.
The verse requires that when disputants come for judgment, the judges shall settle the controversy by distinguishing the parties, vindicating the righteous and condemning the wicked. The chapter's kinship laws establishing a near relative's right to redeem point to Christ, who became human in order to be mankind's Redeemer. At his second coming, Christ will fulfill this pattern of settling controversy by finishing the controversy of Zion, delivering his people from all bondage, conquering their last enemy, and delivering them from the power of the tempter, the devil.