Deuteronomy 21

1 “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,

If a man is found slain in the land which Jehovah thy God gives thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it not be known who has smitten him,

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

then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth. And they shall measure to the cities which are round about him who is slain,

3 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,

and it shall be, that the city which is nearest to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked with, and which has not drawn in the yoke,

4 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.

and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley.

5 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—

And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near, for Jehovah thy God has chosen them to minister to him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah, and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be.

6 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,

And all the elders of that city, who are nearest to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley,

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

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

8 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,

Forgive, O Jehovah, thy people Israel whom thou have redeemed, and allow no innocent blood to remain in the midst of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them.

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

So shall thou put away the innocent blood from the midst of thee when thou shall do that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah.

10 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,

When thou go forth to battle against thine enemies, and Jehovah thy God delivers them into thy hands, and thou carry them away captive,

11 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,

and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and thou have a desire for her, and would take her to thee to wife,

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

then thou shall bring her home to thy house. And she shall shave her head, and pare her nails,

13 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.

and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thy house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month. And after that thou shall go in to her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.

14 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.

And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shall let her go where she will, but thou shall not sell her at all for money. Thou shall not deal with her harshly, because thou have humbled her.

15 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,

If a man has two wives, the one beloved, and the other regarded inferior, and they have borne him sons, both the beloved and the one regarded inferior, and if the firstborn son be hers who was regarded inferior,

16 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.

then it shall be, in the day that he causes his sons to inherit that which he has, that he may not make the son of the beloved the firstborn before the son of the one regarded inferior, who is the firstborn.

17 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.

But he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the one regarded inferior, 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.

18 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—

If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and, though they chasten him, will not hearken to them,

19 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,

then his father and his mother shall lay hold on him, and bring him out to the elders of his city, and to the gate of his place.

20 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.

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.

21 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.

And all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones. So thou shall put away the evil from the midst of thee, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

22 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,

And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree,

23 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.”

his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shall surely bury him the same day, for he who is hanged is accursed of God, that thou not defile thy land which Jehovah thy God gives thee for an inheritance.