Deuteronomy 21

1 If it will be found [one] slain in the land which Yahweh God your [is] about to give to you to take possession of it lying in the open country not it is known who? did he strike 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 And they will go out elders your and judges your and they will measure to the cities which [are] around the [one] 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 will be the city near to the [one] slain and they will take [the] elders of the city that a heifer of [the] herd which not it has been worked by it which not it has dragged by 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 they will bring down [the] elders of the city that the heifer to a wadi ever-flowing which not it is tilled in it and not it is sown and they will break [the] neck of there the heifer in the wadi.

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 And they will draw near the priests [the] sons of Levi for them he has chosen Yahweh God your to serve him and to bless in [the] name of Yahweh and on mouth their it will be every dispute and every wound.

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 the city that near to the [one] slain they will wash hands their over the heifer broken necked in the wadi.

The elders from the closest town must wash their hands over the young cow whose neck was broken,

7 And they will answer and they will say hands our not (they shed *Q(K)*) the blood this and eyes our not they saw.

and they must say, ‘We did not murder this person [MTY], and we did not see who did it.

8 Make atonement for people your Israel which you ransomed O Yahweh and may not you put blood innocent in [the] midst of people your Israel and it will be atoned for for them the 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 And you you will remove the blood innocent from midst your for you will do the 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 If you will go out to war on enemies your and he will give him Yahweh God your in hand your and you will take captive captive[s] his.

“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 you will see among the [female] captive[s] a woman beautiful of appearance and you will love her and you will take [her] for yourself to a wife.

one of you may see among them a beautiful woman that he likes, and he may want to marry her.

12 And you will bring her into [the] middle of house your and she will shave head her and she will attend to finger-nails her.

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 she will remove [the] clothing of captivity her from on her and she will dwell in house your and she will weep for father her and mother her a month of days and after thus you will go into her and you will be husband her and she will become of you a 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 will be if not you delight in her and you will let go her for self her and certainly not you will sell her for money not you will treat as a slave her because that you have humiliated 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 If they will belong to a man two wives the one [is] loved and the one [is] hated and they will bear to him sons the loved [one] and the hated [one] and he will belong the son the firstborn to the hated [wife].

“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 And it will be on [the] day causes to inherit he sons his [that] which it will belong to him not he will be able to treat as firstborn [the] son the loved [one] on [the] face of [the] son of the hated [one] 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 That the firstborn [the] son of the hated [one] he will acknowledge by giving to him a mouth of two in all that it will be found to him for he [is] [the] beginning of manly vigor his [belongs] to him [the] claim of the birthright.

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 If he will belong to anyone a son stubborn and rebellious not he [is] listening to [the] voice of father his and to [the] voice of mother his (and they will discipline *L(abh)*) him and not he will listen to 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 And they will seize him father his and mother his and they will bring out him to [the] elders of city his and to [the] gate of place his.

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 they will say to [the] elders of city his son our this [is] stubborn and rebellious not he [is] listening to voice our a glutton and a drunkard.

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 And they will stone him all [the] men of city his with stones and he will die and you will remove the evil from midst your and all Israel they will hear and they may 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 And if it will be in anyone a sin of a sentence of death and he will be put to death and you will 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 Not it will remain overnight corpse his on the tree for certainly you will bury him on the day that for [is] a curse of God [one who] is hanged and not you will make unclean land your which Yahweh God your [is] about to give to you 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.”