Deuteronomy 21
1 If one be found slain in the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who has slain him:
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];
2 Then your elders and your judges shall come forth, and they shall measure to the cities which are round about him that is slain:
your elders and your judges shall come forth, and shall measure the distances of the cities round about the slain man:
3 And it shall be, that the city which is next to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which has not been worked with, and which has not drawn in the yoke;
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.
4 And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley:
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.
5 And 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 name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried:
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].
6 And all the elders of that city, that are next to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:
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;
7 And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.
and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, and our eyes have not seen [it].
8 Be merciful, O LORD, to your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and lay not innocent blood to your people of Israel’s charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.
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.
9 So shall you put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when you shall do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.
And you shall take away innocent blood from among you, if you should do that which is good and pleasing before the Lord your God.
10 When you go forth to war against your enemies, and the LORD your God has delivered them into your hands, and you have taken them captive,
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,
11 And see among the captives a beautiful woman, and have a desire to her, that you would have her to your wife;
and should see among the spoil a woman beautiful in countenance, and should desire her, and take her to yourself for a wife,
12 Then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;
and should bring her within your house: then shall you shave her head, and pare her nails;
13 And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in your house, and mourn her father and her mother a full month: and after that you shall go in to her, and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.
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.
14 And it shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall let her go where she will; but you shall not sell her at all for money, you shall not make merchandise of her, because you have humbled her.
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.
15 If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated:
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;
16 Then it shall be, when he makes his sons to inherit that which he has, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn:
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.
17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, 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.
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.
18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not listen to them:
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;
19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out to the elders of his city, and to the gate of his place;
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:
20 And they shall say to 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.
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.
21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shall you put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
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.
22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and you hang him on a tree:
And if there be sin in any one, [and] the judgment of death [be upon him], and he be put to death, and you hang him on a tree:
23 His body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God; ) that your land be not defiled, which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.
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.
