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,

When there shall be found one slain on the soil which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee to possess, lying prostrate in the field, —it not being known who smote him,

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

then shall thine elders and thy judges go forth, —and measure unto the cities that are round about the slain;

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

and it shall be that the city that is nearest unto the slain, the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd which hath not been wrought with, which hath not drawn in a 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 the elders of that city shall take down the heifer into a ravine with an everflowing stream, which is neither tilled nor sown, —and shall behead there the heifer in the ravine.

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 shall the priests the sons of Levi come near, for of them, hath Yahweh thy God made choice to wait upon him, and to bless in the name of Yahweh, —and at their bidding, shall be settled every controversy and every punishment;

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 elders of that city who are nearest unto the slain, shall bathe their hands over the heifer that hath been beheaded in the ravine,

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

and shall respond, and say, —Our hands, shed not this blood, neither did, our eyes, see [the deed].

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.

Be propitious unto thy people Israel whom thou hast redeemed, O Yahweh, and do not impute innocent blood in the midst of thy people Israel. So shall they obtain propitiation for the guilt of shedding blood.

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.

Thou, therefore shalt consume the guilt of shedding innocent blood out of thy midst, —when thou shalt do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh.

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 thou shalt go forth to war against thine enemies, —and Yahweh thy God shall deliver them into thy hand and thou shalt take them captive;

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

and shalt see among the captives a woman of beautiful figure, —and shalt have a desire unto her, and wouldest take her to thee to wife,

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

then shalt thou bring her into the midst of thy house, —and she shall shave her head and pare 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 put away the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thy house, and bewail her father and her mother for the space of a month, —and after that, mayest thou go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy 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.

And it shall be, if thou hast no pleasure in her, then shalt thou let her go whither she will but thou shalt not sell, her for silver, —thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled 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,

When a man shall have two wives—the one beloved and, the other hated, and they have borne him sons, both she that is beloved, and she that is hated, —and it shall be that the firstborn son belongeth to her that is hated,

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 shall it be, that in the day when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, he may not treat the son of the beloved, instead of the son of the hated, as the firstborn;

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 the true firstborn the son of her that is hated, shall he treat as firstborn by giving him double out of all that is found to be his, —for, he, is the beginning of his strength, his, is the right of the firstborn.

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,

When a man hath a son, rebellious and insulting, who will not hearken to the voice of his father, and to the voice of his mother, —though they chastise him, yet will not hearken unto them,

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 shall his father and his mother, lay hold of him, —and bring him forth unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his 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 shall say unto the elders of his city: This our son, is rebellious and insulting, —he will not hearken unto our voice, —a glutton and a tippler.

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 shall all the men of his city stone him with stones that he die, so shalt thou consume the wicked thing out of thy midst, —and, all Israel, shall hear and fear.

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

But when there shall be in any man a sin worthy of death and he is to be put to death, —and thou shalt hang 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.

his dead body shall not remain all night upon the tree but thou shalt bury, him on the same day, for a reproach unto God, is he that is hanged, —so shalt thou not make unclean thy soil which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee for an inheritance.