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:

“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 your elders and your judges shall come forth, and they shall measure to 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 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 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 to a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley:

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 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, 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 next to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:

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 they 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 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.

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

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,

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 see among the captives a beautiful woman, and have a desire to her, that you would have her to your 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 you shall bring her home to your 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 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 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 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 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 another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if 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, 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 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 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 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 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:

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 to the elders of his city, and to 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 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 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: so shall you put evil away from among you; 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 to be put to death, and you hang 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 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 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.”