Deuteronomy 21

1 And if one be found slain with the sword in the land, which the Lord your God gives you to inherit, having fallen in the field, and they do not know who has struck [him];

Whanne the careyn of a man slayn is foundun in the lond which thi Lord God schal yyue to thee, and `the gilti of sleyng is vnknowun,

2 your elders and your judges shall come forth, and shall measure the distances of the cities round about the slain man:

the grettere men in birthe and thi iugis schulen go out, and schulen mete fro the place of the careyn the spaces of alle citees `bi cumpas;

3 and it shall be that the city which is nearest to the slain man the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not laboured, and which has not borne a yoke.

and the eldre men of that citee, `which thei seen to be neer than othere, schulen take of the droue a cow calf, that `drow not yok, nether kittide the erthe with a schar;

4 And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer into a rough valley, which has not been tilled and is not sown, and they shall kill the heifer in the valley.

and thei schulen lede that cow calf to a scharp `valey, and ful of stoonys, that was neuere erid, nether resseyuede seed; and in that valey thei schulen kitte the heed of the cow calf.

5 And the priests the Levites shall come, because the Lord God has chosen them to stand by him, and to bless in his name, and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be [decided].

And the preestis, the sones of Leuy, schulen neiye, whiche thi Lord God chees, that thei mynystre to hym, and blesse in his name, and al the cause hange at `the word of hem; and what euer thing is cleene ethir vncleene, be demed.

6 And all the elders of that city who draw near to the slain man shall wash their hands over the head of the heifer which was slain in the valley;

And the grettere men in birthe of that citee schulen come to the slayn man, and thei schulen waische her hondis on the cow calf, that was slayn in the valei;

7 and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, and our eyes have not seen [it].

and thei schulen seie, Oure hondis schedden not out this blood, nether oure iyen sien.

8 Be merciful to your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, O Lord, that innocent blood may not be charged on your people Israel: and the blood shall be atoned for to them.

Lord, be mercyful to thi puple Israel, whom thou `ayen brouytist, and arette thou not innocent blood in the myddis of thi puple Israel. And the gilt of blood schal be don awey fro hem.

9 And you shall take away innocent blood from amongst you, if you should do that which is good and pleasing before the Lord your God.

Forsothe thou schalt be alien fro the blood of the innocent which is sched, whanne thou hast do that that the Lord comaundide.

10 And if when you go out to war against your enemies, the Lord your God should deliver them into your hands, and you should take their spoil,

If thou goist out to batel ayens thin enemyes, that thi Lord God bitakith hem in thin hond, and thou ledist prisoneris,

11 and should see amongst the spoil a woman beautiful in countenance, and should desire her, and take her to yourself for a wife,

and thou seest in the noumbre of prisounneris a fair womman, and thou louest hir, and wole haue hir to wijf,

12 and should bring her within your house: then shall you shave her head, and pare her nails;

thou schalt brynge hir in to thin hows; `which womman schal schaue the heer, and schal kitte the nailes aboute, and sche schal putte awei the clooth,

13 and shall take away her garments of captivity from off her, and she shall abide in your house, and shall bewail her father and mother the days of a month; and afterwards you shall go in to her and dwell with her, and she shall be your wife.

wher ynne sche was takun, and sche schal sitte in thin hows, and schal biwepe hir fadir and modir o monethe; and aftirward thou schalt entre to hir, and schalt sleepe with hir, and sche schal be thi wijf.

14 And it shall be if you do not delight in her, you shall send her out free; and she shall not by any means be sold for money, you shall not treat her contemptuously, because you have humbled her.

But if aftirward sche sittith not in thi soule, `that is, plesith not thi wille, thou schalt delyuere hir fre, nethir thou schalt mowe sille hir for money, nether oppresse bi power, for thou `madist hir lowe.

15 And if a man have two wives, the one loved and the other hated, and both the loved and the hated should have born him [children], and the son of the hated should be firstborn;

If a man hath twey wyues, oon loued, and `the tothir hateful, and he gendrith of hir fre children, and the sone of the hateful wijf is the firste gendrid,

16 then it shall be that whenever he shall divide by inheritance his goods to his sons, he shall not be able to give the right of the firstborn to the son of the loved one, having overlooked the son of the hated, which is the firstborn.

and the man wole departe the catel bitwixe hise sones, he schal not mowe make the sone of the loued wijf the firste gendrid, and sette bifor the sone of the hateful wijf,

17 But he shall acknowledge the firstborn of the hated one to give to him double of all things which shall be found by him, because he is the first of his children, and to him belongs the birthright.

but he schal knowe the sone of the hateful wijf the firste gendrid, and he schal yyue to that sone alle thingis double of tho thingis that he hath; for this sone is the begynnyng of his fre children, and the firste gendrid thingis ben due to hym.

18 And if any man has a disobedient and contentious son, who hearkens not to the voice of his father and the voice of his mother, and they should correct him, and he should not listen to them;

If a man gendrith a sone rebel, and ouerthewert, which herith not the comaundement of fadir and modir, and he is chastisid,

19 then shall his father and his mother take hold of him, and bring him forth to the elders of his city, and to the gate of the place:

and dispisith to obei, thei schulen take hym, and schulen lede to the eldre men of that citee, and to the yate of doom;

20 and they shall say to the men of their city, This our son is disobedient and contentious, he hearkens not to our voice, he is a reveler and a drunkard.

and thei schulen seie to hem, This oure sone is ouerthewert and rebel; he dispisith to here oure monestyngis, `ethir heestis, he yyueth tent to glotonyes, and letcherie, and feestis.

21 And the men of his city shall stone him with stones, and he shall die; and you shall remove the evil one from yourselves, and the rest shall hear and fear.

The puple of the citee schal oppresse hym with stoonus, and he schal die, that ye do awei yuel fro the myddis of you, and that al Israel here, and drede.

22 And if there be sin in any one, [and] the judgement of death [be upon him], and he be put to death, and you hang him on a tree:

Whanne a man doith a synne which is worthi to be punyschid bi deeth, and he is demed to deeth, and is hangid in a iebat,

23 his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but you shall by all means bury it in that day; for every one that is hanged on a tree is cursed of God; and you shall by no means defile the land which the Lord your God gives you for an inheritance.

his careyn schal not dwelle in the tre, but it schal be biried in the same dai; for he that hangith in the cros is cursid of God, and thou schalt not defoule thi lond which thi Lord God yaf thee in to possessioun.