Deuteronomy 21
1 When there shall be found one slain on the soil which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee to possess, lying prostrate in the field, —it not being known who smote him,
“Suppose someone has been murdered in a field in the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you, and you do not know who killed that person.
2 then shall thine elders and thy judges go forth, —and measure unto the cities that are round about the slain;
[If that happens], your elders and judges must go out to where that person’s corpse was found and measure the distance from there to each of the nearby towns.
3 and it shall be that the city that is nearest unto the slain, the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd which hath not been wrought with, which hath not drawn in a yoke;
Then the elders in the town that is closest to where the corpse was found must select a young cow that has never been used for doing work.
4 and the elders of that city shall take down the heifer into a ravine with an everflowing stream, which is neither tilled nor sown, —and shall behead there the heifer in the ravine.
They must take it to a place near a stream where the ground has never been plowed or planted. They must break its neck there in that valley.
5 Then shall the priests the sons of Levi come near, for of them, hath Yahweh thy God made choice to wait upon him, and to bless in the name of Yahweh, —and at their bidding, shall be settled every controversy and every punishment;
The priests must go there also, because Yahweh our God has chosen them from the tribe of Levi to serve him and to be his representatives [MTY] when they bless people. And he has also chosen them to settle disputes in which someone has been injured.
6 and, all the elders of that city who are nearest unto the slain, shall bathe their hands over the heifer that hath been beheaded in the ravine,
The elders from the closest town must wash their hands over the young cow whose neck was broken,
7 and shall respond, and say, —Our hands, shed not this blood, neither did, our eyes, see [the deed].
and they must say, ‘We did not murder this person [MTY], and we did not see who did it.
8 Be propitious unto thy people Israel whom thou hast redeemed, O Yahweh, and do not impute innocent blood in the midst of thy people Israel. So shall they obtain propitiation for the guilt of shedding blood.
Yahweh, forgive us, your Israeli people whom you rescued [from Egypt]. Do not consider (us to be guilty/that we should be punished because) of murdering someone who (is innocent/had not done something that is wrong). Instead, forgive us.’
9 Thou, therefore shalt consume the guilt of shedding innocent blood out of thy midst, —when thou shalt do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh.
By doing that, you will be doing what Yahweh considers to be right, and you will not be considered to be guilty for murdering that person.”
10 When thou shalt go forth to war against thine enemies, —and Yahweh thy God shall deliver them into thy hand and thou shalt take them captive;
“When you [soldiers] go to fight against your enemies, and Yahweh our God enables you to defeat them [IDM], and (they become your prisoners/you capture them),
11 and shalt see among the captives a woman of beautiful figure, —and shalt have a desire unto her, and wouldest take her to thee to wife,
one of you may see among them a beautiful woman that he likes, and he may want to marry her.
12 then shalt thou bring her into the midst of thy house, —and she shall shave her head and pare her nails;
He should take her to his home, and there she must shave [all the hair off] her head and cut her fingernails [to signify that now she does not belong to her people-group any more, but instead she is becoming an Israeli].
13 and put away the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thy house, and bewail her father and her mother for the space of a month, —and after that, mayest thou go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.
She must take off the clothes that she was wearing when she was captured, [and put on Israeli clothes]. She must stay in that man’s house and mourn for a month because of [leaving] her parents. After that, he will be allowed to marry her.
14 And it shall be, if thou hast no pleasure in her, then shalt thou let her go whither she will but thou shalt not sell, her for silver, —thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.
Later, if he no longer is pleased with her, he will be permitted to allow her to leave him. But because she was forced to have sex with him, he will not be allowed to treat her like a slave [and sell her to someone else].”
15 When a man shall have two wives—the one beloved and, the other hated, and they have borne him sons, both she that is beloved, and she that is hated, —and it shall be that the firstborn son belongeth to her that is hated,
“Suppose that a man has two wives, but he likes one of them and dislikes the other one. And suppose that they both give birth to sons, and the oldest son is the child of the woman that he does not like.
16 then shall it be, that in the day when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, he may not treat the son of the beloved, instead of the son of the hated, as the firstborn;
On the day when that man decides how he will divide his possessions for his sons to possess [after he dies], he must not favor the son of the wife that he loves by giving him [a bigger share, ] the share that the older son should receive.
17 but the true firstborn the son of her that is hated, shall he treat as firstborn by giving him double out of all that is found to be his, —for, he, is the beginning of his strength, his, is the right of the firstborn.
He must give to the older son, the son of the wife whom he does not like, twice as much of his possessions. That son is his firstborn son, and he must be given the share that he should receive because of his being that man’s firstborn son.”
18 When a man hath a son, rebellious and insulting, who will not hearken to the voice of his father, and to the voice of his mother, —though they chastise him, yet will not hearken unto them,
“Suppose there is a boy who is very stubborn and always (rebelling against/disobeying) [his parents], and who will not heed what they say to him. And suppose that they punish him but he still does not pay attention to what they tell him [MTY].
19 then shall his father and his mother, lay hold of him, —and bring him forth unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;
If that happens, his parents must take him to the (gate of/central meeting place in) the city where he lives and have him stand in front of the elders of the city.
20 and shall say unto the elders of his city: This our son, is rebellious and insulting, —he will not hearken unto our voice, —a glutton and a tippler.
Then the parents must say to the elders of that city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and always rebelling against us. He will not pay attention to what we tell him [MTY]. He wastes a lot of money (OR, eats too much food) and gets drunk.’
21 Then shall all the men of his city stone him with stones that he die, so shalt thou consume the wicked thing out of thy midst, —and, all Israel, shall hear and fear.
Then all the elders of that city must execute him by throwing stones at him. By doing that, you will get rid of this evil practice among you. And everyone in Israel will hear [about what happened] and they will be afraid [to do what he did].”
22 But when there shall be in any man a sin worthy of death and he is to be put to death, —and thou shalt hang him on a tree,
“If someone is executed for having committed a crime for which he deserves to die, and you hang his corpse on a post,
23 his dead body shall not remain all night upon the tree but thou shalt bury, him on the same day, for a reproach unto God, is he that is hanged, —so shalt thou not make unclean thy soil which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee for an inheritance.
you must not allow his corpse to remain there all night. You must bury it on the day that he died, because [God] has cursed anyone whose corpse is allowed to remain on a post. [You must bury the corpse that day], in order that you do not defile the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you.”
