Deuteronomy 21

1 If one is found slain, lying in a field in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him,

If, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you come across the dead body of a man in the open country, and you have no idea who has put him to death:

2 your elders and judges must come out and measure the distance from the victim to the neighboring cities.

Then your responsible men and your judges are to come out, and give orders for the distance from the dead body to the towns round about it to be measured;

3 Then the elders of the city nearest the victim shall take a heifer that has never been yoked or used for work,

And whichever town is nearest to the body, the responsible men of that town are to take from the herd a young cow which has never been used for work or put under the yoke;

4 bring the heifer to a valley with running water that has not been plowed or sown, and break its neck there by the stream.

And they are to take the cow into a valley where there is flowing water, and which is not ploughed or planted, and there the neck of the cow is to be broken:

5 And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to serve Him and pronounce blessings in His name and to give a ruling in every dispute and case of assault.

Then the priests, the sons of Levi, are to come near; for they have been marked out by the Lord your God to be his servants and to give blessings in the name of the Lord; and by their decision every argument and every blow is to be judged:

6 Then all the elders of the city nearest the victim shall wash their hands by the stream over the heifer whose neck has been broken,

And all the responsible men of that town which is nearest to the dead man, washing their hands over the cow whose neck was broken in the valley,

7 and they shall declare, “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.

Will say, This death is not the work of our hands and our eyes have not seen it.

8 Accept this atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.” And the bloodshed will be atoned for.

Have mercy, O Lord, on your people Israel whom you have made free, and take away from your people the crime of a death without cause. Then they will no longer be responsible for the man's death.

9 So you shall purge from among you the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

So you will take away the crime of a death without cause from among you, when you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

10 When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hand and you take them captive,

When you go out to war against other nations, and the Lord your God gives them up into your hands and you take them as prisoners;

11 if you see a beautiful woman among them, and you desire her and want to take her as your wife,

If among the prisoners you see a beautiful woman and it is your desire to make her your wife;

12 then you shall bring her into your house. She must shave her head, trim her nails,

Then take her back to your house; and let her hair and her nails be cut;

13 and put aside the clothing of her captivity. After she has lived in your house a full month and mourned her father and mother, you may have relations with her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.

And let her take off the dress in which she was made prisoner and go on living in your house and weeping for her father and mother for a full month: and after that you may go in to her and be her husband and she will be your wife.

14 And if you are not pleased with her, you are to let her go wherever she wishes. But you must not sell her for money or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.

But if you have no delight in her, you are to let her go wherever she will; you may not take a price for her as if she was your property, for you have made use of her for your pleasure.

15 If a man has two wives, one beloved and the other unloved, and both bear him sons, but the unloved wife has the firstborn son,

If a man has two wives, one greatly loved and the other hated, and the two of them have had children by him; and if the first son is the child of the hated wife:

16 when that man assigns his inheritance to his sons he must not appoint the son of the beloved wife as the firstborn over the son of the unloved wife.

Then when he gives his property to his sons for their heritage, he is not to put the son of his loved one in the place of the first son, the son of the hated wife:

17 Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of his unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of all that he has. For that son is the firstfruits of his father’s strength; the right of the firstborn belongs to him.

But he is to give his first son his birthright, and twice as great a part of his property: for he is the first-fruits of his strength and the right of the first son is his.

18 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and does not listen to them when disciplined,

If a man has a son who is hard-hearted and uncontrolled, who gives no attention to the voice of his father and mother, and will not be ruled by them, though they give him punishment:

19 his father and mother are to lay hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown,

Then let his father and mother take him to the responsible men of the town, to the public place;

20 and say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.”

And say to them, This son of ours is hard-hearted and uncontrolled, he will not give attention to us; he gives himself up to pleasure and strong drink.

21 Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. So you must purge the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.

Then he is to be stoned to death by all the men of the town: so you are to put away the evil from among you; and all Israel, hearing of it, will be full of fear.

22 If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang his body on a tree,

If a man does a crime for which the punishment is death, and he is put to death by hanging him on a tree;

23 you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Do not let his body be on the tree all night, but put it to rest in the earth the same day; for the man who undergoes hanging is cursed by God; so do not make unclean the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage.