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 one be found slain in the land which Yhwh thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain 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 unto the cities which are round about him that 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 next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath 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 unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off 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 them Yhwh thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of Yhwh; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried:

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, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded 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,

Be merciful, O Yhwh, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel’s charge. 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 shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of Yhwh.

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 goest forth to war against thine enemies, And Yhwh thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them 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 seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy 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 shalt bring her home to thine 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 thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto 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 shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast 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 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:

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, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed 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 son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: 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 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 hearken unto 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 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;

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 unto 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 with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; 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 have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to 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 shalt in any wise bury him that day; ( for he that is hanged is accursed of God; ) that thy land be not defiled, which Yhwh thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.