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 one is found slain on the ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to possess it — fallen in a field — it is not known who hath smitten him,

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

then have thine elders and thy judges gone out and measured unto the cities which [are] round about the slain one,

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 hath been, the city which [is] near unto the slain one, even the elders of that city have taken a heifer of the herd, which hath not been wrought with, which hath not drawn in 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 the elders of that city have brought down the heifer unto a hard valley, which is not tilled nor sown, and have beheaded there the heifer in the valley.

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.

'And the priests, sons of Levi, have come nigh — for on them hath Jehovah thy God fixed to serve Him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah, and by their mouth is every strife, and every stroke —

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 near unto the slain one, do wash their hands over the heifer which is beheaded in the valley,

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

and they have answered and said, Our hands have not shed this blood, and our eyes have not seen —

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.

receive atonement for Thy people Israel, whom Thou hast ransomed, O Jehovah, and suffer not innocent blood in the midst of Thy people Israel; and the blood hath been pardoned to them,

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.

and thou dost put away the innocent blood out of thy midst, for thou dost that which [is] right in the eyes of Jehovah.

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 goest out to battle against thine enemies, and Jehovah thy God hath given them into thy hand, and thou hast taken captive its captivity,

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

and hast seen in the captivity a woman of fair form, and hast delighted in her, and hast taken to thee for a wife,

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

then thou hast brought her in unto the midst of thy household, and she hath shaved her head, and prepared 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 turned aside the raiment of her captivity from off her, and hath dwelt in thy house, and bewailed her father and her mother a month of days, and afterwards thou dost go in unto her and hast married her, and she hath been to thee for a 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 hath been — if thou hast not delighted in her, that thou hast sent her away at her desire, and thou dost not at all sell her for money; thou dost not tyrannize over her, because that 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 hath two wives, the one loved and the other hated, and they have borne to him sons (the loved one and the hated one), and the first-born son hath been to the hated one;

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 it hath been, in the day of his causing his sons to inherit that which he hath, he is not able to declare first-born the son of the loved one, in the face of the son of the hated one — the first-born.

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 first-born, son of the hated one, he doth acknowledge, to give to him a double portion of all that is found with him, for he [is] the beginning of his strength; to him [is] the right of the first-born.

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 apostatizing and rebellious — he is not hearkening to the voice of his father, and to the voice of his mother, and they have chastised him, and he doth 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 laid hold on him have his father and his mother, and they have brought him out 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 have said unto the elders of his city, Our son — this one — is apostatizing and rebellious; he is not hearkening to our voice — a glutton and drunkard;

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.

and all the men of his city have stoned him with stones, and he hath died, and thou hast put away the evil out of thy midst, and all Israel do 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,

'And when there is in a man a sin — a cause of death, and he hath been put to death, and thou hast hanged 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 corpse doth not remain on the tree, for thou dost certainly bury him in that day — for a thing lightly esteemed of God [is] the hanged one — and thou dost not defile thy ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee — an inheritance.