Deuteronomy 21

1 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:

If there be found a slain person in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, [and] it be not known who hath slain him:

2 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;

Then shall thy elders and thy judges go forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about the one that is slain.

3 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;

And it shall be, that the city which is the nearest unto the slain person, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer, which hath not been wrought with, which hath not drawn in a yoke;

4 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:

And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither tilled nor sown, and they shall break there the neck of the heifer in the valley;

5 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:

And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the Lord; and after their decision shall be done [at] every controversy and every injury;

6 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,

And all the elders of that city who are nearest unto the slain person shall wash their hands over the heifer, the neck of which is broken in the valley.

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

And they shall commence and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, and our eyes have not seen it.

8 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.

Grant pardon unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, O Lord, and lay not innocent blood in the midst of thy people Israel: and the blood shall be forgiven unto them.

9 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.

And thou shalt put away the [guilt of] the innocent blood from the midst of thee, when thou wilt do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

10 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;

When thou goest forth to war against thy enemies, and the Lord thy God delivereth them into thy hands, and thou takest captives of them;

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

And thou seest among the captives a woman of handsome form, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldst take her to thee for wife:

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

Then shalt thou bring her home to thy house; and she shall shave her head, and let grow her nails;

13 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.

And she shall put off the raiment of her captivity from her, and she shall remain in thy house, and weep for her father and her mother a full month; and after that thou mayest go in unto her, and be her husband, that she may become thy wife.

14 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.

And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then shalt thou let her go whither she will; but thou shalt nowise sell her for money; thou shalt not make a servant of her, because thou hast humbled her.

15 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:

If a man have two wives, one beloved, and the other hated, and they bear him children, both the beloved and the hated; so that the first-born son be hers that is hated:

16 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:

Then shall it be, when he divideth as inheritance among his sons what he hath, that he shall not institute the son of the beloved as the first-born before the son of the hated, the firstborn;

17 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.

But the first-born, the son of the hated woman, shall he acknowledge, to give him a double portion of all that is found in his possession; for he is the beginning of his strength; to him belongeth the right of the first birth.

18 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:

If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, who hearkeneth not to the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and they chastise him, and he will not hearken unto them:

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

Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;

20 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.

And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not hearken to our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.

21 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.

And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die; and thou shalt put away the evil from the midst of thee; and all Israel shall hear, and be afraid.

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

And if a man have committed a sin for which there is a punishment of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:

23 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.

Then shall his body not remain all night on the tree, but thou shalt surely bury him on that day; [for he that is hanged is a dishonor of God; ] and thou shalt not defile thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.