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,

Someone may be found murdered, lying in a field in the country that the Lord your God is giving you to own, and nobody knows who killed them.

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

Your elders and judges must come and measure the distance from the body to the surrounding towns.

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

Then the elders of the town that's found to be nearest to the body shall take a cow that has never been put under a yoke or used for work.

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.

Take the cow to a valley that has a stream running through it and whose ground has never been plowed or sown. Break the cow's neck there beside the stream.

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.

The Levitical priests must be there too, because the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to give blessings in his name, and to decide on legal disputes and cases of assault.

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,

Then all the elders of the town nearest the body are to wash their hands in the stream over the dead cow, saying,

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

“We had nothing to do with this murder, and we didn't see who did 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.

Lord, please forgive your people Israel who you rescued, and do not hold them guilty of shedding of innocent blood In this way the guilt for shedding blood will be forgiven.”

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.

This is how you are to remove from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the Lord's sight.

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 to war with your enemies and the Lord your God hands them over to you in defeat, and you capture them,

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

you may see that one of them is a beautiful woman who you like and want to marry.

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

Take her home and have her shave her head, cut her nails,

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 get rid of the clothes she was wearing when she was captured. After she has lived in your home and has finished her month of mourning for her father and mother, you may sleep with her and marry her, and she shall 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.

However, if you are not happy with her, you must let her leave and go wherever she wants. You are not allowed to sell her for money or treat her like a slave, because you have brought shame on her.

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 he loves and one he doesn't, and both have sons by him, but the firstborn son is from the wife he doesn't love,

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.

when the time comes for the man to decide what each son will inherit from him, he must not prefer the son of wife he loves and treat him as the firstborn instead of the son of the wife he doesn't love.

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.

No. He is to recognize the firstborn, the son of the wife he doesn't love through the usual custom of giving him a double portion of all that he owns. The firstborn son is the firstfruits of his father's strength, and so the rights of the firstborn are 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 someone has a obstinate and rebellious son who doesn't obey his parents and doesn't obey them even when he's punished,

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,

his parents must take him to the town elders, to the court in his hometown,

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 tell them, “Our son is obstinate and rebellious, He doesn't obey us. He's a worthless drunk!”

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 all the men of his home town will stone him to death. You must eliminate the evil from among you, and every Israelite will hear about it and be afraid.

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

If someone commits a crime punishable by death, and the person is executed by hanging 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.

don't leave the body hanging there overnight. Make sure you bury the body the same day, because anyone who is hung is under God's curse. Don't defile the country that the Lord your God is giving you to own.