Deuteronomy 21
1 If [one] shall be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, [and] it be not known who hath slain him:
And if one be found slain with the sword in the land, which the Lord thy God gives thee to inherit, having fallen in the field, and they do not know who has smitten [him];
2 Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure to the cities which [are] around him that is slain:
thine elders and thy judges shall come forth, and shall measure the distances of the cities round about the slain man:
3 And it shall be [that] the city [which is] next to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer which hath not been wrought with, [and] which hath not drawn in the yoke;
and it shall be that the city which is nearest to the slain man the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not laboured, and which has not borne a yoke.
4 And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a rough valley, which is neither tilled nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley;
And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer into a rough valley, which has not been tilled and is not sown, and they shall slay the heifer in the valley.
5 And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near (for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the name of the LORD) and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be [tried];
And the priests the Levites shall come, because the Lord God has chosen them to stand by him, and to bless in his name, and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be [decided].
6 And all the elders of that city [that are] next to the slain [man], shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:
And all the elders of that city who draw nigh to the slain man shall wash their hands over the head of the heifer which was slain 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 shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, and our eyes have not seen [it].
8 Be merciful, O LORD, to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood to the charge of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them.
Be merciful to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, O Lord, that innocent blood may not be charged on thy people Israel: and the blood shall be atoned for to them.
9 So shalt thou remove the [guilt of] innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do [that which is] right in the sight of the LORD.
And thou shalt take away innocent blood from among you, if thou shouldest do that which is good and pleasing before the Lord thy God.
10 When thou goest forth to war against thy enemies, and the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thy hands, and thou hast taken them captive,
And if when thou goest out to war against thine enemies, the Lord thy God should deliver them into thine hands, and thou shouldest take their spoil,
11 And [thou] seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire to her, that thou wouldest have her for thy wife:
and shouldest see among the spoil a woman beautiful in countenance, and shouldest desire her, and take her to thyself for a wife,
12 Then thou shalt bring her home to thy house, and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails:
and shouldest bring her within thine house: then shalt thou shave her head, and pare her nails;
13 And she shall put off from her the raiment of her captivity, and shall remain in thy house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that, thou shalt go in to her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.
and shalt take away her garments of captivity from off her, and she shall abide in thine house, and shall bewail her father and mother the days of a month; and afterwards thou shalt go in to her and dwell with her, and she shall be thy wife.
14 And it shall be, if thou shalt 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.
And it shall be if thou do not delight in her, thou shalt send her out free; and she shall not by any means be sold for money, thou shalt not treat her contemptuously, because thou hast humbled her.
15 If a man shall have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have borne him children, [both] the beloved and the hated; and [if] the first-born son be hers that was hated:
And if a man have two wives, the one loved and the other hated, and both the loved and the hated should have born him [children], and the son of the hated should be first-born;
16 Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit [that] which he hath, [that] he may not prefer the son of the beloved first-born, before the son of the hated, [which is indeed] the first-born:
then it shall be that whensoever he shall divide by inheritance his goods to his sons, he shall not be able to give the right of the first-born to the son of the loved one, having overlooked the son of the hated, which is the first-born.
17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated [for] the first-born, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he [is] the beginning of his strength; the right of the first-born [is] his.
But he shall acknowledge the first-born of the hated one to give to him double of all things which shall be found by him, because he is the first of his children, and to him belongs the birthright.
18 If a man shall have a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and [who], when they have chastened him, will not hearken to them:
And if any man has a disobedient and contentious son, who hearkens not to the voice of his father and the voice of his mother, and they should correct him, and he should not hearken to 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 shall his father and his mother take hold of him, and bring him forth to the elders of his city, and to the gate of the place:
20 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.
and they shall say to the men of their city, This our son is disobedient and contentious, he hearkens not to our voice, he is a reveler and a drunkard.
21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he may die: so shalt thou remove evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
And the men of his city shall stone him with stones, and he shall die; and thou shalt remove the evil one from yourselves, and the rest shall hear and fear.
22 And if a man shall have committed a sin worthy of death, and he must be put to death, and thou shalt hang him on a tree:
And if there be sin in any one, [and] the judgment of death [be upon him], and he be put to death, and ye hang him on a tree:
23 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 may not be defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee [for] an inheritance.
his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but ye shall by all means bury it in that day; for every one that is hanged on a tree is cursed of God; and ye shall by no means defile the land which the Lord thy God gives thee for an inheritance.
