Deuteronomy 21

1 If one be found slain in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess, lying in the field, [and] it be not known who hath smitten him,

“When one is found slain, fallen in a field on the ground which your God YHWH is giving to you to possess it, [and] it is not known who has struck him,

2 then thine elders and thy judges shall go forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain;

then your elderly and yours [of those] judging have gone out and measured to the cities which [are] around the slain one,

3 and the city that is nearest unto him that is slain, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer that hath not been wrought with, that hath not drawn in the yoke;

and it has been, the city which [is] near to the slain one, even [the] elderly of that city have taken a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked with, which has not drawn in a yoke,

4 and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto an ever-flowing watercourse, which is not tilled, nor is it sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the watercourse;

and [the] elderly of that city have brought down the heifer to a hard valley, which is not tilled nor sown, and have beheaded the heifer there in the valley.

5 and the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them Jehovah thy God hath chosen to do service unto him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah; and according to their word shall be every controversy and every stroke.

And the priests, sons of Levi, have come near—for your God YHWH has fixed on them to serve Him and to bless in the Name of YHWH, and by their mouth is every strife and every stroke—

6 And all the elders of that city, that are nearest unto him that is slain, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck is broken in the watercourse,

and all [the] elderly of that city, who are near to the slain one, wash their hands over the heifer which is beheaded in the valley,

7 and shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.

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

8 Forgive thy people Israel, whom thou, Jehovah, hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood to the charge of thy people Israel; and the blood shall be expiated for them.

receive atonement for Your people Israel, whom You have ransomed, O YHWH, and do not permit innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel; and the blood has been pardoned to them,

9 So shalt thou put away innocent blood from thy midst, when thou shalt do what is right in the eyes of Jehovah.

and you put away the innocent blood out of your midst, for you do that which [is] right in the eyes of YHWH.

10 When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and Jehovah thy God delivereth them into thy hands, and thou hast taken captives of them,

When you go out to battle against your enemies, and your God YHWH has given them into your hand, and you have taken captive its captivity,

11 and thou seest among the captives a woman of beautiful form, and hast a desire unto her, and takest her as thy wife;

and have seen a woman of beautiful form in the captivity, and have delighted in her, and have taken [her] to yourself for a wife,

12 then thou shalt bring her home to thy house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;

then you have brought her into the midst of your household, and she has shaved her head, and prepared her nails,

13 and she shall put the clothes of her captivity from off her, and shall abide in thy house, and bewail her father and mother a full month, and afterwards thou mayest go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.

and turned aside the raiment of her captivity from off her, and has dwelt in your house, and lamented her father and her mother [for] a month of days, and afterward you go in to her and have married her, and she has been to you for a wife.

14 And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go according to her desire; but thou shalt in no wise sell her for money; thou shalt not treat her as a slave, because thou hast humbled her.

And it has been, if you have not delighted in her, that you have sent her away at her desire, and surely you do not sell her for money; you do not tyrannize over her, because that you have humbled her.

15 If a man have two wives, one beloved, and one hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated, and the firstborn son be hers that was hated;

When a man has two wives, one loved and the other hated, and they have borne sons to him (the loved one and the hated one), and the firstborn son has been to the hated one,

16 then it shall be, in the day that he maketh his sons to inherit what he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, who is the firstborn;

then it has been, in the day of his causing his sons to inherit that which he has, he is not able to declare firstborn the son of the loved one, in the face of the son of the hated one—the firstborn.

17 but he shall acknowledge as firstborn the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that is found with him; for he is the firstfruits of his vigour: the right of the firstborn is his.

But the firstborn, son of the hated one, he acknowledges, 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 firstborn.

18 If a man have an unmanageable and rebellious son, who hearkeneth not unto the voice of his father, nor unto the voice of his mother, and they have chastened him, but he hearkeneth not unto them;

When a man has a son apostatizing and being rebellious—he is not listening to the voice of his father and to the voice of his mother, and they have disciplined him, and he does not listen to them—

19 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;

then his father and his mother have laid hold on him, and they have brought him out to [the] elderly of his city, and to the gate of his place,

20 and they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is unmanageable and rebellious, he hearkeneth not unto our voice; he is a profligate and a drunkard.

and have said to [the] elderly of his city, Our son—this one—is apostatizing and being rebellious; he is not listening to our voice—a glutton and drunkard.

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

Then all the men of his city have stoned him with stones and he has died, and you have put away the evil out of your midst, and all Israel hears and fears.

22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou have hanged him on a tree,

And when there is a sin in a man [with] a judgment of death, and he has been put to death, and you have hanged him on a tree,

23 his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day (for he that is hanged is a curse of God); and thou shalt not defile thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

his corpse does not remain on the tree, for you certainly bury him in the day—for he who is hanged [becomes] a curse of God—and you do not defile your ground which your God YHWH is giving to you [for] an inheritance.”