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];

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

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

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

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

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.

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 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.

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 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,

'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 and should see amongst the spoil a woman beautiful in countenance, and should desire her, and take her to yourself for a 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 and should bring her within your house: then shall you shave her head, and pare 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 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.

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 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.

'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 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;

'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 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.

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 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 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 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;

'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 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:

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 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 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 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.

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 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:

'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 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 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.