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 someone is found slain in the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess, lying in the field, and it isn’t known who has struck 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 your elders and your judges shall come out, and they shall measure to the cities which are around him who 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;

It shall be that the elders of the city which is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer of the herd, which hasn’t been worked with and which has not drawn in the 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:

The elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there 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:

The priests the sons of Levi shall come near, for them the LORD your God has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the LORD’s name; and according to their word shall every controversy and every assault be decided.

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,

All the elders of that city which is nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley.

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

They shall answer and say, “Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes 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.

Forgive, LORD, your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and don’t allow innocent blood among your people Israel.” The blood shall be forgiven 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.

So you shall put away the innocent blood from among you, when you shall do that which is right in the LORD’s eyes.

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 you go out to battle against your enemies, and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you carry them away captive,

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

and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you are attracted to her, and desire to take her as your wife,

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

then you shall bring her home to your house. She shall shave her head and trim 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.

She shall take off the clothing of her captivity, and shall remain in your house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month. After that you shall go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your 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.

It shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall let her go where she desires; but you shall not sell her at all for money. You shall not deal with her as a slave, because you have 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 has two wives, the one beloved and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated, and if the firstborn son is hers who was 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 it shall be, in the day that he causes his sons to inherit that which he has, that he may not give the son of the beloved the rights of the firstborn before the son of the hated, who is 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 he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that he has; for he is the beginning of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his.

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 has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and though they chasten him, will not listen to them,

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

then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city and to 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.

They shall tell the elders of his city, “This our son is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey 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.

All the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall remove the evil from among you. All Israel shall hear, and fear.

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;

If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you 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.

his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day; for he who is hanged is accursed of God. Don’t defile your land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.