Deuteronomy 21

1 If one be found slain in the land which YHWH your God gives you to possess it, lying in the field, and it isn't known who has struck him;

'When one is found slain on the ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to possess it — fallen in a field — it is not known who hath smitten him,

2 then your elders and your judges shall come forth, and they shall measure to the cities which are around him who is slain:

then have thine elders and thy judges gone out and measured unto the cities which [are] round about the slain one,

3 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 hasn't been worked with, and which has not drawn in the yoke;

and it hath been, the city which [is] near unto the slain one, even the elders of that city have taken a heifer of the herd, which hath not been wrought with, which hath not drawn in the yoke,

4 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.

and the elders of that city have brought down the heifer unto a hard valley, which is not tilled nor sown, and have beheaded there the heifer in the valley.

5 The priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them YHWH your God has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the name of YHWH; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be.

'And the priests, sons of Levi, have come nigh — for on them hath Jehovah thy God fixed to serve Him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah, and by their mouth is every strife, and every stroke —

6 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;

and all the elders of that city, who are near unto the slain one, do 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 Forgive, YHWH, your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and do not allow innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel." The blood shall be forgiven them.

receive atonement for Thy people Israel, whom Thou hast ransomed, O Jehovah, and suffer not innocent blood in the midst of Thy people Israel; and the blood hath been pardoned to them,

9 So you shall put away the innocent blood from the midst of you, when you shall do that which is right in the eyes of YHWH.

and thou dost put away the innocent blood out of thy midst, for thou dost that which [is] right in the eyes of Jehovah.

10 When you go forth to battle against your enemies, and YHWH your God delivers them into your hands, and you carry them away captive,

'When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and Jehovah thy God hath given them into thy hand, and thou hast taken captive its captivity,

11 and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you desire to take her to be your wife;

and hast seen in the captivity a woman of fair form, and hast delighted in her, and hast taken to thee for a wife,

12 then you shall bring her home to your house; and she shall shave her head, and trim her nails;

then thou hast brought her in unto the midst of thy household, and she hath shaved her head, and prepared her nails,

13 and she shall remove the clothing she was wearing when captured, and shall remain in your house, and mourn her father and her mother a full month. And after that you may 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 hath dwelt in thy house, and bewailed her father and her mother a month of days, and afterwards thou dost go in unto her and hast married her, and she hath been to thee for a wife:

14 It shall be, if you are not pleased with her, then you must let her go where she wants; but you may not sell her for money or treat her as a commodity, since you have had relations with her.

'And it hath been — if thou hast not delighted in her, that thou hast sent her away at her desire, and thou dost not at all sell her for money; thou dost not tyrannize over her, because that thou hast humbled her.

15 If a man has two wives, the one loved, and the other unloved, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the unloved; and if the firstborn son is hers who was unloved;

'When a man hath two wives, the one loved and the other hated, and they have borne to him sons (the loved one and the hated one), and the first-born son hath been to the hated one;

16 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 loved the firstborn before the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn:

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

17 but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, 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 first-born, son of the hated one, he doth acknowledge, 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 first-born.

18 If a man have 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 listen to them;

'When a man hath a son apostatizing and rebellious — he is not hearkening to the voice of his father, and to the voice of his mother, and they have chastised him, and he doth not hearken unto 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 laid hold on him have his father and his mother, and they have brought him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place,

20 and they shall tell 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 unto the elders of his city, Our son — this one — is apostatizing and rebellious; he is not hearkening to our voice — a glutton and drunkard;

21 All the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones: so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

and all the men of his city have stoned him with stones, and he hath died, and thou hast put away the evil out of thy midst, and all Israel do hear and fear.

22 If a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and you hang him on a tree;

'And when there is in a man a sin — a cause of death, and he hath been put to death, and thou hast hanged him on a tree,

23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day; for everyone who hangs on a tree is cursed by God; that you do not defile your land which YHWH your God gives you for an inheritance.

his corpse doth not remain on the tree, for thou dost certainly bury him in that day — for a thing lightly esteemed of God [is] the hanged one — and thou dost not defile thy ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee — an inheritance.